The human drama, and long-term lessons, of the Fukushima nuclear disasterThe Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011 presented an enormous challenge even to Japan, one of the world's most advanced and organized countries. Failures at all levels-of both the government and the private sector-worsened the human and economic impact of the disaster and ensured that the consequences would continue for many years to come.Based on interviews with more than 300 gover...

To explore opportunities for greater economic cooperation between the United States and Japan in third countries, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington and the Asia Pacific Initiative (API) in Tokyo embarked on a joint research project using a case-study approach to examine four countries (Myanmar, Vietnam, India, and South Korea) and two institutional arrangements (regional trade architecture and the G7) where the United States and Japan have aligned inte...

The second Abe administration, which lasted for seven years and eight months, turned out to be the longest administration in Japan’s constitutional history. What factors contributed to its remarkable longevity? What accomplishments and enduring legacies did this administration achieve during its tenure?Originally published in Bungeishunju in Japanese, this book examines policies pursued by the administration and its governance based on over 50 investigative interviews with key figu...

This book introduces state-of-the-art concepts and methodologies on innovative systems approach that enables the grand design and implementation about Smarter World. This book also describes the shared view that the various heterogeneous social systems that make up Smarter World should be viewed as systems at an abstract level, and develop new developments in SoS and spiral systems through the cycle of analysis, synthesis and abduction. Several new concepts that integrate data-driven mecha...

What is Japan's political role in the world? Over the past decade, Japan has been increasingly pressured to assume more financial and political burdens globally. Its foreign policy has thus evolved in a piecemeal manner, around the question of managing foreign pressures. To date, policy has been largely developed by bureaucrats, who are traditionally responsible for public policy in Japan. The lack of a clear set of foreign policy objectives, however, has made it impossible for the bureauc...

This cutting edge collection examines Japan’s population issue, exploring how declining demographic trends are affecting Japan’s social structure, specifically in the context of Greater Tokyo, life infrastructure, public finance and the economy. Considering the failures of past Japanese policies from the perspective of population, national land, and politics, it argues that the inability of past administrations to develop a long-term and comprehensive policy has exacerbated the population ...

A 2020 CHOICE Outstanding Academic TitleJapan's challenges and opportunities in a new era of uncertaintyHenry Kissinger wrote a few years ago that Japan has been for seven decades an important anchor of Asian stability and global peace and prosperity. However, Japan has only played this anchoring role within an American-led liberal international order built from the ashes of World War II. Now that order itself is under siege, not just from illiberal forces ...

When the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) came to power in September 2009, Japanese citizens expected the imminent arrival of a new political era, characterized by a two-party system. However, in addition to the triple disasters of March 2011, the DPJ faced numerous difficulties arising from its controversial policies and massive party defections following the government’s consumption tax hike legislation. The DPJ fell from power following a crushing defeat in the 2012 Lower House election,...

This book examines five features of Japan’s ‘Lost Decades’: the speed of the economic decline in Japan compared to Japan’s earlier global prowess; a rapidly declining population; considerable political instability and failed reform attempts; shifting balances of power in the region and changing relations with Asian neighbouring nations; and the lingering legacy of World War Two. Addressing the question of why the decades were lost, this book offers 15 new perspectives ranging from economic...

Integration of Distributed Energy Resources in Power Systems: Implementation, Operation and Control covers the operation of power transmission and distribution systems and their growing difficulty as the share of renewable energy sources in the world's energy mix grows and the proliferation trend of small scale power generation becomes a reality. The book gives students at the graduate level, as well as researchers and power engineering professionals, an understanding of the key issues nec...

Highly readable yet deeply researched, this book serves as an essential guide to the many ways in which Japan has risen to become one of the world's most creative and innovative societies.During its so-called Lost Decades, Japan has quietly reinvented itself from a nation with an economy playing catch-up into a global leader in innovation and creativity, one whose "soft power" extends from postmodern architecture to pluripotent stem cells.Written by a dozen...

A Harvard-trained economist's startling predictions reveal critical challenges in the decades ahead, helping individuals, businesses, and governments to make smarter decisionsAs individuals, companies, and countries struggle to recover from the economic crisis, many are narrowly focused on forecasts for the next week, month, or quarter. Yet they should be asking what the global economy will look like in the years to come—where will the long-term risks and opportunit...