The first time I drove into Sendai, Japan, I thought I had arrived in a small town. It was March 13, two days after last year’s earthquake and tsunami killed up to 20,000 people and destroyed hundreds of miles of coastline in …
Japan
Unsafe at Sea: Asia’s History of Deadly Ferry Disasters
The sinking of the Costa Concordia raises critical questions about maritime safety. The issue is particularly important in parts of South and East Asia, where millions of people rely on often poorly maintained ferries to get …
A Peeved Australia Sends Boat to Fetch Anti-Whaling Activists
It probably wasn’t how certain members of the Australian government pictured spending their week. But since three Australian activists traveling with the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Conservation Society illegally boarded a …
As Tokyo Cozies Up to Washington, Tensions Flare Over U.S. Military in Okinawa
Some 100 demonstrators staged a sit-in at Okinawa’s government offices this week, incensed by what they called Tokyo’s “sneaky” tactics to keep a U.S. military base on the Japanese island. Sometime before dawn, federal …
India-Japan Talks: A ‘Post-American’ Partnership?
With the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda completing his state visit to India this week, the relationship between these two Asian countries bears a close look. Their recent moves toward greater economic and political …
Japan Says the Worst Is Over, but Fukushima Faces Long Road to Recovery
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced in a televised address on Friday that the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant has officially reached a state of ‘cold shutdown,’ bringing the most urgent phase of the world’s …
Blood Money: Tsunami Recovery Funds Go to Japan’s Whaling Industry
They’re baaaaaaaccck. Whale hunting season kicked off in Japan last week as three ships set off with a security vessel on their annual pilgrimage to cull hundreds of minke and fin whales in Antarctic waters. And so begins the …
Why Is Donald Rumsfeld on This Package of Spicy Peanuts?
There are, in this salty tale of frolics, politics and peanuts, a number of what Donald Rumsfeld, might call known knowns. These are things we know that we know — like how a photograph of a young Rumsfeld, a chopstick balanced …
Irradiated Baby Food Spotlights Ongoing Woes for Japan’s Food Sector
On Tuesday, Japanese food producer Meiji announced the recall of 400,000 cans of infant formula after traces of radioactive cesium were found in the company’s milk powder. Tests of the “Meiji Step” batch of formula with an …
How Will China Respond to a New U.S. Military Presence in Australia?
U.S. plans to station troops in Australia to help counter China’s growing clout might be expected to provoke cries of indignation from Beijing. But the development, which President Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard are expected to formally announce on Nov. 17 during Obama’s visit to Australia, has thus far …
U.N. Security Council: Is It Time to Veto the Veto?
The fitful Palestinian approach to the U.N. Security Council will be, as all have known for a long time, stillborn. The near certainty of a U.S. veto in defense of Israeli interests has made the Palestinian gambit for statehood recognition more about ritual symbolism than any real process. This when, according to a BBC poll, the majority …
At the World Economic Forum, A Lot of Love for China—Except from Some Chinese
The streets of the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian, which has been hosting the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Annual Meeting of the New Champions, are lined with cheery red banners that read in English: “Cooperation, Harmony and Win For All.” Yet even as business leaders flocked to sessions on topics like “new …
Gaffes Claim Another Japanese Minister. When Will They Ever Learn?
For a country whose language is shaded in infinite shades of gray, Japanese government ministers sure do make a lot of gaffes. Last Saturday, Japan’s new trade minister Yoshio Hachiro quit after visiting the tsunami-devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant zone and calling it a “town of death without a soul in sight,” …