In January, I was outlining an article I hoped to write about a recent judgment by a South Korean court ordering Japan to pay compensation for atrocities committed during the Second World War against “comfort women,” women and girls who were transported to war-front “comfort stations” to provide sexual services to soldiers in the Imperial Japanese Army. The women were taken by force or entrapped by deception in many countries in and beyond Asia, but a large number came from Korea, which, at the time, was a colony of Japan. Estimates of the number of victims have ranged widely, from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. On January 23rd, Japan announced that the Korean court’s judgment, which ordered a compensation of ninety-one thousand and eight hundred dollars to be paid to each of the twelve Korean comfort women who were plaintiffs in the case (seven of whom had died since it was filed, in 2013), was “extremely regrettable and absolutely unacceptable.” Japan sai
By Andrea Daolio
The Persian Gulf recently made headlines across the world due to clashes between Iran, the U.S., the U.K., and regional Arab states. Of grave concern, the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf is a chokepoint for global shipping routes where much of the world’s energy supply passes. While tensions have remained high in the region for quite some time, every incident bears some consequence for global stability.
The Persian Gulf (or Arabian Gulf according to some Arab countries, showing how the rivalry also extends to the very name of the sea) is an inland sea that is connected to the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz, a feature that is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point. With its powerful littoral navy homeported in bases all around the Strait, from the main base at Bandar Abbas to smaller ports at Jask, Qeshm and Abu Musa, Iran is clearly very well-positioned to attempt a closure of the Strait.
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Japan Expects Biden to Rejoin the TPP
The U.S. was critical in convincing Japan to join the trade pact. Now Tokyo wants to bring Washington back into the fold.
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February 12, 2021
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According to an interview with Jiji Press published on January 16, Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu expressed his expectation that the United States under the administration of Joe Biden would come back to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) framework. The United States under the Obama administration was a driving force in the TPP, but the Trump administration pulled out of the pact immediately upon taking office. The remaining countries regrouped to form the TPP-11 or the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a free-trade agreement between 11 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore, and Vietnam. The CPTPP entered into effect in December 2018.
There s too much at stake to let domestic politics drive our divisions.
A longtime US foreign policy analyst says President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide will have to put domestic priorities to the side as they look to strengthen ties between their countries.
With President Biden taking office in Washington, geopolitical analysts are keen to see how the change at the top will affect relations between the US and Japan. NHK World s Ebara Miki spoke to one of them Dr. Joshua Walker, a seasoned Japan watcher who recently became President and CEO of the New York-based non-profit Japan Society. (This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.)