Japan

Why the Chinese Save

Contrary to conventional wisdom, China's high savings rate has everything to do with policy and institutions. Culture, not so much.

BY SHELDON GARON | JANUARY 19, 2012

Debating the Pacific Century

In the November issue of Foreign Policy, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argues that it's time for the United States to move on from its costly wars in the Middle East, and make a strategic "pivot" to Asia. FP asked four smart observers to take the measure of Clinton's plans for engagement in the Far East.

OCTOBER 14, 2011

Looking East

Six decades of the United States in Asia, in photographs.

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Think Again: Nuclear Power

Japan melted down, but that doesn't mean the end of the atomic age.

BY CHARLES D. FERGUSON | NOVEMBER 2011

Atomic Dogs

Why can't the world's nuclear energy watchdog do anything about Fukushima or Iran's weapons program? I went to find out.

BY KONSTANTIN KAKAES | SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Megatrends That Weren't

A look at yesterday's Next Big Things, from the Japanese rising sun to Dow 36,000.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | SEPT/OCT 2011

All the World's Traders and All the World's Yen…

Traders react to the plummeting market on trading-room floors around the world.

AUGUST 8, 2011

The Post-Fukushima Arms Race?

The ironic consequence of Japan's disaster might be a more dangerous global nuclear landscape.

BY HENRY SOKOLSKI | JULY 29, 2011

The Forgetting Stone

"No matter how many years may pass, do not forget this warning": A poet’s look at Japan’s centuries of rebuilding over fault-lines, from FP’s latest ebook.

BY MARIKO NAGAI | JULY 27, 2011

Hot Air Zone

Naoto Kan’s statement taking on Japan’s nuclear industry isn’t likely to accomplish anything.

BY ROBERT DUJARRIC | JULY 14, 2011

Houston, We Have a Problem

The end of the space shuttle program is a big step back for the United States, and a giant leap forward for everyone else.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | JULY 7, 2011

In the Wake of Disaster

The aftermath of the Tohoku tsunami.

JUNE 30, 2011

Nuked

An FP special roundtable on Japan’s post-tsunami future.

JUNE 29, 2011

Japan's Chernobyl

Haunting images of abandoned towns and devastation left in the wasteland of Fukushima.

APRIL 12, 2011

The Island Nation

Japan will rebuild, but not how you think. And 20 years of misread history holds the clues.

BY PETER TASKER | MARCH 24, 2011

Nuclear Winner

Environmentalist icon turned nuclear-power booster Stewart Brand tells Foreign Policy why, even after the Fukushima disaster, he thinks nuclear is the energy of the future.

INTERVIEW BY CHARLES HOMANS | MARCH 22, 2011

Nuclear Nation

Japan's unlikely love affair with atomic energy.

BY YUKI TANAKA | MARCH 22, 2011

Kan Do?

Japan's embattled prime minister learns to lead.

BY TOBIAS HARRIS | MARCH 21, 2011

Meltdowns and Misinformation

What do we actually know about Japan's nuclear crisis?

BY JOSEPH CIRINCIONE | MARCH 18, 2011

Japan's Black Swan

The earthquake changed everything. What will Tokyo do next?

BY ROBERT MADSEN, RICHARD J. SAMUELS | MARCH 16, 2011

Leaks in All the Wrong Places

Why the Japanese public has good reason to distrust official information.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | MARCH 14, 2011

Seismic Inequality

Rich countries have gotten very good at keeping people alive in earthquakes. But that doesn't mean poor countries should try to emulate them.

BY CHARLES KENNY | MARCH 14, 2011

Land of Disaster

Roiled by earthquake, typhoon, tsunami, fire, and volcano -- not to mention nuclear attack and terrorism -- Japan for centuries has been a land of disaster, as reflected in popular culture from art to literature to our favorite monster flicks.

BY BRITT PETERSON | MARCH 14, 2011

A Radioactive Situation

Japan's earthquake could shake public trust in the safety of nuclear power.

BY CHARLES D. FERGUSON | MARCH 11, 2011

Shakedown Artists

Earthquake expert Michael K. Lindell explains why the Japanese are better than the rest of us at preparing for earthquakes -- and what we can learn from them.

INTERVIEW BY CHARLES HOMANS | MARCH 11, 2011

The Big One

After being hit by not only one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in Japan, but the tsunami that followed, the extent of devastation continues to unfold.

MARCH 11, 2011

Schadenfreude and Sympathy in Shanghai

Some Chinese are welcoming the tragedy unfolding in next-door Japan. Others are sending their prayers. As usual, the government is nervous.

BY ADAM MINTER | MARCH 11, 2011

I Was a Rare Earths Day Trader

How a naval confrontation in the South China Sea created a global investment bubble -- and cost me half my life savings.

BY JASON MIKLIAN | JANUARY 21, 2011

Getting Real on Japan

Bob Gates now appears to understand that the U.S.-Japan alliance is much bigger than one base in Okinawa. But both sides still have a long way to go.

BY DANIEL SNEIDER | JANUARY 14, 2011

Think Again: American Decline

This time it's for real.

BY GIDEON RACHMAN | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011