India and Japan come together again (Darshana M. Baruah, East Asia Forum)

http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/11/11/india-and-japan-come-together-again/

Is fiscal crisis inevitable in Japan? (Masahiko Takeda, East Asia Forum)

http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/11/07/is-fiscal-crisis-inevitable-in-japan/

A serious setback to PM Abe’s nuclear energy programme (Observer Research Foundation)

http://www.orfonline.org/expert-speaks/serious-setback-abe-nuclear-energy-japan/

Japan’s future defense equipment policy (Col. Hiroyuki Sugai, Brookings)

https://www.brookings.edu/research/japans-future-defense-equipment-policy/

A Japanese multicultural society still far off (Chris Burgess, East Asia Forum)

Earlier this year I was asked by a group of non-Japanese global business leaders to talk about Japan’s immigration situation. The participants were remarkably well informed about Japan’s ‘dire’ demographic state of affairs — its declining and ageing population — and were interested in how Japan was planning to handle a labour shortfall. They were incredulous when I explained that Japan has no plans to open its doors to migrants any time soon. For them this was economic suicide made possible only through some kind of cognitive dissonance. For a long-term resident of Japan, the interesting thing about this conversation was the disconnection between the sense of crisis felt by outsiders and the lack of action in Japan itself.

http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/10/13/a-japanese-multicultural-society-still-far-off/

Japan’s nuclear insurance against North Korea (Nidhi Prasad, East Asia Forum)

George Shultz’s axiom that ‘proliferation begets proliferation’ appears to be contested in East Asia. North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test on 9 September, leaving its non-nuclear Asian neighbours vexed. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe termed it ‘totally unacceptable’ and has called for strict sanctions. But the international fear of North Korea’s nuclear tests triggering a chain of nuclear tests in East Asia or the rise of a nuclear tsunami seems to have been dispelled with the United States’ Asian allies favouring ‘strategic assurance’.

http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/10/12/japans-nuclear-insurance-against-north-korea/

Brexit and its Consequences: Anglo-Japanese Relations in a Post-EU Referendum World (John Nilsson-Wright, Kiichi Fujiwara, Chatham House)

Substantial discrepancies in immediate strategic interests suggest that cooperation between the UK and Japan, if it is to take place, is likely to be modest in nature and should build on existing bilateral security accords.

https://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/brexit-and-its-consequences-anglo-japanese-relations-post-eu-referendum-world

Women can save Japan (East Asia Forum)

By almost any measure Japan ranks as one of the worst countries in the OECD, or among advanced economies, to be a working woman. Women are vastly underrepresented in senior positions in companies, politics and society.

http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/10/03/women-can-save-japan/

Can embracing diversity solve Japan’s population problems? (Naomi Koshi, East Asia Forum)

Japan’s population has been falling since 2011. In 2014 Japan’s total fertility rate stood at 1.42 children per woman — one of the lowest in the OECD. Population decline has led to labour shortages, decreased consumption and a related hit to the economy, with GDP growth at an anaemic 0.8 per cent in 2015. Decreased tax revenues further raise the spectre that social welfare programs, such as social security-type benefits paid to the elderly, may no longer be fiscally sustainable in the near future. Embracing diversity is a key factor in solving these issues.

http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/10/02/can-embracing-diversity-solve-japans-population-problems/

Japan’s new icon for gender equality (Emma Dalton, East Asia Forum)

Japanese women are making cracks in the glass ceiling of politics. On 15 September 2016, Japan’s main opposition party, the Democratic Party (DP), elected a woman as its new leader. In light of the dearth of women in politics and leadership positions in all sectors of Japanese society, this is a significant development.

http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/10/02/japans-new-icon-for-gender-equality/

How to make womenomics work (Nobuko Nagase, East Asia Forum)

According to the latest medium-term Japanese population projections by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, the number of people aged over 75 is expected to increase by 5.3 million from 2015 to 2025, while the working-age population, aged 20 to 59, will shrink by 5.3 million. Government policies to increase the wage income of women and facilitate better work–life balance will be crucial to managing this demographic change.

http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/09/29/how-to-make-womenomics-work/

Japan, the irreristible enigma (Ajit Ranade, South Asia Monitor)

http://southasiamonitor.org/detail.php?type=pacific&nid=17625

A Tale of Two Debt Write-Downs (Adair Turner, Project-Syndicate)

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/greece-japan-debt-relief-by-adair-turner-2016-06

India and Japan: Emerging Indo-Pacific Security Partnership (Dhruva Jaishankar, RSIS)

India and Japan, motivated primarily by shared concerns about China, have been developing a closer defence partnership defined by regular maritime exercises and high-level political consultations. The upward trajectory in strategic ties since 2006 can be maintained, as long as both countries take certain structural limitations into consideration

http://www.rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/rsis/co16130-india-and-japan-emerging-indo-pacific-security-partnership/#.V00Q7dKLTIU

Japan’s Disappointing Entrée into the Global Arms Market (Richard A. Bitzinger, RSIS)

Japan’s failure to win the Australian submarine contract highlights the challenges of entering the global arms market. Japan may secure export sales in the future, but it will likely have to start small and be realistic

http://www.rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/rsis/co16128-japans-disappointing-entree-into-the-global-arms-market/#.V0vh5zWLTIU

Il fattore nucleare nel nuovo Giappone di Abe (Fabio Tana, Aspenia online)

Il dossier del nucleare civile costituisce da tempo il più evidente punto di divaricazione tra la politica del governo Abe e l’opinione pubblica giapponese così come viene definita dai sondaggi. Ma il quadro ora sembra destinato a complicarsi perché il rifiuto di dotarsi di armi atomiche - fin dagli anni ’60 fonte di polemiche - appare un tabù ormai logoro. Tra i due problemi non esiste una correlazione diretta, se si esclude l’ambizione del Giappone di realizzare il ciclo chiuso del combustibile nucleare, che comporta la creazione di scorte di plutonio teoricamente usabile anche a scopo militare

http://www.aspeninstitute.it/aspenia-online/article/il-fattore-nucleare-nel-nuovo-giappone-di-abe

Il ruolo militare del Giappone: alleato degli USA e vera potenza regionale (Francesco Leone Grotti, Aspenia online)

Quando a marzo il Giappone ha abbandonato il suo storico pacifismo totale del dopoguerra, su pressione degli Stati Uniti, la Cina non l’ha presa bene e ha subito percepito la novità come una minaccia. “Il signore della guerra Shinzo Abe ha abbandonato la Costituzione del Giappone, non facendo altro che mettere in pericolo il diritto del paese a vivere in pace”, ha commentato l’agenzia ufficiale cinese Xinhua, riferendosi al premier nipponico e alla legge votata nel settembre 2015 ed entrata in vigore sei mesi dopo

http://www.aspeninstitute.it/aspenia-online/article/il-ruolo-militare-del-giappone-alleato-degli-usa-e-vera-potenza-regionale

The Japan Factor (Arthur Waldron, The Jamestown Foundation)

http://www.jamestown.org/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=45457&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=7&cHash=ebbca2b1dd493b009a16e9320ca5674d#.V0Rd-DWLTIU

Talks on Russo–Japanese territorial disputes still going nowhere (Dmitry Streltsov, East Asia Forum)

On 6 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met in Sochi in a bid strengthen trust between the two leaders. Russia and Japan still view each other from the standpoint of the Cold War: for Russia, Japan is first of all the ‘junior partner’ of the United States and a location for US military bases; for Japan, Russia is a permanent source of instability that is unwilling to return its native territories. In this context, the Summit meeting was of deep significance to both countries

http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/05/21/talks-on-russo-japanese-territorial-disputes-still-going-nowhere/

Japan Should Increase Its Target for Renewable Energy, In Case Nuclear Restarts Stall (Varun Sivaram, CFR)

Last month, Japan commemorated the five-year anniversary of the great earthquake and tsunami that caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The disaster—three nuclear reactor meltdowns and the release of some radioactive material—forced 164,000 residents to evacuate and deeply traumatized the country. So when Japan shut down its entire fleet of nuclear reactors, it was unclear whether they would ever restart.

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Varun Sivaram. CFR. Douglas Dillon Fellow