Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s latest policy speeches Press Conference on TPP (Read…) Policy Speech by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the 183rd Session of the Diet (Feb. 28, 2013)(read…) “Japan is Back” Policy Speech at CSIS (read…) Press Conference during visit to the United States (read…) Policy Speech to the 183rd Session of the Diet (Jan. 28, 2013) (read…) The Bounty of the Open Seas: Five New Principles for Japanese Diplomacy (read…)... [Read more]

“Atlantic Century” to “Pacific Century” The world order is undergoing a massive, earth-shaking transformation: the center of global politics is shifting from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. With a new international environment in the making, we must significantly adjust the paradigm of how we view the world. Otherwise, we will run the danger of misreading future developments in international politics. Until the “Age of Exploration” began, the Mediterranean Sea used to be the center of world politics. Upon the discovery of the... [Read more]

The security situation in the Asia-Pacific region is changing dramatically. If a power transition stemming from the rise of emerging countries led by China proves inevitable, the international situation surrounding Japan will become unprecedentedly tough. Accordingly, the security strategy and foreign policy of Japan in an “era of transition” are coming under the spotlight. “20-Year Crisis” and Asia-Pacific Region A key point in devising a mid-term and long-term foreign policy for Japan will be an awareness and ability to envision the... [Read more]

For quite a number of years, it seemed as if China could do no wrong. While America was deploying treasure and blood in wars in the Middle East, China was on a global charm offensive, using its huge built up investment capital to seduce nations around the world to understand that China meant more to their future than other nations or multilateral organizations. I once asked the head of policy planning in China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs what China’s grand strategy was and was told, “China’s grand strategy is to keep America distracted by small Middle Eastern conflicts.” While this was meant as a joke, there was a serious nugget of truth in what he said. While America had become King of the Hill after the Cold War, America was busily... [Read more]

I am wondering how the international order will change 20 years from now. Will China as an emerging power become a hegemonic nation? Where will Japan stand in international society? In this essay, I will consider the outlook for power politics in East Asia and ways toward Japan’s rehabilitation as a global actor. History is my specialty. Historians analyze past events but do not make future projections. Nevertheless, historians know one thing about the future, namely that no one knows about the future. In 1945 when Japan lost the last war, was there anyone who could predict the nation’s rapid economic growth that began a... [Read more]

Main points: — Rebuild U.S.-Japan relations on the basis of the changes in its surrounding environment — Establish a trilateral framework between Japan, the United States and China to enhance military confidence-building — Participate in the making of economic rules under the Trans-Pacific Partnership Over the past 10 years, the U.S.-Japan relationship has changed significantly. As in “Operation Tomodachi” carried out by the... [Read more]

Excerpts from the Original Essay: In addition to China’s rise, the decline of Japan has caused the balance of power between Japan and China to shift markedly over recent decades. Some analysts find it distracting to describe Japan’s situation as “decline.” As a leading expert, Gerald L. Curtis of Columbia University, correctly pointed out on a Council on Foreign Relations blog last year, “if you think about living standards and the quality of the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat, the health care and other social services you receive, and the number of years you can expect to live, the answer is obvious: better to live in ‘declining’ Japan... [Read more]

1. Introduction The security situation in East Asia is becoming unstable. The People’s Republic of China (PRC), with its continuing military build-up, has increased its maritime presence and heightened tensions with neighboring countries in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. In particular, since the Japanese government nationalized the Senkaku Islands (called Diaoyu Islands in the PRC) in the East China Sea in September 2012, the PRC has frequently sent government ships to waters near the islands. In January 2013, a PRC navy warship directed fire-control radar at a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer in these waters, causing... [Read more]

Chairman Hiromasa Yonekura of Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation) said in September 2012 that the government should admit the existence of a “territorial dispute” over the Senkaku Islands. In a policy agreement between the Japan Restoration Party and the Sunrise Party for the latest general election, furthermore, they said they would prompt China to take the question of the Senkaku Islands to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). However, it should be noted that the ICJ is an international tribunal tasked with settling “legal disputes” – but not “political disputes” – between nations. If Japan refers the Senkaku problem to the ICJ, it will mean Japan’s admission of the... [Read more]

Joint Declaration of Citizens from Japan and China Today – Sept. 29, 2012 – is the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and the People’s Republic of China. In the past 40 years, Japan and China have cooperated with each other to achieve remarkable economic growth and development. When we look back at this outcome, we’d like to express our appreciation to the people whose efforts achieved this normalization of diplomatic relations. Japan and China which are only separated by a narrow stretch of water share a long history of interaction and amity. It has been a significant achievement for both... [Read more]