From 1957-1960 Japan was led by the rightwing Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, a barely reconstructed figure of the Pacific War. Kishi had gained the trust of US Cold Warriors, however, and they were rewarded when he forcefully pushed Japan into a new treaty alliance with the United States.
Japan is beginning construction today, January 12, of a new base intended to be used primarily by the US military on the uninhabited island of Mageshima in Kagoshima Prefecture, despite years of resistance to the controversial plan and a questionable process by which the island was acquired by the government.
The Covid pandemic has gradually unleashed political and social forces in Japan that have lifted its underlying xenophobia to the surface, and thus transformed its culture from one of attraction into one of repulsion for many of its previous admirers.
Visitors to Japan’s main international hub are still greeted by a sign saying “Down With Narita Airport,” a giant middle finger waved by diehards from a different era.
SEALDs, short for Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy, was a student activist organization in Japan that provided an important spark to the large-scale protests against then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s 2015 “Legislation for Peace and Security” (i.e. the Abe War Law), deemed by the vast majority of Japan’s legal scholars in the field to be unconstitutional.
This video in our Explained! series is a basic review of why the US Marine airbase at Futenma in Okinawa has become such a source of enduring controversy.
The Covid-19 crisis became a dominating issue for the world, and Japan is no exception. This is a timeline of the events so far.
During the occupation of China, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific by the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy, many young women and girls became victims of rape and forced prostitution. New evidence proves that American young women were among the thousands of victims.
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.
Dateline Tokyo, our series of short reports on major news developments in Japan, for August 2020
