Category Archives: Japan

America’s bases: collateral damage for the US economy

America’s foreign military bases are bad business. (This article first appeared in the January 2011 issue of the American Conservative.) TOKYO. When German executives visit Tokyo, they are often treated to a session at Bernd’s Bar, a notably authentic German pub. … Continue reading

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The Economist on Japan’s population “problem”

The Economist magazine likes to feel superior to anything it doesn’t understand. Luckily for its self-esteem, there is a lot in East Asia that has it stumped.  An example is Japan’s population policy. In the course of a major article … Continue reading

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Chalmers Johnson: The passing of a true scholar

In a field known for fractiousness, Chalmers Johnson spoke with unique authority. Today we received the sad news that Chalmers Johnson, America’s greatest Japan scholar, has passed on. Although late in life he achieved considerable fame for his critique of … Continue reading

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The New York Times on Japan: Continuing fallout

Expert observers Holstein, Fallows, and Baker express their dismay at the Times’s miscues. I am not alone in challenging the New York Times’s recent account of a “disheartened” Japan. William J. Holstein, former president of the Overseas Press Club of America … Continue reading

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More nonsense from the New York Times on Japan’s “lost decades”

The Times says Japan is “disheartened.” It hasn’t looked at Japan’s trade figures — or America’s. The New York Times yesterday carried a major article headlined “Japan Goes from Dynamic to Disheartened.” Rarely has the truth of the Japanese economy … Continue reading

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Appearance on BBC World

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Edwin Reischauer: An ambassador who lied TO his country

John Kennedy’s ambassador to Japan is the subject of a new biography. Unfortunately, as I point out in this review (which  was first published in the June 2010 issue of the American Conservative), the author’s agenda has little to do with … Continue reading

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Myths of the Japanese economy

This is a longer version of an article I have just published in the journal of the Overseas Press Club of America. Former Tokyo correspondents held a reunion at the Overseas Press Club in New York in March at which … Continue reading

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How the press stabbed Detroit in the back

In a new article for CounterPunch, I show that, by failing to blow the whistle on protectionism in key foreign markets,  the American press shares  blame for Detroit’s implosion. For decades East Asian competition has played a controversial role in … Continue reading

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