Japan’s GDP contracted by 0.9% in the first quarter following the triple disasters of 11 March. The government has launched a number of initiatives to support the affected areas, including that of establishing a “special economic zone” in Tohoku wher...

With the Pheu Thai party’s landslide victory in Thailand’s 3 July general elections, just a year after violent crackdown on protestors by the Royal Thai Army left 92 dead on the streets of Bangkok, the world is asking whether the return of a democrat...

Though the stepping down of Prime Minister Kan was expected for some time, the election of Yoshihiko Noda as new leader of DPJ and, later, Prime Minister was anything but predictable. The leadership contest exposed internal rifts and differences in v...

Our guest speaker this month was Shadow Minister of Finance Yasutoshi Nishimura, a former Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs and former Shadow Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry. Mr Nishimura, runner-up to Sadakazu Tanigaki in the ...

With new governments in Greece, Italy, and Spain and questions being asked about the very future of Europe’s monetary union, previously unfamiliar European topics, from Greek politics to the workings of German bond sales, have become need-to-know iss...

Our guest speaker for February was Tetsuro Fukushima, Chairman of the House of Councillors Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary under Prime Minister Naoto Kan, and Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs under...

Our guest speaker for March was Yoshimi Watanabe, former Minister of State for Regulatory Reform and Financial Services and, since 2008, party leader for Your Party, Japan's third largest political party according to most recent polls. Mr Watanabe is...

Our guest speaker for April was Kenta Matsunami, former Vice Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, Chair of the LDP Council on Regionalization, and Vice Chair of the Health, Labor and Welfare Committee of the LDP's Policy Affairs Research Council. ...

Our guest speaker for May was Mr. Keiro Kitagami, Vice Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, and Member of the House of Representatives with the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).  Mr. Kitagami is in charge of Japan's negotiations on free trade agr...

Our guest speaker for September was Katsumasa Suzuki, co-founder of the new People's Lives First Party (PLFP) and one of party leader Ichiro Ozawa's closest political allies. Suzuki heads the PFLP's Diet Affairs Committee, a powerful position which d...