MakePolicy.com

I have often pooh-hooed the Japanese face mask – a cold is a cold! But amid the fears that a deadly swine flu could spread quickly across the globe from Mexico – I am realising the folly of my ways! The swine flu has already killed over 100 people in Mexico.
Japanese corporations Panasonic and Sharp have instructed their employees to postpone business trips to Mexico and airports around the world are on alert for travellers displaying flu like symptoms. In New Zealand, a group of students have tested positive for …

The Japan Times has suggested today that the global credit crisis gives Japan the chance to play a prominent role in forming a new financial order instead of just handing out money. Its the kind of international recognition that Japan has long sought.
With the kind of monies that Japan has agreed to commit over the next number of years one would hope that Japan should be seen as a leader. Japan is still the only Asian country that is a member of the G7 Club.
But how disappointing that the finance …

Pakistan is playing the failing state card and it is reaping enormous international aid. Pakistan is a useful strategic player to the external powers in the region and as such as drawn in the largest ever flow of foreign aid – led by Tokyo and the US.
But Pakistan is not the only failing state in the world. Nor is it the only state which poses potential security threats – take Somalia, North Korea and Zimbabwe to name a few.
Global committment to economic and military resources for Pakistan …

With its shrinking economy, a very depressed stock market and a rising gap between the haves and the have-nots widening, Japan’s politicians are facing a backlash. And with this rising discontent, the Communist Party (JCP) has had a sudden upswing in popularity. Membership has surged and many of these members are young people who are interested in focusing on welfare and job creation.
With the end to the boom years in Japan’s economy, there has been increasing discontent with the ruling liberal LDP regime. At the latest count the membership had …

After a year of not talking the political rivals North and South Korea held their first formal talks.
But with disputes over the venue and what to talk about – things did not start well.
Neither did they finish well – after 20 minutes all talk was off again.
The South Korean delegation wanted to see a worker who had been detained in March 2009. This request was refused. The worker had supposedly been denouncing the North’s regime. The North Koreans also demanded that the South Korean companies pay more for operating in …

One of the post-WWII challenges for Japan in the Asian region has typically been to promote reconcilation and good-will. It is something the Japanese have worked at very hard for many decades. In particular, the Fukuda Doctrine of 1977 spearheaded Japanese committments to peace and trust between the Asian countries. And as a result, Japan has achieved its successful global position partly through the development of its soft-power.

The current PM, Mr Aso has stressed the ongoing need for Japan to make use of this soft power. It is well-known …

Japan is well known for its tight rein on immigration. In sharp contrast, to many other countries such as the UK, the USA or Australia, Japan does not have an official immigration policy. In fact, in Japanese society, the issue of immigration is one that is almost taboo. Is this is a good thing?
Japan’s stance on immigration has prompted much debate.
Firstly, in a country which has a declining population there have been concerns that there will not be enough young people to sustain its economic growth. But in the current …

Well its not just the chief exec of Japan Airlines and the Jamaican PM that are in salary sacrifice mode – the Chinese government has directed executives of state-owned banks and insurers to re-think their pay packets. A government directive said that individual financial enterprises paid top execs too much and even though Chinese executives are paid at modest rates vis a vis Western standards – their pay packets are far larger than ordinary workers.
The directives are siginficant because they highlight the concerns held for the inequality between the …