With growing public unease over the future of Taiwan and with three years until he's required to call an election, Prime Minister Kishida has new room to maneuver on security issues – but Japan’s support for Taiwan is an issue with no simple answers: tokyoreview.net/2022/08/japan-…

Relations between Japan and its neighbors might be strained by history, but these disputes are rooted in modern economic and security concerns: tokyoreview.net/2022/08/japan-…

Taiwan is a uniquely sensitive issue in Japan-China relations, and recent heightened tensions cause a dilemma for Japan’s foreign policy: tokyoreview.net/2022/09/japan-…

Though Japan and China recently marked 50 years of relations, there was little to celebrate. While both sides show a pragmatic understanding of the relationship, both have starkly different versions of its future: tokyoreview.net/2022/10/a-50th…

Japan's new national security documents describe China in stark terms, yet bilateral relations have meaningfully improved over the last year or so - what explains this contradiction? tokyoreview.net/2022/12/contra…

While it's been a challenging year for Kishida Fumio and the LDP, the challenges may only be starting as its factions struggle to find a direction forward: tokyoreview.net/2023/01/the-ld…

Routine maritime transits through the Japanese archipelago should be part of any peaceful coexistence – but could also become a casus belli between China and Japan should hostilities break out in the Taiwan Strait: tokyoreview.net/2023/03/watchi…

Japan has played a key role in the reawakening of the Western genre; from having its early pop media influenced by Westerns, to becoming a leader in the genre worldwide: tokyoreview.net/2023/03/how-ja…

Though it might be an obscure step, developing an improved security clearance system would go a long way towards Japan’s ability to exercise its role as a leader in economic security: tokyoreview.net/2023/03/why-ja…

This month, voters in Japan will vote in the Unified Local Elections, where the results may impact whether Prime Minister Kishida continues his nascent political recovery and could carry significant implications Japan's opposition parties: tokyoreview.net/2023/04/japans…

Though the junior partner in the coalition, Komeito has been vital in supplying votes for the LDP and bringing it closer to the political center – but that could all change if the vote-getting machine begins to fray: tokyoreview.net/2023/04/cracks…

While the LDP and Ishin may seem to make an ideal pair given their alignment on certain high-profile issues, there’s also a lot that’s keeping them apart – for now: tokyoreview.net/2023/06/the-ld…

July 8 marks one year since the assassination of Abe Shinzo - few of Japan’s postwar prime ministers were as ambitious or as controversial, but despite his ambition, his legacy remains strangely ambiguous: tokyoreview.net/2023/07/abes-a…

Abe’s 2022 assassination left a vacuum that his faction is still struggling to fill – and the outcome will have long-lasting effects for the future of Japanese politics: tokyoreview.net/2023/08/the-ld…

Infrastructure inevitably has an economic impact, but the impact can also be geopolitical, as Japan’s infrastructure cooperation with India may show: tokyoreview.net/2023/10/india-…

A recent ruling by a local family court has sparked hope for many concerned about trans rights in Japan – but now they anxiously await the Supreme Court’s verdict in a different case with bigger implications tokyoreview.net/2023/10/high-s…