BRIJ TANKHA-Frontline

More stories by this author

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, front left, and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, front right, stroll at Toji Temple in Kyoto, western Japan Sunday, Aug. 31, 2014. (AP Photo/Japan Pool via Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

Business as usual

Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan, far from inaugurating a new era, stayed very much in the well-established framework, building on projects and policies

People evacuated from the 20-kilometre exclusion zone around Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station at an event marking three months since the earthquake and tsunami, in Minami Soma, Fukushima prefecture, on June 11.-TOMCHIRO OHSUMI/BLOOMBERG

Critical mass

The public debate in the wake of the Fukushima disaster has the potential to change the shape of politics and public life in Japan.

January 17, 1995, Kobe: A collapsed elevated highway after a 7.02 magnitude earthquake rocked western Japan. Kobe came as a wake-up call for the government to make significant changes in its response system and to ensure better safeguards in buildings and other structures.-ASAHI SHIMBUN/AFP

Price of power

Japan's centuries-old experience in dealing with natural disasters proves inadequate to help it handle the man-made nuclear crisis.

JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER Junichiro Koizumi explains his gift, an arrow that is believed to hit evil, to President Bush in this October 20, 2001 photograph taken in Shanghai. The North Korean nuclear test has allowed Japan to strengthen further its ties with the U.S.-KATSUMI KASAHARA/AP

Tense neighbour

North Korea's relations with Japan face stormy weather in the aftermath of the nuclear test.

THE YASUKUNI SHRINE in Tokyo.-YURIKO NAKAO (JAPAN)/REUTERS

Why Yasukuni hurts

Many Japanese support a national shrine to mourn the dead, not just soldiers but all those killed in battles.

The Atomic Bomb Dome near the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.-KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP

Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki

... and forgetting a colonial empire, on the 60th anniversary of the only instance of the use of atomic bombs.

Sign in to Unlock member-only benefits!

Bookmark stories to read later.
Comment on stories to start conversations.
Subscribe to our newsletters.
Get notified about discounts and offers to our products.