Japan

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

What Saved Japan?

Dick Beason takes issue with Clyde Prestowitz's argument that government action, not free markets, beat the Japanese juggernaut.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011

The Fourth Wave

Can the world avoid a fresh crisis?

BY IAN BREMMER | DECEMBER 2010

Obama's Asian Tour

Washington may have just gotten a lot less friendly for the president, but he still has plenty of fans in Asia. A look at where he's going, who he's meeting, and what it means.

BY JARED MONDSCHEIN, ANDREW SWIFT | NOVEMBER 5, 2010

Lie of the Tiger

How the United States really tamed the Japanese economy -- and why China's a much meaner cat.

BY CLYDE V. PRESTOWITZ | NOVEMBER 2010

The Japan Syndrome

China's teetering on the verge of its own lost decade, and a meltdown in Beijing would make Japan's economic malaise look like child's play.

BY ETHAN DEVINE | SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

You Don't Bring a Praseodymium Knife to a Gunfight

China thinks it can withhold its exports of obscure but important minerals to get its way with its neighbors. Why it picked the wrong weapon.

BY TIM WORSTALL | SEPTEMBER 29, 2010

Is China Afraid of Its Own People?

The diplomatic tussle over the East China Sea has calmed down, but a bigger foreign-policy problem awaits: China's newly empowered masses won't take 'no' for an answer, and Beijing is right to be scared.

BY WILLY LAM | SEPTEMBER 28, 2010

Standoff in the East China Sea

The arrest of a Chinese fisherman by the Japan Coast Guard has resparked a longstanding territorial dispute. But what's in the water these two nations want so badly?

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

The Worst Job in Japan

Less than three months into his term, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is already fighting to hold onto his office. But what's crazier is that anyone wants to take it from him.

BY TOBIAS HARRIS | AUGUST 31, 2010

Can Anyone Govern Japan?

Prime Minister Naoto Kan is shaping up to be another miserable failure. What's going wrong?

BY JEFF KINGSTON | JULY 9, 2010

Unfinished Business

For 65 years, Japanese corporations have escaped responsibility for abusing American POWs during World War II.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | JUNE 28, 2010

The Wrath of Kan

Can this man clean up Japan's mess?

BY ABRAHAM M. DENMARK, DANIEL M. KLIMAN | JUNE 3, 2010

Naval Gazing in Asia

One reason why it's probably too early to declare the end of the U.S.-Japan alliance: China.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | MAY 18, 2010

Japan's Hunt For Whaling Rights

Is Tokyo buying support for its right to catch whales?

BY CHRISTIAN DIPPEL | MARCH 4, 2010

Bipartisan Spring

Washington may be deeply polarized on domestic matters, but when it comes to foreign affairs, a remarkable consensus is taking shape.

BY ROBERT KAGAN | MARCH 3, 2010

Peak Tuna

The familiar image of Japanese businessmen lunching on nigiri sushi may soon be a thing of the past.

BY DANE KLINGER, KIMIKO NARITA | FEBRUARY 12, 2010

Tokyo and Washington Celebrate their Alliance -- Too Soon

The U.S.-Japan security alliance just had its golden anniversary -- but it isn't time to break out the bubbly just yet.

BY RICHARD J. SAMUELS | JANUARY 21, 2010

Japan's Fake Economic Reforms

Why Tokyo could use a little more creative destruction.

BY RICHARD KATZ | JANUARY 8, 2010

The New Asianism

Since the Democratic Party of Japan won in the country's August national election, Japan watchers have worried the new government might try to upset the status quo and ease away from the United States. The DPJ is implementing a new paradigm -- but not the one people think.

BY DANIEL SNEIDER, RICHARD KATZ | OCTOBER 13, 2009

Think Again: Japan's Revolutionary Election

Don't believe the hype about Japan's new ruling party and the supposed revolution it is launching. As the new government completes its first month in office, all signs point to more of the same old stagnation in Tokyo.

BY PAUL J. SCALISE, DEVIN T. STEWART | OCTOBER 1, 2009

Japan's Electoral Tsunami

Tokyo's new government may have a lot more trouble on the economic front -- and a lot more success in foreign policy -- than most pundits think.

BY JEFF KINGSTON | AUGUST 30, 2009

Japan's New Shadow Shogun

A mercurial longtime powerbroker, now disgraced, is behind the rise of Japan's opposition party.

BY TOBIAS HARRIS | AUGUST 27, 2009