Japan's Leaders Research Articles

The U.S.-Japan Alliance and Taiwan

executive summary: This article analyzes the historical evolution of Japan's positions, posture, and policies relevant to a possible conflict across the Taiwan Strait, including the potential roles of the U.S.-Japan security alliance and Japan's Self-Defense Forces. main argument In April 2021, Japan's then prime minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. president Joe Biden made global headlines when they jointly "underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues"—the first such reference in a summit-level statement since 1969. This statement catalyzed a striking degree of public discussion in Japan and expressions of concern about cross-strait stability from Japanese leaders. It also elicited widespread, though often misleading or inaccurate, assertions overseas that Japan's position vis-à-vis a "Taiwan contingency" had abruptly or radically transformed. Especially given the proximity of Japan (and U.S. military bases in Japan) to Taiwan, soberly appreciating the complexity and incremental evolution of Japan's nuanced and intentionally ambiguous positions and policies, as well as its unique domestic constraints, is critical. Doing so is especially crucial for policymakers to accurately assess the status quo, manage expectations within and beyond the alliance, and ensure sound decision-making as the cross-strait deterrence challenge seems all but certain to deepen in the years ahead. policy implications •Japan's decades-old, intentionally ambiguous official posture toward a possible Taiwan Strait contingency has not radically changed. Any action Japan would take in a possible crisis will depend on top-level political judgments about the particular contingency's nature, how it began, how Taipei and Washington have responded, and the perceived threat to Japan itself. • Ambiguity—by design—should not be misunderstood as apathy or ambivalence in Tokyo about democratic Taiwan's future or cross-strait peace and stability. Recent developments suggest a new sense of urgency and openness to deepen contingency and bilateral planning with Washington to enhance deterrence and to prepare options if deterrence fails. Though not originally motivated by a possible Taiwan contingency, Japan's national security and alliance reforms over the past decade have expanded the options for allied cooperation and Japan's potential role(s) in the event one occurs. • Important constraints on Japan are still apparent. It remains an open question how—and how quickly—Japan's leaders could respond to use of force by China against Taiwan and what consequences any indecision could have on Japan's and the alliance's response or how a conflict plays out.

Discursive diversion: Manipulation of nuclear threats by the conservative leaders in Japan and Israel

We study how leaders of parliamentary democracies attempt to trigger the “rally-around-the-flag” effect through the mass media. We have collected news articles on North Korea and Iran published by liberal and conservative newspapers in Japan and Israel from 2009 to 2018 and analysed them in terms of their emphasis on threats, employing semi-supervised quantitative text analysis techniques. We find that both Japanese and Israeli conservative newspapers overemphasised nuclear threats before important political events (enactment of Japan's National Security Laws and Israel's 2014 General Election). We argue that leaders of countries that lack opportunities or capabilities often attempt to manipulate perceived threats through the mass media, calling such actions discursive diversion. We explain the similarity between the Japanese and Israeli cases by the following factors. Firstly, the diminishing political gains from the successful economic reforms in the earlier years; Secondly, the increasing opposition in the legislature or competition in the elections; Thirdly, the lack of the countries’ ability to solve the security issues unilaterally; Finally, the diplomatic and military relationship with the United States.

The First Elected Leaders in Japan’s Capital City: Former Shogunal Retainers in the Tokyo Prefectural Assembly

After the Tokugawa shogunate collapsed in 1868, shogunal retainers in the castle town of Edo, now renamed Tokyo, were forced to rebuild their lives under a new regime. A small number of them eventually reemerged as political journalists and, through involvement in progressive political movements, came to lead the city’s newly established local assembly. Focusing on two such assembly leaders, Fukuchi Gen’ichirō and Numa Morikazu, this essay describes how these shogunal-retainer-turned-journalists tried to build political networks around the Tokyo Prefectural Assembly in the late 1870s and the early 1880s. As the new government abolished the feudal status system and gradually introduced representative government, Tokyo’s socio-political structure underwent dramatic change. Fukuchi and Numa’s attempts were therefore exploratory in nature. modernizers though they were, the legacy of Tokugawa Japan and Edo nevertheless deeply influenced them when they approached their local constituencies. Reconstructing their efforts to define representative politics for the new city of Tokyo can help us understand the early-modern to modern transition in Japan’s capital city.

Peaks of return strokes and fast pulses on ICC of winter lightning initiated by upward propagating leaders in Japan

The authors have carried out measurement of the current waveforms associated with lightning discharges to wind turbines at Nikaho near the coast of the Sea of Japan since 2013. In this paper measured waveforms in winter up to 2020 are investigated and the current waveforms associated with return strokes after the extinction of the ICC (initial continuous current) and fast pulses superimposed on the ICC with the current peak of 2 kA or higher and with the risetimes of 8 µs or shorter are studied. The median current peaks of the 107 return strokes and the 123 fast pulses were 6.4 kA and 3.0 kA, respectively. The observed median current peaks of return strokes and fast pulses at the Nikaho wind turbines (6.4 kA and 3.0 kA) do not show much difference from those observed at the Gaisberg tower (9.2 kA and 4.2 kA), the Säntis tower (8 kA and 3.4 kA) and the Peissenberg tower in Germany (return stroke: 8.5 kA but no report on fast pulses) when the long sampling interval and the low upper cutoff frequency of the measuring system at the Nikaho wind turbines is taken into account.

Pre- and posttransplant use of mogamulizumab in patients with aggressive adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma: A statement from key opinion leaders in Japan

Pre- and posttransplant use of mogamulizumab in patients with aggressive adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma: A statement from key opinion leaders in Japan

University–industry cooperation and the transition to innovation ecosystems in Japan

This article looks at the evolution of university–industry collaboration (UIC) policies in Japan since the mid-1990s to the present and analyses their role in shaping the country’s innovation ecosystem. UIC policies are examined within a multidimensional innovation policy framework that encompasses five Science and Technology Basic Plans and a vast array of support measures for venture business, intellectual property, innovation networks and business promotion, all reflecting an extensive top-down government intervention with ambitious goals. A dense network of UIC centres has been established throughout the country, mostly in universities, and these centres are tightly embedded in regional innovation structures. In spite of the sustained government policy intervention, Japan lags behind the United States and Europe in a ranking of the top 20 global ecosystems and has some of the world’s lowest entrepreneurial indicators, as defined by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. The authors argue that a likely cause for the lag is Japan’s slow and still incomplete transition from a ‘traditional’ innovation system to a modern innovation ecosystem with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and culture, effective intermediaries between university and industry, high absorptive capacity in companies using academic research, cross-boundary mobility of workforce and ideas and global outreach. The experience of Osaka University and Hokkaido University, two UIC leaders in Japan and internationally, supports this hypothesis.

Transcontinental Partnerships at the Crossroads: Factors, Risks, Consequences

Transcontinental partnerships – Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TATIP) – have been analyzed in view of the new challenges in polycentric world, US foreign economic policy changes, risks for the national economies of the block’s participants, as well as for the other countries. The TPP and the TATIP are in focus as the new stage of the world integration process. The TATIP can deepen the already substantial economic ties between the US and the European Union. But what will be included in the chapters of the agreement on financial services, agricultural products, some other sectors is still subject to debate. Particular concerns arise about the role for the TATIP in harmonizing financial regulation. The practical implementation of president Donald Trump plans to «promote American industry, protect American workers» began with the US withdrawal from the TPP, with negotiating new bilateral trade deals in mind. Since that decision, the leaders of Japan, Singapore, Australia, and other TPP participants emphasized the strategic importance of this agreement for their countries and for US leadership in the region. Withdrawing from the TPP raises concerns among US trade partners and allies in the region and put many questions before them. Besides, US withdrawal from the TPP effectively gives green light to assert a more pronounced leadership role in the region for China, which is already a major trade and investment partner for TPP countries. Furthermore, Donald Trump turned attention to certain imports as a threat to national security and thus potentially subject to steep tariffs. The US steps in this way may undermine the rules-based trading system, and put many questions before TPP partners and other countries. Whether import restrictions for national security reasons be implemented, they may damage not only China as the main U.S. imports driver; but other countries as well, and lead to new barriers against US exports by trading partners. The Trump administration initiatives not only represents a challenge for countries that linked closely to the American economy due to the trade-economic agreements, but leads to new opportunities and choices in international economic relations.

占領下日本における家庭科教育ナショナル・リーダーの米国視察(第1報) : 人事交流計画と家庭科関係者の派遣

占領下日本における家庭科教育ナショナル・リーダーの米国視察(第1報) : 人事交流計画と家庭科関係者の派遣

占領下日本における家庭科教育ナショナル・リーダーの米国視察(第2報) : 視察者の選定過程

占領下日本における家庭科教育ナショナル・リーダーの米国視察(第2報) : 視察者の選定過程

Domestic Factors and Strategic Partnership: Redefining Philippines‐Japan Relations in the 21st Century

The Joint Statements and declarations on the establishment, promotion, and strengthening of strategic partnership by the leaders of Japan and the Philippines since 2011 indicate an ardent desire toward making security and defense cooperation a salient feature of their 21st century bilateral relationship. Scholars would point to the “China factor” as a convenient reason to explain the strategic trajectory of this evolving relationship. While this study does not discount the “China factor” as a motivating force behind this change, it asserts that both nations were able to extend their partnership into the security realm because of some enabling domestic factors. Nonetheless, a Duterte Presidency may seriously derail this effort.

The 2016 American Orthopaedic Association-Japanese Orthopaedic Association Traveling Fellowship.

The American Orthopaedic Association-Japanese Orthopaedic Association (AOA-JOA) Traveling Fellowship, which began in 1992 as a collaborative effort between the 2 orthopaedic communities, is aimed at fostering leadership among early-career surgeons through clinical, academic, and cultural exchange. Over 3 weeks, we experienced an extraordinary journey that led us across nearly 800 miles of the picturesque Japanese countryside, with stops at 6 distinguished academic centers. The opportunity to become personally acquainted with orthopaedic leaders in Japan, learn from their experiences, and immerse ourselves in the ancient and storied culture of a beautiful country was one that we will not soon forget. Along the way, we accumulated a wealth of information while enjoying the legendary hospitality of the Japanese people. There is a ubiquitous challenge in delivering cost-effective, accessible health care while maintaining a commitment to education and research. The U.S. orthopaedic community may take solace in the fact that our Japanese colleagues stand with us as partners in this pursuit, and our relationship with them continues to grow stronger through endeavors such as the AOA-JOA Traveling Fellowship. We look forward to honoring our Japanese colleagues in 2017 when we host them in the United States.

Leadership Tasks in Early Childhood Education in Finland, Japan, and Singapore

ABSTRACTLeadership research in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a relatively new undertaking. It combines leadership concepts from school research as well as from business. There are common aspects in the leadership profession, but the context and the mission define the content of leadership tasks and responsibilities. Data in this cross-cultural study were collected in Finland, Japan, and Singapore from 2012 to 2014. Questionnaires were used as the data collection method and content analysis as the method to explore how leadership tasks define leadership in the different countries. The project included 100 participants in each country. Analysis in this article focuses on leadership tasks in ECEC settings in Finland, Japan, and Singapore. The study revealed that the tasks of ECEC leaders in all three countries are similar—the two most important leadership tasks are pedagogical leadership and human resource management—though implementation of tasks varied based on cultural context. In practice, leaders in Finland spend most of their time in line with the two issues considered most important, leaders in Japan spend their time on service and human resource management, and leaders in Singapore spend their time on pedagogical leadership and service management.

KAGAWA'S COSMIC PURPOSE AND MODERNIZATION IN JAPAN

AbstractKagawa Tyohiko (1888–1960), who was a well known Christian leader and social reformer, is re‐evaluated from the perspective of a public philosophy, and as an example of the possibilities for collaboration and conflict between science and the religious humanities in East Asia. His last book, Cosmic Purpose, which appears to be a kind of natural theology, is analyzed from the perspective of the hidden topic of human evil. By considering Kagawa's deep religious sensibility and conscience, the book can be interpreted to reflect on the wrong directionality selected by modern Japan's leaders that resulted in the tragic war.

Japan and the war on terror: military force and political pressure in the US-Japanese alliance. By Michael Penn

Japan's international behaviour since the Second World War has always been a bit odd. Though an economic behemoth, Japan pursues a surprisingly timid and diffident foreign policy. It has not put the historical legacy of the war fully to bed, fits uneasily into the geopolitics of East Asia, relies ever more on its defence alliance with America, and so finds it difficult to assert its independence or speak with a clear voice on international issues. Even so, Japan has become a major global player. Michael Penn, a journalist based in Japan, goes beyond this commonly accepted account and provides an excellent overview of Japan's participation in the United States’ global ‘war on terror’ and the Iraq War, describing the ways that Japan's leaders used these American campaigns for their own ends. The book is particularly useful in tracing the evolution of elite and public opinion from the 1990s onward, especially from the Koizumi to the Hatoyama governments. The book thus provides one of the best recent glimpses into Japanese foreign policy-making in the past two decades.

INSIDE INDUSTRY

GE Healthcare Life Sciences and Osaka University team up to develop future leaders of Japan's life sciences sector. Quintiles acquires Novella Clinical. Tim Reiner joins Mundipharma's regional office. Daiichi Sankyo to expand its collaborative drug discovery program to Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Eurofins Panlabs strengthens drug discovery services with GE Healthcare's Cytiva™ Cardiomyocytes.

Rethinking the Utility of Nuclear Weapons

The parameters of the discussion about nuclear weapons are well known and appear to be relatively fixed. It seems as if there has been little on that front in forty years. Most civilian scholars have lost interest in nuclear weapons and moved on to other topics. But it is the habit of the military mind to learn from the past; even today there are lessons to be learned from Cannae, Waterloo, and Vicksburg. It will not surprise thoughtful military officers to find that the past has something important and interesting to tell us about nuclear weapons. The conventional wisdom is that nuclear weapons are horrible, probably immoral, but necessary. We keep them because they have a unique ability to coerce and deter. There are psychological characteristics to the weapons--as Secretary of War Henry Stimson pointed out in the first semiofficial discussion of them in 1947--that make them unlike other weapons. (1) Now evidence is throwing doubt on these decades-old conclusions. Actually not new evidence, but additional evidence culled from a careful study of the past. Hiroshimas The first and most important revision to history has to do with the efficacy of bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (2) This evidence, however, has nothing to do with the school of Hiroshima history. The revisionist school ascended in 1964 with the publication by Gar Alperovitz of a book arguing that bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki was unnecessary--the Japanese would have surrendered anyway. (3) This debate has caused controversy and aroused passions for almost fifty years. But it is not really about nuclear weapons. The revisionists argue that the bombings were horrible and, since they weren't necessary to win the war, they were immoral. The counterrevisionists argue that the bombings were required and were, therefore, moral. But this is a debate about whether the United States acted morally, not about whether nuclear weapons work. New evidence seems to suggest that while the bombs destroyed the cities, they didn't play much of a role (or perhaps any) in convincing Japan's leaders to surrender. Over the last twenty years, increasing access to records in Japan, Russia, and the United States has revealed that in the three days following the bombing of Hiroshima Japan's leaders had little idea that they had to surrender as a result of the bombings. (4) Meeting notes, diary entries, and the actions that various actors took during this period show that while Japan's leaders knew Hiroshima had been destroyed by a nuclear weapon, they saw this as another problem in an already difficult war, not a war-ending crisis. The Foreign Minister, Togo Shigenori, actually suggested convening the Supreme Council two days after the bombing of Hiroshima to discuss it and found he could not generate enough interest on the subject to get it on the agenda. When the Soviet Union, which had signed a five-year neutrality pact with Japan in 1941, broke that agreement and joined the war at midnight on 8-9 August, however, it touched off a crisis. Within hours of the news reaching Tokyo, the Supreme Council met to discuss unconditional surrender. It is clear from all the evidence now available that Japan's leaders surrendered because of the Soviet entry into the war and not because of the nuclear bombings. There are reasons to doubt the traditional story that the Emperor was horrified by the bombing of Hiroshima. The documentary evidence is thin, (5) and if the Emperor was so moved, it begs the question: why was he moved by secondhand reports of a city destroyed in August when he was not moved by driving through Tokyo and personally witnessing the devastation of that city in March? Would it not be sensible to expect that firsthand experience would have a stronger emotional impact than a secondhand report? (6) In some ways, this conclusion about Hiroshima makes sense. In order to believe that Hiroshima was the cause of Japan's surrender, it was necessary to believe that Japan's military men didn't know their business. …

DoD’s Medical Radiobiology Advisory Team

The Medical Radiobiology Advisory Team (MRAT) is the operations arm of the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI), located at Naval Support Activity in Bethesda, MD. AFRRI is internationally recognized as expert in the biological effects of ionizing radiation research, training, and mitigation. During the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) response to the Fukushima Daiichi reactor incident, Operation Tomodachi, the MRAT provided guidance and advice to the U.S. Military leaders in Japan. This support helped ensure the safety of U.S. service members, family members, and civilians and supported the humanitarian relief in a coordinated effort with the Government of Japan (GOJ).

占領下日本における家庭科教育ナショナル・リーダーのアメリカ視察 －CIEと教育総局の連携－

占領下日本における家庭科教育ナショナル・リーダーのアメリカ視察 －CIEと教育総局の連携－

A war it was always going to lose: why Japan attacked America in 1941

Jeffrey Record has specialised in investigating the causes of war. In Specter of Munich: Reconsidering the Lessons of Appeasing (Potomac Books, Inc., 2006), he contended that Hitler could not have been deterred from going to war by any action the Allies could plausibly have taken. In Beating Goliath: Why Insurgencies Win (Potomac Books, Inc., 2007), Record reviewed eleven insurgencies and evaluated the reasons for their success or failure, including the insurgents' stronger will to prevail. Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq (Potomac Books, Inc., 2009) includes one of Record's most cogent explanations of why an often uncritical belief in one's own victory is frequently (but not always) a critical component of the decision to make war. Record incorporates the lessons of these earlier books in his latest,A War It Was Always Going to Lose: Why Japan Attacked America in 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbour is one of the most perplexing cases in living memory of a weaker power seeming to believe that it could vanquish a clearly superior force. On closer inspection, however, Record finds that Japan did not believe it could win; yet, the Japanese imperial command decided to attack the United States anyway. Record finds conventional explanations that Japan's leaders were criminally stupid, wildly deluded, or just plumb crazy don't fully answer all our questions. Instead, he argues, the Japanese were driven by an insatiable appetite for national glory and economic security via the conquest of East Asia. The scope of their ambitions and their fear of economic destruction overwhelmed their knowledge that the likelihood of winning was slim and propelled them into a war they were always going to lose.

HARUKONAWATA WARD. Women Religious Leaders in Japan's Christian Century, 1549-1650. (Women and Gender in the Early Modern World.) Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate Publishing Company. 2009. Pp. xv, 405. $124.95

HARUKONAWATA WARD. Women Religious Leaders in Japan's Christian Century, 1549-1650. (Women and Gender in the Early Modern World.) Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate Publishing Company. 2009. Pp. xv, 405. $124.95