Amid the doom and gloom of recent world economic reports, Japan has provided a rare source of good news. In the first quarter of the year, its economy grew by 0.9%, indicating an annual growth rate of…
The decision by Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe to enter into the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations enlivens the process and places Australia in the passenger seat.
Two recent events promise to breath life into the lumbering Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, with significant consequences for Australia.
Earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo…
Australian policymakers need to acquaint themselves with the changing nature of regional governance in Asia.
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The growing competition between Japan and China over regional primacy is changing the face of Asian regional governance — but not necessarily in predictable ways.
While observers have focused on Asia…
Meet a minke whale: should Japan be allowed to continue taking whales in the name of science?
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From June 26 to July 6 2013 one of the most intriguing environmental court cases in years will be heard by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. Australia has taken Japan to court over…
Resource issues dominate Japanese thinking on the Australia-Japan bilateral relationship.
AAP
The Australia-Japan economic relationship is broad, deep, and has an extensive history. However, issues to do with natural resources – minerals, energy and food – loom large in the politics of the contemporary…
Shinzo Abe is determined to resuscitate Japan’s flagging economy by targeting a 2% rate of inflation and promoting private investment. But will it work?
AAP
The Japanese economy has been stuck in a liquidity trap for almost a decade. Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is now in his second stint in office, wants to take radical steps to retrieve…
Minami Minegishi, member of Japanese pop group AKB48, made a tearful public apology on AKB48’s YouTube channel.
YouTube
Japanese pop star Minami Minegashi made headlines worldwide after shaving her head and making an dramatic public apology on Youtube for violating her pop group AKB48’s strict no dating policy.
While shocking…
Japanese anti-nuclear sentiment is strong, but it’s losing out to the desire for cheap electricity.
Magnus von Koeller
Recent data shows Japan posted a record high trade deficit of ¥6.93tn (A$73.16bn) in 2012. Japan is struggling with rising imports as it tries to replace the energy lost when it shut down of most of its…
Shinzo Abe has returned to the post of prime minister in Japan.
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I thought for a breathless moment back in 2009 that we would see a new progressive government in Japan. Gone would be almost six decades of unimaginative conservative rule. Gone would be the subservience…
Sea Shepherd has just launched its new ship, the Sam Simon, but it might not see much action if a US court has its way.
AAP Image/Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Carolina Castro
On Monday a US federal appeals court granted an injunction requiring the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to stay at least “500 yards” (457 metres) away from Japanese whaling vessels.
It is a significant…
Japanese voters are set to cast their votes next week – but will anything change?
EPA/Franck Robichon
It used to be said that Japan had a first-rate economy with third-rate politics. Ahead of the hastily announced general election later this month, it’s clear that the second half of this saying is still…
Societal ageing is causing Japan’s GDP growth rate to lag.
AAP
Japan might be the third largest economy in the world, but the past 20 years have seen its GDP growth rate fall behind that of its economic rivals, the US and UK.
The outlook appears bleak. Recently…
Looking to Asian schools is exactly what we shouldn’t be doing.
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It was fun while it lasted Finland, but we’re going cold on you. We thought your schools had the secret but our new infatuation is with Asian school systems.
The Prime Minister seems to agree. The government…
Why has Paul Watson suddenly been picked up in Germany on a Costa Rican charge?
Kay Nietfeld/EPA
Captain Paul Watson, founder of the marine conservation organisation Sea Shepherd, was arrested last week in Frankfurt, Germany, on an international arrest warrant issued by the Costa Rican government…
Persuading tourists to return to Japan has become a national mission for the country’s officials.
AAP
In a highly symbolic move, the World Tourism Summit this week opened in Sendai, Japan, the area most affected by last March’s tsunami and Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown.
Hosting the Summit, which…
Julia Gillard needs to do more to impress in South Korea.
AAP/Adam Gartrell
AUSTRALIA IN THE ASIAN CENTURY – A series examining Australia’s role in the rapidly transforming Asian region. Delivered in partnership with the Australian government.
Here, Dr Craig Mark – currently…
The legalities of whaling and protesting aren’t black and white.
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Japanese whaling and Australian opposition to it has become as much a staple for the Australian media in summer as bushfires and the cricket. The level of interest has greatly intensified since Sea Shepherd…
Japan has lost its taste for nuclear, which means higher emissions and less energy security.
AAP
Recently, Jenny Corbett, Executive Director of the Australia-Japan Research School at ANU, sat down with Tatsuo Hatta, Professor Emeritus at Osaka University and a former President of the Japanese Economic…
In Iceland, the whale is just another fish.
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On December 7, three whaling ships set out from Japan and kicked off the 2011 whaling season. For the next few months, Australian eyes will be focused on conflict in the Southern Ocean as the annual ritual…
Opposition leader Tony Abbott has signalled a shift towards Japan in our foreign and trade policy – but is this the right direction?.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Opposition leader Tony Abbott’s comments in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian newspapers point to a shift in Coalition trade policy that would give Japan higher priority over China.
So why…
New Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda faces major challanges.
AAP
Former Finance minister Yoshihiko Noda has become Japan’s sixth prime minister in five years after winning a leadership vote in the parliamentary wing of his Democratic Party of Japan.
Noda replaces Naoto…
Despite the clear benefits, Japan’s agricultural sector seems resistent to an FTA with Australia.
AAP
Prime Minister Julia Gillard was one of the first world leaders to visit Japan after the nation was stricken on 3 March by the earthquake-tsunami-radiation triple disaster.
But the Australian government…
Japanese yakuza gangsters have made significant donations to tsunami relief efforts.
AAP
Should we bother to ask whether some gifts and donations could be interpreted as thinly veiled bribes, or is the distinction always clear?
A recent example of the potential ambiguity of gift-giving was…
