December 19, 2012
Financial markets responded favorably to the Liberal Democratic Party’s victory in the Dec. 16 Lower House election. As LDP leader Shinzo Abe hoped, the yen fell against foreign currencies while stock prices rose, with the Nikkei 225 index closing above the 10,000-point mark on Dec. 19 for the first time in eight months.
December 18, 2012
Following the Liberal Democratic Party's landslide victory in the Lower House election on Dec. 16, incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may succeed in passing his proposal to amend the Constitution by winning support from both the Japan Restoration Party and the Democratic Party of Japan, instead of coalition partner New Komeito, said Takashi Mikuriya, a professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun.
December 17, 2012
NEW YORK--Former U.S. Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, a prominent figure in the world financial community for decades, feels the reforms implemented so far are not enough to fix the problems plaguing the global banking sector.
December 17, 2012
Political analysts say many of the voters who ended the Liberal Democratic Party's reign three years ago voted in an unfocused manner this time, a pattern that allowed the party to surge back into power.
December 13, 2012
Is populism bad? Toru Yoshida, a researcher of European comparative politics, thinks not. In fact, he says populism, in its genuine form, is the only way to save Japanese democracy.
December 13, 2012
North Korea has long promised to "open the gate to a great, prosperous and powerful nation" this year, as it marks the centenary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of the North Korean state.
December 07, 2012
SEOUL--U.S. insecurities about the rapid rise of China, coupled with China's insistence on being recognized as a global powerhouse, is creating friction that could possibly sow the seeds of conflict.
December 02, 2012
Theorizing about leadership is a popular trend, and you can find plenty of titles on the subject at the bookstore. The issue of unreliable leaders has certainly come under the spotlight since last year's Great East Japan Earthquake. Many people are wanting and hoping for political and business leaders to emerge and change the world. But business scholar Seiichiro Yonekura cautions against waiting for a leader to come in and save the day.
November 28, 2012
Chinese imports from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations outstripped those from Japan in terms of value in the January-June period of this year.
November 26, 2012
"The post-American world," a notion elaborated in a book by Indian-born journalist Fareed Zakaria, provides a hint of how U.S. President Barack Obama sees the world.
November 22, 2012
With right-wing politicians grabbing headlines and leading in public opinion polls, one might expect Kunio Suzuki to be rubbing his hands in glee.
November 19, 2012
Shizuoka's prefectural assembly has rejected a bill to hold a public referendum that would have put the restart of the nuclear reactors in the prefecture to a yes-or-no vote. The Asahi Shimbun reported on Oct. 12 that some assembly members had yielded to pressure by labor unions of the electric power industry.
November 16, 2012
Myanmar is enjoying rewards such as eased sanctions, but it may yet face problems along the road toward economic reforms and civilian rule, warns a leading expert in international relations.
November 12, 2012
As a living witness to the Chinese Civil War, physicist Homare Endo has devoted the latter part of her academic career to in-depth studies of the Communist Party leadership that emerged from the conflict.
November 11, 2012
Some China watchers have described China’s next leader, Xi Jinping, as an economic and political reformist who will crack down on the corruption plaguing the country. But others say Xi is a conservative who will promote nationalistic policies and take a tough stance in diplomacy.
November 10, 2012
Japan, saddled with a shrinking and graying population, will very likely see a rapid decline in its global presence 40 years from now.
November 07, 2012
The Hu Jintao administration oversaw a close to fourfold expansion of China’s economy, but it also left behind a number of social contradictions, such as corruption and economic disparity, for his successor, Xi Jinping.
November 07, 2012
Philosopher and writer Hiroki Azuma made a seemingly flippant and irreverent comment in the Sept. 4 online issue of the weekly Shukan Playboy magazine by suggesting that the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant be turned into a tourist attraction: a theme park, no less.
November 07, 2012
PARIS--The only viable policy option for the United States to peacefully coexist with an ascending China is to share power.
November 06, 2012
Reading the tea leaves on what lies in store for China under its next leader, Xi Jinping, does not readily foretell political reform involving meaningful steps to introduce democratic elements, nor does it warrant any optimism for an improvement in highly strained Japan-China relations.