President Obama and Prime Minister Noda of Japan gave this joint press conference in Washington, DC on April 30, 2012.

CFR's Sheila Smith highlights the significance of the U.S.-Japan Summit as the first state visit by the Democratic Party's Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, which features a broad agenda and comes at a time when both Prime Minister Noda and President Obama face political challenges domestically.

CFR Senior Fellow Sheila A. Smith argues that the time has come for Japan and the United States to set priorities for military missions, formalize mechanisms for crisis management coordination, and work toward a long-term basing strategy that consolidates U.S. and Japanese facilities.

CFR's James M. Lindsay remembers the sarin gas attack on Tokyo's subway on March 20, 1995 by a religious cult, and discusses how technological advances increasingly mean that governments are no longer the only ones capable of inflicting mass destruction.

One year after the Fukushima nuclear crisis, Japan is facing a dilemma of how to clean up the disaster and how to meet current and future energy needs, says expert Charles D. Ferguson, even as the global nuclear industry continues to face the accident's aftershocks.

One year after Japan's triple disasters, questions persist about the ability of the world's third-largest economy to rebound and how its struggling political system can mount serious reforms, writes CFR's Sheila Smith.

CFR's Senior Fellow for Japan Studies, Sheila A. Smith, discusses the political and economic state of Japan one year after the earthquake and tsunami, as part of CFR's Academic Conference Call series.

Learn more about CFR's resources for the classroom at Educators Home.

CFR's James M. Lindsay remembers the firebombing of Tokyo during World War II and discusses the destructive power of conventional weapons.

Sheila A. Smith discusses recovery and rebuilding one year after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Almost a year after the Fukushima disaster, fifty-two of Japan's fifty-four nuclear power plants have been shut down. The reactor explosion destroyed the population's trust in nuclear energy. But the atomic lobby--and the country's industrial needs--could block a possible phase-out, writes Wieland Wagner at Der Spiegel.

Damage to Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has reignited debate over the safety of nuclear power and highlighted questions over aging power plants, safety procedures, and waste disposal.

Japan is undergoing profound changes that are empowering its political leadership at the expense of its bureaucracy.

Scott Snyder reviews Getting the Triangle Straight: Managing China-Japan-U.S. Relations, edited by Gerald Curtis, Ryosei Kokubun, and Wang Jisi.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense released the 2011 issue of this annual white paper on defense in September 2011. The report covers Japan's surrounding security environment, Japan's defense policy and and build-up of defense capability, and measures for Japan's defense.

The thirteenth Geneva Report on the World Economy addresses fiscal consolidation policy.

Sheila A. Smith says Yoshihiko Noda will need to stitch together a frayed party and a fractured public to lead Japan — and stay in power.

Yoshihiko Noda, set to become Japan's prime minister, could be a reassuring presence amid economic and political turmoil, but it's not clear what energy he will have for global affairs, writes CFR's Sheila Smith.

CFR's Director of Studies James Lindsay and CFR.org Editor Robert McMahon preview major world events in the week ahead.

In this week's podcast: the United Nations discusses operations in Libya; Republican presidential candidates react to the news from Tripoli; Japan’s governing party picks a new prime minister.

Jerome A. Cohen and Mizuki Koshimoto ask, "Has Japan found the best way for ordinary citizens to take part in criminal cases?"

Duke Energy's Chairman, President, and CEO Jim Rogers discusses the future of energy in the United States with CFR's Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment, Michael Levi.