Suga Administration Henoko Base Policy Faces Shifting Realities
Throughout its nearly eight years in power, the Abe administration pressed forward with all its might to build a new US airbase at Henoko, Okinawa.
Tag Archives: Okinawa (island)
Aegis Ashore and Japan’s Defense Policy Dysfunction
On June 15, Defense Minister Taro Kono announced a suspension of the deployment of the Aegis Ashore missile interception system—a suspension that ten days later became a cancellation. The progression from deciding to deploy Aegis Ashore, to cancelling it, to considering alternatives, reveals policy formation fraught with dysfunction.
Political Inaction as Covid-19 Second Wave Hits
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the first half of July 2020.
No Alert as Covid-19 Cases Rise
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the last half of June 2020.
Speakeasy: Making the Case for Okinawa Independence
This SNA Speakeasy features Robert Kajiwara on the theme of “Making the Case for Okinawa Independence.”
Henoko Airbase Initiative Sinking into Mayonnaise-Soft Earth
For almost two-and-a-half decades, Japan and the United States have insisted that a new US Marine airbase at Henoko—a replacement for Marine Corps Air Station Futenma—is absolutely needed as a solid foundation for the US-Japan Alliance. Last year, however, it was officially revealed that the sea floor where the base is being constructed consists of mayonnaise-soft earth, and that any airstrip built there now could sink into oblivion.
Document: Political Mission of the Japan Communist Party
Whereas most Japanese political parties, whether the ruling conservatives or the mainstream opposition, effectively have little in the way of fixed party policies, the Japan Communist Party, the nation’s oldest political party, is very different, taking its own platforms very seriously.
Wuhan Coronavirus Rings Economic Alarms
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the last half of January 2020.
Abe Government Attempts to Smash Labor Union in Kansai
Largely ignored by the mainstream media, the Abe government has been engaged for several years in one of the most aggressive and unconstitutional efforts to smash a small industrial labor union in Japan’s Kansai region, including mass arrests of union members.
Ghosn Unchained
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the first half of January 2020.
