The Dark Past and Uncertain Future of Nuclear Energy in Japan
In October 2020, then-Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide declared that Japan would reach net-zero greenhouse gas emission by 2050, an extremely high hurdle for the country to achieve in just thirty years. Japan is among the world’s largest carbon emitters, with forty percent of its emissions coming from energy production; in 2019, fossil fuels composed 88 […]
Henoko, The LDP State, and the Future of Democracy in Okinawa
This article discusses sexual assault. In January, Nago City re-elected Mayor Toguchi Taketoyo instead of his opponent Kishimoto Yohei by roughly 15 percent. The central issue of this race was the relocation of the US Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Futenma from a crowded city center to the coastal Henoko district of Nago. This immensely […]
Japan’s Failing Immigration System
This article discusses violence, suicide, and self-harm. On March 6, 2021, Wishma Sandamali, a Sri Lankan national who entered Japan on a student visa, died in custody at an Aichi Prefecture immigration detention facility. In August 2020, authorities arrested and detained her for overstaying her visa after seeking help from police officials regarding a domestic […]
Troubled Waters at Fukushima Daiichi
Since the 2011 triple disaster decimated Japan’s northeast Tohoku region, the area surrounding Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has seen the construction of hundreds of massive temporary water storage tanks. These vessels contain highly contaminated water used to cool melted uranium fuel rods in the sites’s three reactors. In the days following the tsunami, each […]
Cracking Japan’s Systemic Sexual Abuse Culture
This article discusses sexual violence in detail.
Asia After Trump: Competitive Coexistence in the Biden Era
The new Biden administration will have to address myriad challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic to affordable health care to climate change. While his immediate focus is on domestic issues, Biden will eventually need to turn his attention to the Asia-Pacific, a region of geostrategic importance to Washington. The security environment has changed significantly since Biden […]
A New START for Arms Control
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START)—a bilateral agreement that constrains the US and Russia’s nuclear arsenals—expires in February. Despite bipartisan support for an extension, President Trump has been adamant that the US will not accept Russia’s unconditional offer for a five-year continuance. The administration is choosing instability over stability. Ambassador Marshall Billingslea, the […]
Seeking an Answer to Overconcentration in Tokyo
As COVID-19 ravaged the world, Japan’s economy shrank more than at any time since data tracking began in 1980. New Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will undoubtedly make the recovery his top priority. But Suga should also properly address overconcentration in Tokyo, a serious problem that prolonged the pandemic. Immediately after Japan declared a state of […]
Denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula is Still a Distant Dream
Motivational speaker Simon Sinek once said, “Dream big. Start small. But most of all, start.” Washington’s North Korea policy doesn’t follow this adage, instead negotiating for total denuclearization instead of small victories. Complete, Verifiable, Irreversible Denuclearization can be the goal. The idea isn’t new; however, as President Clinton’s chief negotiator with North Korea Robert Gallucci […]
What Global Principled Disobedience Means
In The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen represents a covert rebel alliance attempting to topple a repressive regime. When the series was adapted for the big screen, it became a pop culture phenomenon and helped catapult its leading actress, Jennifer Lawrence, to stardom. It also became a symbol of massive anti-government resistance in Thailand. After General […]