The election last Sunday of Susumu Inamine as mayor of Nago City in northern Okinawa effectively puts an end to the idea that the current plan for relocating Futenma Marine Air Station can somehow be…

Japan’s new ruling party seems about to go down in flames. Prime Minister Hatoyama looks badly shaken after the first few weeks of the legislative season. The policy agenda of Japan’s new DPJ governm…

This week I testified in front of the House Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Environment on the U.S.-Japan relationship.   Judging by the Japanese press coverage, it was c…

The Tokyo District Court today ruled that the Japanese government must make public “secret documents” on Okinawa reversion. This is the first court ruling on the controversy over Ministry of Foreign …

My colleague Sheila Smith wrote earlier this week in the International Herald Tribune that Japan, specializing on its nonproliferation credentials and interests, missed an opportunity to shine at thi…