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December 22, 2024
 

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Keizo Nabeshima
COMMENTARY
Apr 2, 2007
The risks of not acting bold
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office six months ago, is beginning to reveal his true self as a dyed-in-the-wool conservative.
COMMENTARY
Mar 19, 2007
Security panel's birth pangs
Under the initiative of the Prime Minister's Office, the government is moving to establish a national security council that will formulate Japan's diplomatic and security strategies. On the basis of a Feb. 27 report submitted by an expert panel, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is hoping to inaugurate the council...
COMMENTARY
Mar 5, 2007
To move without U.S. cues
In their talks Feb. 21, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney reaffirmed the "unwavering" Japan-U.S. security alliance. This raises a question: Why did Abe have to reaffirm an alliance that is said to have already benefited from the long honeymoon between former Prime...
COMMENTARY
Feb 19, 2007
Nuclear uncertainties linger
For the people of Japan, the world's only country to suffer atomic-bomb attacks, the existence of nuclear weapons in any form is unacceptable. Regrettably, however, nuclear proliferation is continuing outside the framework of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).
COMMENTARY
Feb 5, 2007
Gaffes dog Abe's leadership
A series of inept remarks made by ministers of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet have undermined public support for his administration. Opinion polls show that public approval ratings for his Cabinet continue to fall.
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2007
Unshackling Japan's defense
On Jan. 9 the Defense Agency was upgraded to full ministry status. At a ceremony marking the change, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it was a major step from the "postwar regime" toward a foundation for national rebuilding.
COMMENTARY
Jan 8, 2007
Cabinet office losing its grip
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is under intense pressure to overhaul his administration after two scandal-tainted aides were forced to resign in December. The trouble came only three months after he took office.
COMMENTARY
Dec 25, 2006
No rush to divide the north
In a recent appearance before the Diet, Foreign Minister Taro Aso floated the idea of settling the long-standing feud with Russia over the sovereignty of the Northern Territories (four islands off Hokkaido) by evenly dividing the total area of dispute. In September, Aso sug gested the possibility of...
COMMENTARY
Dec 12, 2006
Abe at crossroads of reform
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's two-month-old administration stands at the crossroads of how to implement the reform agenda inherited from the previous government of Junichiro Koizumi.
COMMENTARY
Nov 27, 2006
Abe, Bush to strengthen ties
In his first summit with President George W. Bush held in Hanoi on Nov. 18, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to strengthen the "Japan-U.S. alliance for Asia and the world" in security and economic relations.
COMMENTARY
Nov 14, 2006
What are Kim's objectives?
North Korea has agreed to rejoin the six-party nuclear talks on its nuclear-weapons program before yearend following hard bargaining with the United States and China. The breakthrough resulted from mounting international pressure, especially the U.S. financial crackdown and the United Nations Security...
COMMENTARY
Oct 30, 2006
Even nuclear talk detracts
Some influential Japanese politicians have called for debate on whether the nation should adopt nuclear arms, causing repercussions at home and abroad. Since 1967, Japan has upheld the three-point policy of not possessing, making or allowing the entry of nuclear arms, while remaining under the U.S. nuclear...
COMMENTARY
Oct 16, 2006
Abe off to impressive start
In his summits with Presidents Hu Jintao of China and Roh Moo Hyun of South Korea last week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took the first step toward improving relations that had soured between Japan and the two countries under the rule of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi. His initiative also opened a...
COMMENTARY
Oct 2, 2006
Weakness prods Pyongyang
Though impoverished and starved, North Korea owns nuclear arms and is developing long-range ballistic missiles, thus posing a growing military threat to the Asia-Pacific region.
COMMENTARY
Sep 18, 2006
A sure-win guards his cards
It is a foregone conclusion that Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe will win the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election Wednesday. He is then likely to be named prime minister at an extraordinary Diet session a week later and to launch a new Cabinet.
COMMENTARY
Sep 4, 2006
Declining sources of pride
The 9/11 terrorist attacks five years ago added a new page to world history, posing a new threat to global security. Following the attacks, the Bush administration in the United States demanded that the international community choose between democracy and dictatorship, between good and evil. Calling...
COMMENTARY
Aug 21, 2006
Fear of rivalry rules LDP
With the governing Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election a month away, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe has emerged as the overwhelming favorite to win the post, and hence to become the next prime minister.
COMMENTARY
Aug 7, 2006
An opportunity to mend ties
Intensive debate is under way ahead of the governing Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election next month to choose the successor to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. At issue is how to assess the reform policies of Koizumi -- now the third-longest reigning prime minister in the postwar years...
COMMENTARY
Jul 24, 2006
Pyongyang opts for isolation
Never had security over the Korean Peninsula attracted so much international attention until the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously July 15 for a resolution denouncing North Korea's ballistic-missile tests. Two days later, the Group of Eight summit held in St. Petersburg, Russia, issued...
COMMENTARY
Jul 11, 2006
Living with a holy alliance
At their June 29 White House summit, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President George W. Bush issued a joint statement titled "The Japan-U.S. Alliance of the New Century," declaring that the partnership "stands as one of the most accomplished bilateral relationships in history."
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

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