Feb 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 […]

Editorial Staff
Japan , National security , Non-military activity , Shuttle diplomacy
Nov 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 […]

John Fitzgerald
China , History , Japan , Nanjing Massacre , National identity , World Anti-Fascist War
Sep 29,2014 National Commentaries

A Japanese Perspective

"Reassessing the Park-Xi Summit"   For understandable reasons, the Japanese paid rapt attention to the July 2014 Seoul summit between China and South Korea. Perhaps, the most compelling reason was to see what stance the two would take on issues concerning Japan, especially the territorial and historical consciousness questions. At the prior June 2013 Beijing […]

Kimura Kan*
China , collective self-defense , Japan , joint ceremony of remembrance , missile defense , National identity , National security , public opinion , South Korea , Southeast Asia
Sep 02,2014 Topics of the Month

Civilizational Divides and Regional Confrontations – 2

Unlike previous Topics of the Month, this one will have multiple authors as well as rejoinders. The idea for it arose from Francois Godement’s observations that the European powers are not much interested in becoming involved in the maritime struggles between China and its neighbors or in the North Korean nuclear crisis. Unlike the era […]

Gilbert Rozman
Asia , China , Economic dependence , Europe , France , G7 sanctions , international community , Japan , National identity , National security
Sep 02,2014 Review Article

Japanese Publications on Japan-Russia Relations

Kaigai jijo, special Issue on turbulence in the sphere of the old Soviet Union, June 2014 Togo Kazuhiko, Hoppo ryodo kosho hiroku: ushinawareta gotabi no kikai [The Inside Story of the Negotiations on the Northern Territory: Five Lost Windows of Opportunity] (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2007; rev. expanded paper edit. 2011). Kimura Hiroshi and Hakamada Shigeki, eds., […]

Gilbert Rozman
China , Japan , Mini-Soviet Union , National identity , National security , Putin’s visit to Japan , Russia , sanctions , Sphere of influence , Territorial Disputes