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How to fix Japan

How to fix Japan

Embracing the lost art of “creative destruction” will allow the once booming economy to flourish again. Read more...
Makoto Taniguchi – a tribute

Makoto Taniguchi – a tribute

A tribute to Makoto Taniguchi, a former distinguished Japanese diplomat, who recently passed away. Read more...
Why Japan matters more than ever

Why Japan matters more than ever

Japan remains a global economic powerhouse and is becoming an ever closer political partner of the West. Read more...
Book Review – Le Japon: un Leader Discret

Book Review – Le Japon: un Leader Discret

Professor Guibourg Delamotte's new book on Japan is a must-read as Japan forges an ever closer relationship with Europe, in the face of an assertive China and an unstable US.
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Japan, a politically unstable ally of the West

Japan, a politically unstable ally of the West

Japan is becoming an ever-stronger ally of the West in its great power rivalry with China, but its effectiveness is undermined by threats of political instability at home. Read more...
The Revolution Occurring in Japan’s Defense Posture

The Revolution Occurring in Japan’s Defense Posture

Japan takes bold steps towards becoming a "normal" military power. Read more...
Line of Advantage: Japan’s Grand Strategy in the Era of Abe Shinzo

Line of Advantage: Japan’s Grand Strategy in the Era of Abe Shinzo

Under the leadership of Abe Shinzo, Japan devised a grand strategy for managing China’s rising economic and military power, much better than any other country. Read more...
The Japanese Economy

The Japanese Economy

The Japanese economic model, which proved so successful during the postwar recovery phase, seems to have lost its luster, according to a recent book by Takatoshi Ito and Takeo Hoshi.
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Digitization Could Finally Transform Japan’s Economy

Digitization Could Finally Transform Japan’s Economy

Digitalisation has the potential to accelerate and move Japan onto a higher economic growth trajectory. Read more...
Shinzo Abe’s legacy continues

Shinzo Abe’s legacy continues

Tragically assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has left an extraordinary legacy which is being carried forward by the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Read more...
Is Japan About to Ditch Its Pacifism?

Is Japan About to Ditch Its Pacifism?

Japan’s security environment has deteriorated sharply over the past decade or so, and the traditionally pacifist country has been obliged to step up its national defenses. Read more...
The Legacy of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

The Legacy of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

This tribute to Shinzo Abe was written two years ago, before his tragic assassination. Read more...
New Release @ NEO JAPAN

The Japanese Economy Has Reinvented Itself

The Japanese economy has been quietly reinventing itself by concentrating on high-value-added advanced materials, especially electronics, writes John West. Read more...
CARLOS GHOSN

Collision Course: Carlos Ghosn and the Culture Wars That Upended an Auto Empire

Collision Course charts the rise and fall of Carlos Ghosn. It delves into the nitty-gritty and complexities of the international business and political relations. Read more...
Japan’s low-tech world

Japan’s low-tech world

A glacial move towards digitalisation has left much of the
country’s workforce and public servces in the last century. Read more...
Shinzō Abe - Caricature

The Abe Legacy: How Japan Has Been Shaped by Abe Shinzo

Abe Shinzō was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister. But his legacy will be mixed at best, according to a recent volume from leading Japanese and Western scholars. Read more...
Something for Everybody

How is Japan doing now?

Japanese economy is bouncing back, and COVID-19 seems relatively under control. Longer-term challenges of large government debt, weak productivity and an ageing population require serious attention. Read more...
COVID-19

Can Tokyo Pull Off a Success With the Olympic Games?

Tokyo's Olympic Games are facing deep popular opposition, but the IOC and the Japanese government are fully behind it and determined to make it a success, writes John West. Read more...
Curzon Hall

Japan’s foreign policy continues to grapple with end of Cold War and rise of China

The election of Joe Biden to the US presidency notwithstanding, Japan will need to maintain its more independent and activist foreign policy to protect its interests, writes John West. Read more...
Who Shapes Infrastructure Development Policy for East Asia?

Book Review: Japan’s New Regional Reality – Geoeconomic Strategy in the Asia-Pacific

In her new book, Saori Katada details the country’s shift from being perceived  as a trade villain to an active promoter of an open, rules-based regional trade order, writes John West.
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