Yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that rocked sections of Hyogo Prefecture near Kobe, Japan and claimed 6,434 lives. Ceremonies were held throughout Kobe, as government officials, members of Japan’s imperial family, and bereaved loved ones sat in silent prayer at 5:46 am, the time that the […]
In light of the tragic earthquake in Haiti, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is cutting her trip to Asia short. This is a prudent decision, as the relief effort will require high-level coordination across agencies and in tandem with nations from across the globe. There is indeed much work to be done at the State […]
The Eurasia Group, Ian Bremmer and Co.’s global policy think tank, has just published the Top Risks of 2010, its annual attempt to identify and characterize the most pressing global challenges for the year ahead. It should comes as no surprise that East Asia figures prominently into their calculations. The top risk of 2010, according […]
Yukio Hatoyama, the Japanese Prime Minister, is all over the internet. Indeed, the Democratic Party of Japan has done a good job keeping the Cabinet apace with social media technology. As a result, we now have a portal into the mind of the Japanese PM like never before. Hato Cafe, the PM’s blog (available only […]
Those interested in East Asian economic and political issues have just lost one of their greatest resources: The Feer Eastern Economic Review (FEER). December brought the terminal edition of FEER, a once flagship journal on East Asian economics and politics that, according to its 1946 mission statement, sought to “analyze and interpret financial, commercial and […]
The recent visit to Japan by Saeed Jalili, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, has some analysts now considering the prospect of a Japanese-led effort to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. By all accounts the visit was a success. The Iranian envoy was receptive to Japan’s case for a civilian nuclear energy program and expressed interest in further […]
The much heralded Asian Century is upon us. Or so at least pundits and scholars would have us thinking. Through numerous books (When China Rules the World: the End of the Western World and the New Global Order), articles (Next Hot Language to Study: Chinese), op-eds (Welcome To The Asian Century By 2050), and strategic […]
Recent developments regarding the contentious issue of relocating the Marine Corps Air Station in Futenma, Okinawa have elicited a heated exchange of ideas and much speculation on the future of the US-Japan alliance. Indeed, since the recently elected administration of Yukio Hatoyama first announced that it would seek a renegotiation of the treaty guiding the […]