Playlist:

playlist Go to the Japan (topic) playlist

Filter by Categories

Japan: Rising Tensions With China

'WorldWatch' by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Japan's relationship with China has been marked by deep-seated antipathy since antiquity, with both nations historically viewing each other as barbarian. Throughout history, conflicts over the Korean Peninsula, Japanese piracy along China's coast, and two modern wars in 1894 and 1937, alongside Japanese atrocities during World War II, have left lasting scars. Post-war, Japan's economy surged while China struggled, but by the end of the Cold War, China's economic rise under Deng Xiaoping contrasted with Japan's two-decade decline, positioning China as the second-largest economy and Japan as third. This shift casts China's growing economic, demographic, and military power as an existential threat to Japan. Recent challenges, including the 2011 Tohoku earthquake damaging the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and political shifts within Japan, have begun to stir the nation from stagnation, fostering a return to nationalism that once alarmed its neighbors. This emerging nationalistic sentiment could either drive significant change by challenging postwar taboos or falter under Japan's myriad issues like low birthrates, a strained social security system, a stagnant economy, and a stressed power grid. Economic ties bind the two nations, with 23,000 Japanese companies employing ten million Chinese workers in China, seen as vital for Japan's domestic revival. Yet, distrust prompts Japan to diversify investments into Southeast Asia, potentially heightening conflict risks with China due to overlapping interests and possible maritime clashes. Japan's naval strength, despite recent pacifism, remains superior, potentially curbing China's maritime ambitions in the Asia-Pacific and balancing power in the East China Sea without direct U.S. involvement, though this could strain American influence over Japan. Tensions are evident in public sentiment, with only 5% of Japanese viewing China favorably, and in diplomatic spats, such as China's extended Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's controversial visit to Yasukuni Shrine. These actions, alongside frequent Japanese jet scrambles against perceived Chinese incursions, risk escalation due to the lack of diplomatic channels to prevent misunderstandings. Both nations recognize that war is not in their interest, yet sustain tensions for domestic political gain, with Abe viewing a strong China as a threat to Japan's regional status, likely ensuring a continued tit-for-tat dynamic. While military conflict remains unlikely in the near term, prolonged tensions could shift public opinion, pushing Abe to challenge or amend Japan's restrictions on using force internationally, signaling an imminent change in Japan's military posture.

Japan: Rising or Setting Sun?

'Prophecy Watch' by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Japan, among the top economies of the world, has been in deep recession for nearly a decade. Can she recover? What is in store for her in the end time?

The Pragmatic Japanese

'WorldWatch' by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Japan has a history of abrupt changes in policy when the geopolitical situation alters against their self-interests. It is starting to do so once again.

Population Trends in Asia (Part One): Charting Ups and Downs

CGG Weekly by Charles Whitaker

Three events are taking place in Asia with an intensity never before witnessed in human history—at least not since the Flood. How might they affect us?

Geopolitics: Scope and Limitations

'WorldWatch' by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

International relations are convoluted enough to make the mind swim. Geopolitics is perhaps the most conservative method of making some sense of the world.

The Zeitgeist of Suicide (Part Two): Causes and Results of Rejecting True Values

'Prophecy Watch' by Charles Whitaker

What are the causes—moral, social, and technological—behind the new demographic realities? Perhaps more importantly, what will be their consequences?

Demography Is Destiny

Commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Population trends become reliable trends of future national consequences. We do not have a debt crisis as much as a death crisis.

Population Trends in Asia (Part Two): The Graying of Asia

CGG Weekly by Charles Whitaker

Only a catastrophe of biblical proportions could forestall the tendency for Asia's populations to age substantially between now and 2025.

Birthrates in Decline

Commentary by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Statistics show that the birth rate for the Western nations has dropped below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman, sometimes significantly so.

The Zeitgeist of Suicide (Part One): Weeping for the Children Who Are Not

'Prophecy Watch' by Charles Whitaker

It seems counter-intuitive to think that the world's population is shrinking, but trend lines show the possibility of a 95% reduction in population ahead.

Globalism (Part Two): The Tents of Shem

'Prophecy Watch' by Charles Whitaker

Globalism is a fact of our age, but what ideas undergird it? Most of globalism's underlying principles have their origins in the Israelitish peoples.

Globalism (Part Eight): A Force for Conflict

'Prophecy Watch' by Charles Whitaker

Globalism, as it comes in contact with tribalism, often causes conflict because the two systems are incompatible. Such a collision is prophesied.

Fukushima: Aftermath and Implications

'WorldWatch' by David C. Grabbe

History shows that an energy crisis can strike at the very core of Japan's existence and cause it to respond in dramatic ways to guard its energy lifeline.

The Commandments (Part Eleven)

Sermon/Bible Study by John W. Ritenbaugh

Honor of parents is the basis for good government. The family provides the venue for someone to learn to make sacrifices and be part of a community.

Knowing Good and Evil

Commentary by Mark Schindler

The bombing of Hiroshima highlights the sobering consequences of eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Human solutions always fall short.