Highlighting JAPAN

through articles

By featuring articles written by experts in many different genres, this online magazine provides people all over the world with information on modern Japan.

January 2010

Toward an East Asian Community

all of the documents (5,431KB)

PDF(961KB)

In November Prime Minister Hatoyama outlined his vision for an East Asian Community wherein countries cooperate to establish a multilayered network of functional communities.

Supporting Mekong Region Development

PDF(631KB)

Keiichi Ono
The Mekong region occupies a crucial geopolitical location, and Japan has provided assistance to develop economic corridors there that will play an important role in the achievement of an East Asian Community.

Regional Frameworks to Combat Natural Disasters

PDF(965KB)

Atsushi Koresawa, Susumu Yamakage
The countries of East Asia face a variety of challenges to human security like natural disasters, and there exists a need for a cooperative regional framework to respond to such challenges.

Achieving East Asian Economic Integration

PDF(795KB)

Eiji Ogawa
What steps are being taken to encourage greater economic integration in the East Asian region, and what will be necessary to ensure continued growth?

Asia's Role in the World

PDF(511KB)

Peter Drysdale
As host of APEC's Economic Leaders' Meeting in 2010, Japan is in an important position to advance closer East Asian integration.

Open Regional Cooperation

PDF(596KB)

Takashi Shiraishi
Key considerations in achieving Prime Minister Hatoyama's vision for an East Asian Community will be relations with the United States and pulling China into the integration process.

COMMUNITY TIES
The Riches of Simplicity

PDF(612KB)

Jeffrey Irish
There is a tiny mountain farming village of just 20 households in southern Kyushu where the richness of life in rural Japan still endures.

Creating Communities of Opportunity

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Communities around Japan confront a number of serious challenges, but there are locally led initiatives that are successfully addressing these concerns.

New Initiatives in Community Revitalization

PDF(797KB)

Kosuke Motani
There is a growing movement among residents in locations throughout Japan to revitalize community life and address local, everyday issues.

CONNECTING CULTURES
Grassroots Friendship

PDF(1,040KB)

Taizo Watanabe
The origins of a two-decade-old program of international friendship go back to an incident in the mid-1800s of a US vessel rescuing a shipwrecked Japanese fisherman.

INGREDIENTS OF JAPAN
Vintage Vinegars

PDF(830KB)

Tony McNicol
In Japan, vinegar is much more than just a cooking ingredient or condiment.

MONOZUKURI & SMEs
The Fabric of Success

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By competing on quality and value rather than price, innovative companies in Japan's textile industry have overcome challenges to achieve success.

all of the documents (5,431KB)

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