Japan is at a crossroads in many ways as the nation greets the 70th year since it set out on the path of rebuilding after its defeat in World War II. For better or worse, the past two years of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration, which finally put an end to the revolving-door political leadership, have shed light on the nation's long-term challenges for which we don't have easy answers.

While Abe's fight against deflation that gripped Japan since the 1990s has so far produced mixed results, government leaders grope their way to cope with the nation's demographic woes that paint a bleak picture of its future.

The prime minister, meanwhile, advocates a departure from Japan's "postwar regime" and is ready to push an agenda that sharply divides public opinion, including changes to the nation's postwar defense posture and eventually amending the Constitution.