While in Washington, Defense Minister Kyuma addressed the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. (The speech, which, can be viewed here, is nothing special; be sure to fast forward to the seven minute mark, unless you want to watch Heritage President Edwin Feulner fulminate against China and refer to the defense minister as "Mr. Kayuma.") …
Author: Tobias S. Harris
Tobias Harris is Japan analyst at Teneo Intelligence. He is the author of a forthcoming biography of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Muddled thinking on the DPJ
The Asahi Shimbun has published yet another editorial urging the Democratic Party of Japan to be more forthright in confronting the Abe Cabinet in the Diet.The occasion for this editorial was Ozawa Ichiro's completion of a second tour of the country's regions as part of his electoral strategy of building up the DPJ's support structure …
The constitution revision blitz
Amaki Naoto has a fascinating post considering the national referendum age limit issue.To summarize, the LDP draft passed by the Lower House stipulated that the age limit for voting in a national referendum on constitution revision will be twenty, same as for other elections. The rejected DPJ draft, meanwhile, called for lowering the voting age …
Asia’s shifting balance
The past week has brought a host of stories pointing to how the balance of power — both globally and in Asia — is shifting, suggesting that the assumptions made by each major regional power will have to change accordingly.First, Taiwan's place as the most likely cause of war between China and the US (with …
The global order election
As commentators assess the results of the first debate among the (declared) candidates for the Republican nomination for the 2008 US presidential election (check out the summary by Slate's John Dickerson), it is becoming increasingly clear what the central question of the 2008 election ought to be.Namely, how can the US, as the Washington Post's …
Japan’s constitution turns sixty
As Japan celebrates Constitution Day, marking the anniversary of the promulgation of the postwar constitution, the Abe Cabinet has renewed its push to revise the constitution — read Article 9 of the constitution — on the heels of bilateral meetings with the US that pointed to a more globally active US-Japan alliance.In Washington, Defense Minister …
Towards a global alliance
Commentators have had a day to digest the joint statement produced at Tuesday's SCC meeting in Washington. For an excellent review of the circumstances surrounding the meeting — including the impact of impertinent statements by Defense Minister Kyuma and Foreign Minister Aso — check out former Japanese diplomat Amaki Naoto's blog, in which he criticizes …
Two plus two equals…no change whatsoever?
In advance of Tuesday's 2 + 2 meeting in Washington, Secretary of State Rice met one-on-one with Foreign Minister Aso, and Secretary of Defense Gates met with Defense Minister Kyuma.The pre-meetings, it seems, were as limited in scope as the full meeting of the Security Consultative Committee (the formal setting of the 2 + 2) …
The China enigma
After an afternoon of walking around in slums located within blocks of Tiananmen Square — festooned with flags for the national holiday — I am ever more convinced that the only way to think about China in the early twenty-first century is by drawing upon the Jain parable of the blind men and the elephant.For …
The end of the F-22 question?
Sharon Weinberger at the Danger Room notes that General Jeffrey Kohler, head of the Defense Cooperation Agency at the Department of Defense, quashed reports that the US is prepared to sell the F-22 to allies like Japan and Israel.The Chosun Ilbo, of course, reported this immediately.There may be the occasional report that appears to contradict …
Tobias S. Harris 