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November 22, 2024
 

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Robyn Lim
COMMENTARY
Nov 23, 2007
Australia facing tough nuclear issues
Australia's election Saturday will be fought mostly over domestic issues, especially interest rates. While Labor is well ahead in the polls, its victory is not assured. But whoever becomes prime minister after the election will face some contentious decisions on nuclear issues. And it's not just Australians...
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2007
Defense debate bordering on bizarre
The trigger for Shinzo Abe's resignation was the refusal by opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa to agree to further deployments of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Indian Ocean after authorizing legislation runs out on Nov. 1.
COMMENTARY
Aug 16, 2006
Japan far too vulnerable to Pyongyang's missiles
After North Korea's July 5 missile tests, Japan, for the first time since 1945, is asking America to beef up its military presence in Japan. Why? Because Japan's hedging and tardiness in relation to missile defense has left its cities more vulnerable than they need be. That risks encouraging Pyongyang...
COMMENTARY
Jul 23, 2006
Downhill path from fear to proliferation
Why have some of Japan's leaders been talking about the need to acquire the ability to attack North Korean missiles on the launchpads? It's because they know that the United States, despite its overwhelming air and maritime power, cannot credibly threaten North Korea. That is because North Korea holds...
COMMENTARY
May 17, 2006
Taro Aso has a history problem with Australia
When Foreign Minister Taro Aso visited Australia recently, did he know that the father of the Australian foreign minister, Alexander Downer, had been a Japanese prisoner of war in the notorious Changi jail in Singapore? And if Alexander Downer Sr. had been sent to a certain camp in Kyushu, as some 200...
COMMENTARY
Jan 29, 2006
Cheap ride on U.S. security
As a "rising" China presses on its maritime frontiers in the East and South China Seas, tensions with Japan are increasing rapidly because of the maritime basis of Japanese security. Yet Japan thinks it can reduce defense spending, continue to rely on the United States for its strategic security, and...
COMMENTARY
Jan 6, 2006
China eschews Soviet redux
China's rapid-force modernization is driving strategic events in East Asia. But China is no longer communist; nor does it represent the same kind of threat posed by the USSR when it possessed huge military power and stretched across Eurasia, threatening U.S. allies at both ends. Thus important differences...
COMMENTARY
Dec 14, 2005
Countdown to Taiwan's co-optation
The resounding defeat of Taiwan's ruling party in recent local elections means that China may soon be able to take Taiwan by a combination of enticement and threat. That could occur after Taiwan's March 2008 presidential elections, in the leadup to the Beijing Olympics.
COMMENTARY
Nov 24, 2005
Time for U.S. to leave Korea
When U.S. President George W. Bush was in Pusan last weekend for the APEC summit, he and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun agreed upon a "strategic dialogue" at ministerial level on security issues.
COMMENTARY
Oct 14, 2005
Missile defense will define Japan-U.S. security alliance
The impasse about the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps air station at Futenma in Okinawa caused U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to cancel his forthcoming visit to Japan. So Rumsfeld, fed up with Japanese foot-dragging for more than a decade, will be going to China and South Korea, but not to...
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2005
Toward a nuclear Japan?
The United States cannot stop nuclear proliferation, even though Japan and others will expect it to keep trying. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) has allowed North Korea and Iran to develop nuclear weapons on the sly. What will Japan conclude from this?
COMMENTARY
Jul 28, 2005
Whining won't ease 'burden'
Why should the U.S. ambassador to Japan have to spell out how much Japan benefits from its alliance with the United States? The reason is that Japan's leaders remain incompetent in explaining vital security issues to the Japanese public, and so take the easy way out by bleating about the so-called burden...
COMMENTARY
May 23, 2005
Don't rely solely on America
NAGOYA -- For more than 400 years, Great Britain played the role of global offshore balancer. Believing that it had neither permanent allies nor permanent enemies, but only permanent interests, Britain avoided entanglement on the Continent. Shifting its weight as required to prevent any potentially hostile...
COMMENTARY
Apr 21, 2005
Australia's problem with ASEAN amity
During Australian Prime Minister John Howard's visit to Japan this week, Japan will be pressing him to sign the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), which is often referred to as a "nonaggression pact."
COMMENTARY
Apr 12, 2005
Lee should avoid Yasukuni
With tensions rising again across the Taiwan Strait, some in Japan seem to think that it might be timely for former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui to visit controversial Yasukuni Shrine, the memorial in Tokyo to Japan's war dead.
COMMENTARY
Feb 18, 2005
Blinders on a vital interest
In relation to Iran, Japan needs to get its priorities straight. Currently, Japan is spending only 1 percent of its gross domestic product on defense while living in a dangerous region. It is critical for Japan's economic and strategic security that the United States remain willing to protect Japan's...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2005
Notion of an 'independent' missile defense is snake oil
According to press reports, Japan intends to mount an "independent" missile defense so as not to violate a constitutional interpretation that prohibits Japan from engaging in collective self-defense. Thus Japan would refrain from shooting down missiles that pass over Japan but are targeted at "other...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2004
The next move for Taiwan
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has stepped down from the leadership of his Democratic Progressive Party after the DPP and its more radical allies failed to gain a majority in the Dec. 11 parliamentary elections.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2004
Cracks visible in U.S.-Australia alliance
Could Australia's long-standing alliance with the United States rupture? It's not likely, but not unthinkable either. An Australian election looms, with security policy as a major issue. The Labor Party, out of power since 1996, is desperate for a win. The polls portend a close race.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2004
Washington is now free to give up on its East Asian allies
The United States recently announced that it will soon send to Iraq one of the two brigades of the Second Infantry Division (2ID) currently stationed in South Korea. There was virtually no consultation with Seoul, and the Pentagon is making no promises that these troops will ever go back. Now unconfirmed...
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Russia launched intercontinental ballistic missile during attack on Ukraine, Kyiv says
A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during a test from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Northern Arkhangelsk region of Russia, in this still image captured from video released on Oct. 29.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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