Please, no more Yasukuni visits

by Clyde Prestowitz

For the White House to welcome Japan to the TPP talks and to tell China to back off on the Senkakus, while Japan's top leaders visit Yasukuni Shrine, is ridiculous.

Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Apr 28, 2013

Abe-history: Premier again seems set on stoking controversy and ire

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is no stranger to historical controversy. Back in 2001 he pressured national broadcaster NHK to revise a documentary about the judgment of an international people’s tribunal regarding the war responsibility of Emperor Hirohito (posthumously known as Emperor Showa). And in ...

Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Apr 21, 2013

Saving Japan: promoting women's role in the workforce would help

by Jeff Kingston

Christine Lagarde, director of the International Monetary Fund, believes women can save Japan. Some would argue they already are, taking on as they do all sorts of responsibilities ranging from mother, wife and caregiver for elderly relatives to employee, volunteer and household finance minister. ...

Editorial Mar 23, 2013

What's the LDP's true agenda?

In the wake of the LDP's most recent convention, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would do well to stop obsessing over nonessential constitutional revisions.

Editorial Mar 13, 2013

Kowtowing to the power companies

The Abe administration's apparent refusal to heed the lessons of the Fukushima nuclear disaster suggests it is just kowtowing to the power industry.

Japan-related Feb 27, 2013

Boosting the Japan-U.S. alliance

by Jamie Metzl

If the two countries work to tackle problems in their own societies, the Japan-U.S. partnership could be as significant in the future as it has ever been.

Editorial Feb 26, 2013

Tough talks ahead for Japan

Contrary to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's claim, Japan has not received a clear assurance from the U.S. that it can continue to retain high tariffs on such sensitive agricultural products as rice as a condition for joining the TPP talks.