Commentary / Japan Oct 20, 2017
The wisdom of Tanzan Ishibashi
by Kenji Nagano
Japan might be a very different country today if Prime Minister Tanzan Ishibahi hadn't handed the reins of power over to Nobusuke Kishi after just 65 days in office.
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT May 27, 2017
Under Abe, are we heading toward a beautiful Japan or an ugly future?
by Jeff Kingston
Where is the beauty in downplaying the "comfort women" issue, muzzling the media, promoting patriotic education, rolling back transparency and restarting nuclear reactors?
National / Politics Dec 24, 2016
Hawaii paper says two more Japanese leaders visited Pearl Harbor in the 1950s
Reports from a local Hawaiian newspaper show two more prime ministers visited Pearl Harbor in the 1950s, providing further evidence Shinzo Abe will not be the first.
National / History May 10, 2014
Going nuclear: How close has Japan come?
by Eric Johnston
We examine the historical debate on the country's nuclear ambitions
National / History Oct 30, 2013
Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi pressed U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower at a summit in 1957 to consider setting a deadline for returning Okinawa, saying the Japanese public might otherwise become nervous about U.S. intentions, according to diplomatic records declassified Wednesday. The talks, 15 years before ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Sep 28, 2013
Japan and Korea: Reconciliation and redress for wrongs remain elusive
by Jeff Kingston
On the eve of the International Olympic Committee's decision to award the 2020 Summer Games to Tokyo, Seoul's abrupt import ban on all fisheries products from Fukushima and seven other Japanese prefectures was clearly a response to public concerns about radiation spewing into the ...
National / History Mar 17, 2013
Japan discussed acquisition of 'defensive' nuclear weapons in 1958
Foreign Ministry officials in 1958 debated the acquisition of “defensive” nuclear weapons and reported their interest to the U.S., newly declassified documents show.