Mark Selden, a historian at Cornell University, has suggested that Japan look toward seeking cooperation with its neighbors on environmental issues as a way to ease tensions heightened by the territorial disputes with China and South Korea.

"At a time when Japanese politics is in massive disarray . . . when the most extreme nationalist wing has just created a powerful new party, this is the worst possible time to move in the (territorial) conflict," Selden said in a recent interview.

He was referring to Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party), founded by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and now led by former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, who has said Japan should conduct a simulation to assess the potential impact of the country acquiring nuclear weapons.