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Amidst all this activity, the position of Japan is absolutely, well, pivotal. From the US point of view, a wealthy, confident and committed ally is a vital asset in what it is likely to be a long drawn out strategic game
Amidst all this activity, the position of Japan is absolutely, well, pivotal. From the US point of view, a wealthy, confident and committed ally is a vital asset in what it is likely to be a long drawn out strategic game
Only right-wing nationalists, communists and neo-pagans dare propose the time-honoured method of regaining lost competitiveness
The triple disasters of March 2011 – earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear contamination – offered a stark depiction of Japan’s strengths and weaknesses to the world and perhaps to the Japanese themselves.
The Democratic Party of Japan is about to make a momentous choice. Next week’s contest for the party leadership also decides who holds the office of prime minister. The contrast between the two candidates could not be starker.
A leadership change in Japan passes almost unnoticed these days, but the ascension of Naoto Kan to the role of prime minister could have a long-lasting impact on the strategic landscape.
You are a little-known politician who has enthused the public with promises of change. You win a thumping electoral victory. You succeed a tired and discredited administration whose policies helped create the worst economic crisis in decades. And then your problems start.
There’s more to Japan’s new first couple than meet the eye. The prime minister’s wife, Miyuki Hatoyama, claims to have befriended Tom Cruise in a previous life when he was, apparently, Japanese. Meanwhile the prime minister himself has been behaving like the re-incarnation of a French intellectual.
Remember the fable of the hard-working ant and the irresponsible fun-loving grasshopper? As generations of parents tell their children, both creatures get what they deserve. The grasshopper pays a terrible price for his summer of fun, while the ant survives the winter snug and smug.