August 13,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (August 2015)

Japan-Russia Relations Relations with Russia appeared to be back on track in the first part of the summer. Plans for Putin to visit Japan were going forward despite unconcealed disapproval by the Obama administration. Japanese writers held out hope for trouble in Sino-Russian relations in the face of many signs to the contrary. Abe’s determination to pursue an independent foreign policy at th..

Editorial Staff
Japan-ROK tensions , Japan-US alliance , National security , Putin-Abe summit , South China Sea
August 13,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario I: Five Reasons for a Positive Outcome

Unlike the old days when there was a Soviet Union and China and Japan were quasi-strategic allies, today the situation is different. As the world changes, the “good days” of the Sino-Japanese relationship are probably over. However, after a serious crisis over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands in 2012-2013, which sank the China-Japan relationship to the lowest point since the normalization of relatio..

Ren Xiao*
collective self-defense , Economic Relations , Regionalism , Territorial Disputes , Yachi Shotaro
August 04,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario I: No Escape from Troubled Seesaw in Japan-China Relations

Japan’s relations with China for about two years from September 2012 were the worst they had been since normalization in 1972. In late 2014 and over the first months of 2015, the impression spread that relations had turned a corner. Some saw signs of a return to the seesaw in relations observed for about two decades previously. Yet, since September 2012, China continues sending its patrol boats ..

Takahara Akio*
EEZ , National security , Senkaku Islands
June 30,2015 Open Forum

The US-Japan Alliance and East Asia: Five Guiding Principles

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s trip to the United States in late April and early May was touted as a success and a boost for US-Japan alliance relations. The personal dynamics between President Obama and Abe appeared much warmer compared with their previous meeting in 2014. Public sentiment between the United States and Japan is at an all-time high. As indicated in the Pew Research Center “Global..

Tanaka Hitoshi*
AIIB , Japan-US alliance , SDF , TPP , US-Japan Defense Cooperation Guidelines
June 18,2015 Review Article

‘The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash: East Asian Security and the United States’

  Brad Glosserman and Scott A. Snyder, The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash: East Asian Security and the United States, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2015). As we approach August 15, the seventieth anniversary of the end of World War II, when Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s unconditional surrender, the world waits with bated breath as Prime Minister Abe Shinzo carefully cra..

Sharon Yoon
historical revisionism , reconciliation , Shinzo Abe
June 04,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (June 2015)

Optimism in Japan is in short supply. The Foreign Ministry organized an academic group to analyze Asia after 20 years and consider what Japan’s role will be in the Asia-Pacific regional order. On April 26, Asahi Shimbun reported on both the desirable and the undesirable scenarios identified by the group. On the negative side is continuation of the inward-looking tendencies of the United States, ..

Editorial Staff
One Belt, One Road , One Road"
May 15,2015 National Commentaries

A Japanese Perspective

  "Reading Abe’s Washington Visit"   A View from Tokyo   Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s visit to the United States drew widespread praise in both Tokyo and Washington, but in both capitals a wary eye was kept on the reaction in Seoul. The visit proceeded in a triangular context. Not only were the media focused on how Japanese and Americans would respond to develo..

Kazuhiko Togo
China’s rise , collective self-defense , historical revisionism , Korea Fatigue , TPP
May 15,2015 National Commentaries

A South Korean Perspective

  "Reading Abe’s Washington Visit"   A View from Seoul   From the standpoint of what Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and President Barack Obama wanted to achieve during the most recent US-Japan summit, Abe’s US tour was a resounding success. While a last-minute breakthrough on TPP did not materialize, the two leaders vowed to expedite negotiations, but much more imp..

Lee Chung Min*
China’s rise , comfort women , historical revisionism , Kono Statement , territorial issues