Japan Archive

Earlier this month, the Japanese Defense Ministry said two Russian fighter jets had violated its airspace, roughly a month after Japan announced a similar violation by China. In an email interview, Richard Bitzinger, an expert in Asia-Pacific military modernization at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, discussed the state of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces and Japan’s response to regional tensions. WPR: What is the current state of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF)? Richard Bitzinger: Historically, the JASDF has been the most powerful air force in East Asia, and, for the most part, it still maintains a strong reputation. It comprises […]

Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on East Asian energy cooperation. Part I examined cooperation in energy conservation and natural gas markets. Part II examines cooperation in nuclear energy. Despite heightened political tensions among Japan, China and South Korea over territorial disputes in the East China Sea, Asian economic cooperation remains critical to the global economy as it struggles to return to widespread growth. Energy cooperation among these three Asian powers offers an opportunity for much-needed constructive engagement, and nowhere is this more urgent than in the area of nuclear energy. Before the Fukushima nuclear accident […]

Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series on East Asian energy cooperation. Part I examines cooperation in energy conservation and natural gas markets. Part II will examine cooperation in nuclear energy. Over the past few months, Japan’s relations with China and South Korea have deteriorated rapidly over territorial disputes. This is particularly true for relations between Japan and China, which are often described as having “cold politics and a hot economy,” with the implication that political tensions will not damage economic ties. But now, reactions to the territorial disputes are beginning to spill into the economic realm, […]

In a recent visit to Southeast Asia, his first overseas trip as Japan’s new prime minister, Shinzo Abe openly baited Beijing over the disputed Senkaku Islands. In a direct reference to China, Abe declared, “Open seas are public assets, and Japan will do its utmost to protect them by cooperating with the [Association of Southeast Asian Nations].” During the three-day trip, in which he visited Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, Abe underscored his key concern by repeatedly voicing Japan’s opposition to any changing of the “status quo by force” — especially in territorial disputes involving China and its neighbors in East […]