Japan’s relationship with South Korea is not amicable at the best of times. Yet it in recent months it has entered a rapidly descending diplomatic spiral of unprecedented depth and scope. Mounting bilateral friction over the intractable ‘history problems’ has been steadily bleeding into the economic and security realms of the relationship. The result has been a bilateral trade war with potential repercussions for the global supply chain of high-tech devices.
Since April 2019, the Japanese government has started to expand its immigration program to increase the number of blue-collar foreign workers arriving in the country. But much more needs to be done to sustain Japan’s econom
Emperor Akihito’s abdication at the end of April marked the end of three decades of the Heisei era (1989-2019). And on 1 May 2019 Japan’s new Reiwa era began with Emperor Naruhito’s ascension to the throne.
Japan will host the Rugby World Cup (RWC2019) this year, the first Asian nation to do so in the competition’s history. Next year, Japan hosts the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo2020) for the second time, after also being the first Asian hosts of the event in 1964. Reflecting on the legacy of Tokyo 1964 reveals the potential impact these upcoming sports mega-events could bring.
The June 2018 encounter between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was not the only momentous summit to take place in Singapore last year....
The Japanese economy’s Goldilocks state continues, in which everything seems ‘just right’: modest but steady growth, a tight labour market, high corporate profits and elevated share prices. But there have also been notable developments on the ‘three bears’ that threaten to come home and disrupt the good fortune that Japan is still enjoying.
Japan continued its longest run of economic expansion in almost three decades, registering robust growth of 1.7 per cent throughout 2017. Public opinion pointed to Abe winning a third term as LDP president, leading him to declare 2018 a year of action on constitutional revision.
While the economic good news continued, domestic and foreign policy developments were more challenging.
Immigration remains a contentious topic as Japan looks to deal with is shrinking demographics and economy
Japan is now fully embarked on navigating a course through the economic and national security minefield that lies between the United States and China.
It is important for Japan and China to accelerate the positive trend to ensure bilateral relations do not cool again
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