Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Hatoyama’s article on the “Banner of Fraternity” — particularly the part that deals with globalization, Americanism and Japan’s relations with her Asian neighbors — has drawn many comments both in Japan and the United States. Most of them ...

The number of students from China, South Korea and other Asian countries studying at American or European universities have, in general, been increasing over the years. Although there was a time when such a tendency was checked due to the increasing complexity of entry ...

Current worldwide economic and financial difficulties have triggered a debate over the need to strengthen the Group of 20, a forum of 20 major “economic” powers, including newly emerging countries such as China, India or Brazil, as well as some additional Western European countries. ...

Peace is not simply an absence of military conflict. It is a long process in which potential or actual opponents can deepen their understanding of each other and correct misperceptions or misunderstandings. If this aspect is lacking, military conflict can easily break out again. ...

As a result of globalization, intellectual frameworks and paradigms for forming cultural policies are shifting, especially regarding cultural activity in international contexts. First, because cultural activity can now be diffused more quickly and widely across the border. As a result, culture, as part of ...

Under the Bush administration, the Japan-U.S. alliance has undergone a quiet but important transformation in the eyes of most Japanese people: It has become a global alliance instead of a regional or bilateral one. Such a transformation can be witnessed in at least two ...

Over the past few months, concerns have been expressed in Japan over the possible “protectionist” tendencies of the Obama administration. It appears that these concerns have two roots: One is related to the values of the Japan-U.S. military strategic alliance, and the other to ...

In almost all international polls, Japan ranks high in ratings with regard to peacefulness or contribution to world peace and stability. In other words, people in many countries have a favorable image of Japan. There is, however, a noteworthy exception: China. Japan is neither ...

The Toyako, Hokkaido, summit witnessed moves to expand the Group of Eight forum of leading industrial nations through the addition of China, India and other new members. In a sense, of course, the G8 has already expanded, as seen in the meetings with African ...

The international community of scholars with an interest in Japan is rife with whisperings of Japan’s “invisibility.” These scholars note that international policy forums on security and global political issues often take place without any Japanese participants, and that even when Japanese do attend ...

The rise of China and India is a frequent topic of discussion in the international community. In pondering the global repercussions of this rise and how the world might cope with it, it is instructive to examine how the international community dealt with Japan, ...

A charter governing the activities of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was adopted at the 13th ASEAN summit held in Singapore in November on the 40th anniversary of the regional grouping. Among other things, the document calls for the establishment of a Committee ...