February 01,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (February 2016)

The mood in Japan was unexpectedly hopeful as 2015 drew to an end and a new year began. Nervousness prevalent through much of 2015 had dissipated. Confident leadership, improved bilateral relations with the countries that matter most, and a hopeful mood of expectation were widely present in newspaper and journal articles. Yet, some controversies were exposed as commentators differed in their point..

Editorial Staff
Japan , National security , Non-military activity , Shuttle diplomacy
December 07,2015 Open Forum

Washington Insights (Vol. 3, No. 6)

Park Geun-hye’s visit to Washington, the aftermath of Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, the state of Japan’s military, Russia’s assertive policy toward Japan, and the state of Central Asia were among the topics that drew scrutiny in autumn discussions in DC. In light of an upsurge in terrorism and great uncertainty over Syria, the pessimistic mood about East Asia was obviously of secondar..

Editorial Staff
Central Asia , East Asian security , National security , Sino-US Relations
December 03,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (December 2015)

The September 28 Yomiuri Shimbun argued that anti-Americanism is the crux of the opposition to the new law on collective self-defense. Reviewing a book by Miura Ruri (juxtaposing it to Hosoya Yuichi’s writing on internationalism), it credits Abe with the achievement of overcoming grassroots anti-American thinking both in leftist pacifism and in rightist anti-globalism. Deep-rooted xenophobia m..

Editorial Staff
Internationalism , Japan-US alliance , National security , ROK-Sino Relations
December 01,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario for Modi’s India “Acts East”

The domestic record of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is mixed. According to Pew, 87 percent of Indians have a favorable opinion of their prime minister, a level of support any elected leader would celebrate. After economic growth bottomed out at 4.5 percent under the previous government, India now boasts the world’s fastest-growing major economy, expanding at an annual rate of arou..

Daniel Twining
Act East Policy , Economic Relations , One Belt One Road , Regionalism
November 17,2015 Open Forum

China’s Anti-Fascist War Narrative: Seventy Years On and the War with Japan is Not Over Yet

In China, the war that ended with Japan’s surrender 70 years ago is known as the World Anti-Fascist War. Chinese communities in Melbourne and Sydney have been trying to get their tongues around this phrase all year to demonstrate their loyalty to Beijing at local commemorative events. This is certainly not what these communities called the war seventy years ago, nor was it known by that name amo..

John Fitzgerald
China , History , Japan , Nanjing Massacre , National identity , World Anti-Fascist War
November 13,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Scenario of Japan’s Fault II

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’h statement on the seventieth anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the Asia-Pacific War evoked mixed reactions from commentators. Some media reports were critical of its vagueness and of the historical narrative it presented. Others found hope in the fact that that Abe repeatedly referred to the need to “engrave in our hearts the past” and emphasized that the apologie..

Tessa Morris-Suzuki
Historical denialism , JSHTC , National identity , Strategic information diplomacy
November 13,2015 Review Article

Japan and the International Order in the Age of Shifts in Power in the Indo-Pacific

Hosoya Yuichi, Kokusai chitsujo: 18 Seiki Europe kara 21 Seiki Asia e [International Order: From 18th Century Europe to 21st Century Asia] (Tokyo: Chuokoron Shinsha, 2012) Hosoya Yuichi, Rekishi ninshiki towa nanika? Nichiro senso kara Asia Taiheiyo senso made [What is Historic Recognition: From the Russo-Japanese War to the Asia-Pacific War] (Tokyo: Shincho Sensho 2015) Japan has just..

Matsuda Takuya*
Balance of power , Internationalism , National security , Regionalism
October 12,2015 National Commentaries

The South Korean Perspective

"The Challenge for Park's Summit with Obama after Abe's Summit."   As President Park Geun-hye prepares for her meeting with President Barack Obama on October 16, her visit will bring to a close a year of intensive summitry between the US president and his key counterparts in Asia.1 On April 26-May 3, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo had what many regard as one of the most successful US..

Lee Chung Min*
China's military parade , Japan-US alliance , Japanese SDF , National security , North Korea , Sino-ROK Relations
October 12,2015 National Commentaries

The Japanese Perspective

"The Challenge for Park's Summit with Obama after Abe's Summit."   The most important factor we need to consider in directing our attention in East Asia to developments since Prime Minister Abe visited Washington is the change in relations between China, the rising superpower in the region, and the United States, the leading superpower defending and strengthening the status quo ..

Kazuhiko Togo
Article 9 , CJK summit , National security , normal state , US security
October 12,2015 National Commentaries

The US Perspective

"The Challenge for Park's Summit with Obama after Abe's Summit."   Positive US responses to Abe’s defense and history initiatives leave South Korea’s Japan policy in limbo. The Abe statement in early August and the legislation that the Diet passed in late September (after the Abe cabinet’s approval in early July) have given new impetus to Tokyo’s foreign policy and rel..

Larry A. Niksch
Balancing China , Japan-US alliance , Japanese SDF , National security