- United States
- Literary Bridge-Builder: An Interview with Shibata Motoyuki
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Authors, editors, and translators gathered in Tokyo on March 1–3 for the city’s first major international literary festival. We spoke to one of the organizers, scholar and translator Shibata Motoyuki, about the international potential of Japanese literature.
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- Japan’s Admission to the TPP Talks, Aung San Suu Kyi’s VisitShiraishi Takashi
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On April 12 the Japanese and US governments successfully concluded their bilateral consultations concerning Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. In addition to confirming the objective set forth in their February 22 joint statement of “achieving a comprehensive, high-standard agreement, as described in the Outlines of the TPP Agreement,” the two governments agreed…
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- Japan-US Relations: The Need for Commitment and Restraint
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Abe Shinzō’s new administration has made a promising start in its dealings with the United States, including an inaugural summit with President Barack Obama that laid the groundwork for Japan’s participation in negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. The bilateral relationship faces numerous issues, though, whose outcome remains to be seen. We asked former ambassador to the United States Fujisaki Ichirō to share his thoughts.
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- The Future of the Japan-Australia PartnershipOgoura Kazuo
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In October 2012, the Australian government published a white paper outlining the country’s Asia policy for the twenty-first century. Titled “Australia in the Asian Century,” the white paper examined the policies Australia needs to adopt to make the most of the opportunities presented by the burgeoning Asian economy. The publication of the white paper is itself symbolic of the seriousness of Aus…
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- Keeping Taylor Anderson’s Dream Alive and Well
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Taylor Anderson was one of the two American victims of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The 24-year-old was an English teacher in Ishinomaki, one of the northern coastal cities swept by a devastating tsunami immediately after the earthquake. Soon after her death, the Anderson family established the Taylor Anderson Memorial Gift Fund to carry on her spirit by assisting grassroots programs for youth in the disaster-hit areas. Andy Anderson, Taylor’s father, contributed the following article with his son Jeffrey.
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- Risk-Taking Investors Welcome AbenomicsItoh Motoshige
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Abe Shinzō has taken over as prime minister for the second time. The market and the political world have welcomed his arrival and especially his message that, for the time being, vanquishing deflation will be his top priority. As a result, the overvalued yen has undergone some correction, and stock prices have made large gains. While his administration is still working out the details of its polic…
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- Daniel Inouye, Japanese American Statesman and HeroHarano Jōji
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On December 17, 2012, US Senator Daniel Inouye passed away at the age of 88. President Barack Obama issued a statement the same evening, saying, “our country has lost a true American hero.” As a longtime leader of the Japanese American community and a living link between Japan and the United States, the Hawaiian-born Inouye will be mourned on both sides of the Pacific. His death was a loss to bot…
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- North Korea’s Rocket Launch Alters Diplomatic Playing FieldSuzuki Kazuto
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North Korea’s successful launch of a satellite last December has altered the diplomatic situation. Suzuki Kazuto, a professor at Hokkaidō University, ponders the changes likely to arise and the actions Japan might take in response.
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- Japanese Energy Strategy in the Shale-Gas EraShibata Akio
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With imports of natural gas booming following the shutdown of nuclear reactors nationwide, Shibata Akio calls for a national energy strategy geared to new domestic and global realities—including a global energy market transformed by the shale revolution.
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- Criticizing Youth Will Not Make Them Go AbroadAndrew Horvat
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A report earlier this year that the number of Japanese students at US universities had dipped below 20,000 for the first time in a quarter century unleashed a flood of articles lamenting an alleged decline in interest among young Japanese in the world around them. One newspaper carried the headline “Students staying in Japan,” while a commentator writing earlier about the same phenomenon stated…
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