#125 TPP to Prosper Japan
January 23, 2012 It is rather abnormal that arguments against the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade initiative, describing the TPP as ruining Japan and branding TPP supporters as traitors, have ...
#124 Noda Cabinet Should Serve Only as Caretaker
January 16, 2012 Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s appointment of Naoki Tanaka as defense minister might have stunned a large number of people. I was appalled at the appointment. Funny selection ...
#123 India and Japan: Partnership Built on “Kizuna”
January 10, 2012 For India and Japan, the year 2011 ended on a high note. The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihiko Noda met in New Delhi on December 28 and re...
#122 Give Top Priority to Rescuing Abductees
December 26, 2011 Nine days have passed since the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il (if the Pyongyang-announced date for his death is correct). Mourning events hosted by his third son, Kim...
#121 Kim Jon Un Regime Will Not Last Long
December 19, 2011 North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, is finally dead. The immediate focus of attention is whether his third son Jong Un, nominated as...
#120 Grave Concerns about Noda’s Asian Diplomacy
December 19, 2011 I am ashamed to make a lot of noise by criticizing Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda for his coward diplomacy. But I feel that Noda was pressed unilaterally by South Korean President ...
#119 Imperial Female Family Branches Could Cause Troubles
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s Cabinet has launched a panel to consider allowing princesses to create imperial family branches after they marry. The Cabinet reportedly plans to promote this idea to r...
#118 Japan-U.S. Alliance Is Important, But…
In the past few months, various people told me: “Mr. Umehara, you had been in charge of negotiations on free trade and economic partnership agreements at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Y...
#117 U.S. Drives Wedge into China-Myanmar Relationship
November 28, 2011 The United States and Myanmar have apparently made rapid improvements in their relationship. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Myanmar for three days from Nove...
#116 Washington Aims to Build New U.S.-led Asian Order
November 21, 2011 U.S. President Barack Obama’s tour of Hawaii, Australia and Indonesia indicated his two purposes. First, Obama intended to deny that the United States has declined or begun to mov...