As people across the world witnessed the birth of a landmark international agreement on combating global warming, Japan remained almost invisible throughout the two weeks of high-stakes negotiations at the U.N. climate talks on the outskirts of Paris.
Japan's failure to display a meaningful role in advancing the talks as the world's fifth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide hints at a general lack of interest among policymakers in Tokyo in tackling climate change in earnest.
Questions remain over whether Japan can keep a passive stance on an issue that has come to command so much global attention and prompted strong calls for immediate action, including in Japan, where dozens of coal-fired power plants are being planned in light of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster that led to the shutdown of almost all commercial reactors over safety concerns.