This is the age of the train: certainly in Japan and in Europe; probably, soon, on the East Coast. The urgent question is whether California will catch the train, whether indeed it should catch the train, and if so how.  Modern high-speed train travel involves trains that achieve sustained...

Structural change in the international order will have the greatest effect in East Asia with the ascendancy of China as a world economic power. A two-pillar post- Cold War policy of “shaping†China into a model country while “hedging†against its potential as a...

Among the various innovations introduced under the new National Defense Program Guidelines released by Japan in 2010, the most important is the “Dynamic Defense Force†concept, which will enable the Japan Self-Defense Forces to operate effectively in the gray area between war and peace...

While it is clear that Japan’s legislative body, the Diet, is empowered in budgeting and oversight mechanisms, there is no consensus on whether the Diet wields actual power in influencing defense policy and whether the Diet’s role in defense policy approaches that of...

This policy brief explains how Japan produces its annual defense white paper and how this publication and other defense reports promote transparency on Japan’s national defense. I outline the process of putting together the white paper and then suggest ways in which the...

This policy brief evaluates the trends in Japan’s space policy directions, and assesses their implications for regional and global security in three parts. First, it focuses on the role of public and private players pivotal to the country’s space directions, and the...

Despite its limited presence in the international arms market, great strides have been made in the Japanese defense industry over the last decade, including development of new transport aircraft, a ballistic missile defense system, and a new class of submarines. While...