Word: asia
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...from clear what, precisely, Hatoyama means by "more equal," but there's little doubt that his government policy has completely altered the tenor of relations between the U.S. and its closest ally in Asia. Twenty years ago, Tokyo and Washington routinely sparred, most often over trade, but in the past decade the two nations seemed to become closer than ever. Japan backed America's antiterror campaign, for example, by marshaling refueling missions in the Indian Ocean to support U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Japan was looking more American at home as well. Under Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister from...
...role in the world. Though in many respects a political and economic power in its own right, Japan has remained reliant on the U.S. for its own security. (Japan's postwar constitution renounces the use of force in international disputes.) The stabilizing presence of the U.S. military in Asia is as crucial as ever to Japan, which shares the same neighborhood as a rising China and a belligerent, nuclear North Korea. But dependence on the U.S. has led some Japanese to lament that they don't live in a "normal" country, one responsible for its own defense and foreign affairs...
...Union. Today, however, no one is scared of Japan. Growth has been anemic ever since a property-and-stock-price bubble collapsed in the early 1990s. China is likely to supplant Japan as the world's No. 2 economy this year; Beijing is usurping Tokyo's political influence in Asia as well. Once lauded Japanese corporate management has grown isolated and out of touch - symbolized by the recent recall fiasco at Toyota. Even the country's reputation as a paragon of environmental progress has been shaken by outrage over the slaughter of dolphins, graphically depicted in the Oscar-winning documentary...
...best alternative for everyone," adding that "it is time to move on." Though the frustrated Obama Administration has since softened its approach - stating that it's willing to listen to Japanese proposals - it still sees the 2006 pact as its preferred option. (See pictures of President Obama visiting Asia...
...chaos has affected travelers in the Asia-Pacific region too. Monica Rouse, an Australian fashion designer living in London, had plans to return to Sydney Thursday morning on Qantas, the Australian carrier, to secure important documents for her British work visa. She received a text message that her flight was canceled but says Qantas is ill prepared to deal with the volume of complaints. "When I called, the girl could only tell me, 'You're not leaving today,' " she says. "If we don't call you in four hours, call us back...