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Nov 8, 2024 | 
eastasiaforum.org | Yasuo Takao
Japan accepts approximately 330,000 international migrant workers annually, including 60,000 permanent residents and 270,000 temporary residents, ranking fifth among 35 OECD countries for labour immigration. As of October 2023, the number of foreign workers in Japan has exceeded two million. The breakdown of the top three residence statuses is as follows: 616,000 permanent and special permanent residents (e.g., the Korean diaspora), 596,000 skilled professionals and 413,000 technical interns.
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Oct 15, 2024 | 
channelnewsasia.com | Yasuo Takao
PERTH: Just days after taking office, Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba already appears to be on the defensive. In his first policy speech to parliament on Oct 4, and certainly with an eye on the snap election on Oct 27, there was no explicit mention of the "Asian version of NATO" he had advocated nor some of the more divisive proposals he made in the lead-up to the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)'s presidential election.
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Jul 31, 2024 | 
eastasiaforum.org | Tawanda Sachikonye |Kati Suominen |Yasuo Takao |Ashima Goyal
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s May 2024 state visit to Brazil highlights not only the importance Japan places on a constructive as well as impactful partnership with Latin America’s largest economy, but also underscores Japan’s prioritisation of its nascent Global South engagement policy. Japanese policymakers increasingly view Brazil as a possible strategic partner in safeguarding an international rules-based order.
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May 6, 2024 | 
channelnewsasia.com | Yasuo Takao
PERTH: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s position is becoming more precarious, primarily due to a prominent political funding scandal within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). A crucial factor in the conservative LDP’s ongoing rule will be whether there are any reversals in the LDP’s recent trend of garnering support from young people. Kishida’s current term as the president of the LDP concludes in late September.
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Apr 16, 2024 | 
eastasiaforum.org | Jenny D Balboa |Chhay Lin Lim |Yasuo Takao |Cindy X. Zheng
The conflict between the Marcos and Duterte families in the Philippines has taken on a dark twist. At a rally in Davao City on 28 January 2024, former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte called President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr a . Duterte’s son, Davao City Mayor Sebastian ‘Baste’ Duterte, while asking for Bongbong to resign called the president lazy and lacking in compassion.
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Apr 14, 2024 | 
eastasiaforum.org | Masahiko Takeda |Ayaka Hiraki |Yasuo Takao |Richard Katz
Until recently the Japanese yen was a safe haven currency. When shocks like Brexit hit the global market, Japanese investors — the apocryphal Mrs Watanabe retail investors — brought their savings back to Japan. When there was global uncertainty, the yen strengthened, making Japanese exports less competitive. That was despite three decades of low economic growth and structural headwinds like a shrinking and ageing population. The yen is now the weakest it’s been against the US dollar since 1990.
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Apr 14, 2024 | 
eastasiaforum.org | Masahiko Takeda |Ayaka Hiraki |Yasuo Takao |Richard Katz
Last month, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) took its first step in the ‘normalisation’ of monetary policy. It raised the Bank’s short-term policy interest rate from negative 0.1 per cent to 0–0.1 per cent and ceased most of its unconventional quantitative and qualitative easing (QQE) measures. Lifting interest rates even by a miniscule 10 basis points certainly heralded a new era in Japanese monetary policy, as policy shifted in the direction of tightening credit for the first time in seventeen years.
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Apr 11, 2024 | 
eastasiaforum.org | Chhay Lin Lim |Ayaka Hiraki |Yasuo Takao |Shahar Hameiri
The relationship between Male and New Delhi has experienced a downturn since Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu won the 2023 election. In January 2024, the Maldives and China signed a series of bilateral agreements on infrastructure, energy, maritime and agriculture cooperation during Muizzu’s visit to Beijing. The relationship was further deepened in March 2024 as the Maldives and China entered into two defence agreements, with China committing to providing military assistance.
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Apr 10, 2024 | 
eastasiaforum.org | Chhay Lin Lim |Ayaka Hiraki |Yasuo Takao |Bec Strating
2023 marked a critical turning point in Cambodia’s contemporary political landscape as the reins of leadership passed from former prime minister Hun Sen to his eldest son, Hun Manet, in a once in three-decade premiership change. Cambodia’s leadership reshuffle has heralded a significant transformation with a younger generation of leaders pledging to steer the country towards greater growth, peace and stability.
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Apr 10, 2024 | 
eastasiaforum.org | Ayaka Hiraki |Yasuo Takao |Richard Katz |Abdul Rahman Yaacob
A shifting balance of power, escalating geopolitical competition and advancements in digital technology have expanded the boundaries of national security. As cutting-edge technologies are increasingly being developed by the civilian sector rather than the military, the nexus between the private economy and national security has deepened. The competition for technological superiority has broadened to include control over civilian technologies.
