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Brad Glosserman

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Brad Glosserman
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 29, 2008
Bush's nuclear deal with India: bigger consequences to consider
HONOLULU/STOCKHOLM — The U.S.-India civilian nuclear agreement was signed into law this month after two years of negotiations and bitter debates. The final deal sharply divides arms control and nonproliferation specialists. The focus of an often-emotional debate revolves around a simple question: Is...
COMMENTARY
Sep 6, 2008
It's deja vu, all over again
Here we go again. Less than a year after Shinzo Abe stunned supporters with a sudden resignation from office, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has decided to do the same. Fukuda blamed a divided Diet, plummeting approval ratings, and a desire to avoid a political vacuum for his decision to step down....
COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 2008
Japan peers into the abyss
HONOLULU — It is an item of faith for many Japanese — and many Japan watchers — that their country will never build or acquire nuclear weapons. Japan's nonnuclear status, a product of both the searing experience of August 1945 and a calculation of the strategic value of nuclear weapons, has been...
COMMENTARY
Jan 23, 2008
False choices for Tokyo
HONOLULU — A gloom is settling over Tokyo. A recent visit revealed deep and deepening frustration and anxiety as Japanese contemplate strategic options. Decision-makers in Tokyo have framed their choices in overly simple terms that do not reflect the range of possibilities in foreign and security policy....
COMMENTARY
Sep 13, 2007
Lashing out at U.S. won't help Taiwan
TAIPEI — For all the divisions that define Taiwan politics, parties on both ends of the political spectrum agree on one thing: The island is in trouble. At that point, however, they part ways.
COMMENTARY
Aug 3, 2007
Wanted: creative leadership
HONOLULU — As expected, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) were defeated in Sunday's Upper House election. And, despite concerted attempts to lower expectations, the results still embarrassed the ruling party.
COMMENTARY
Jul 30, 2007
Ending the nuclear threat
UNITED NATIONS — Since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, security planners the world over have lost considerable sleep contemplating the prospect of terrorists armed with nuclear weapons.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2007
And now to trilateralism
NANJING, China — How good are China-Japan relations today? So good that the museum here to commemorate the 1937 massacre by Japanese Imperial Army soldiers is closed for renovation. That's remarkable since this is the 70th anniversary of the massacre and criticism of historical revisionism of Japan...
COMMENTARY
Apr 19, 2007
Nuclear basics for the alliance
HONOLULU -- Nuclear strategy has become a core concern in the U.S.-Japan alliance. North Korea is the immediate trigger for Japanese anxiety, but similar uncertainties lie just beneath the surface when Japan contemplates China as well. U.S. assurances are needed -- both to Japan and to potential adversaries...
COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 2007
Baseless threats of cold war
HONOLULU -- U.S. plans to deploy an antiballistic missile defense system in Europe have raised fears of a new Cold War. Russian responses to the proposal have been fierce: Moscow has warned countries that hosting interceptors would make them targets in the event of conflict. In fact, the planned deployments...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2007
Abe should be looking forward, not back
HONOLULU -- What was he thinking? That is the question most Japan-watchers grappled with following Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's fumbled questions about the imperial Japanese government's role in recruiting "comfort women" during World War II. His responses came close to undoing the progress he...
COMMENTARY
Jan 25, 2007
Abe's aggressive agenda
HONOLULU -- There is no mistaking Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's determination to transform Japan's foreign and security policies, and reassert itself in the world. Yet while he must seize opportunities as he forges this new role, he must also reassure doubters both at home and abroad that Japan will act...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 14, 2007
Asia's shift in global importance
Chasing the Sun: Rethinking East Asian Policy, by Morton Abramowitz and Stephen Bosworth. New York: A Century Foundation Book, 2006, 165 pp., $15.95 (paper). Slowly but surely, the United States is waking up to the profound changes afoot in the structure of global power. The rise of China is one sign...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 17, 2006
Economic power struggles in Asia
JAPAN IN A DYNAMIC ASIA: Coping With the New Security Challenges, edited by Yoichiro Sato and Satu Limaye. Lexington Books, 2006, 271 pp., 2006 (paper). Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he will pursue a more assertive foreign policy. That won't be easy, report the authors of this comprehensive survey...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 12, 2006
Sticking to the invective is less effective
NUCLEAR SHOWDOWN: North Korea Takes on the World, by Gordon C. Chang. Random House, 2006, 327 pp., $25.95 (cloth). Gordon Chang really can pick 'em. In 2001, as the world awakened to China's incandescent rise, he made a stir with "The Coming Collapse of China." Earlier this year he published "Nuclear...
COMMENTARY
Oct 16, 2006
Forget about Japan racing to go nuclear
HONOLULU -- Take a deep breath and repeat: "Japan is not going to develop nuclear weapons." Feel better?
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2006
Shinzo Abe's twin challenges
HONOLULU -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he wants to make Japan "a country that is trusted and loved" by the entire world. On the face of it, this should not be that difficult a task. After all, in the past 60 years, no nation has been more committed to peace and more generous to its neighbors...
COMMENTARY
Jul 9, 2006
'Sayonara Summit' saw the best of ties
HONOLULU -- The "Sayonara Summit" went well -- as expected. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's last visit to the United States as prime minister -- a "summit-cum-road trip," with a 19-gun salute and visit to Graceland -- set a new standard for intimacy on the diplomatic circuit. It was a fitting farewell...
COMMENTARY
Jul 8, 2006
A Germany not ashamed to wave the flag
BERLIN -- It was clear from the taxi ride into town from Hamburg airport that something was different: Most buildings had a German flag hanging from a balcony. More remarkable still were the cars with small German flags protruding from windows. By the time I got to Berlin, it seemed that every third...
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2006
Whither the six-party talks?
HONOLULU -- It has been nine months since the fourth round of six-party talks to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula concluded with a joint statement of principles. That statement now appears to be the high-water mark of the process rather than a baseline for future negotiations.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Japan to require flight passengers to keep power banks within sight
The transport ministry has announced new regulations requiring flight passengers to keep power banks within sight to mitigate fire risks while on board planes.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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