Japan and South Korea have very close alliances with the United States. They also have had diplomatic relations with each other for 50 years, not to mention considerable trade back and forth during that time. At a popular level, many Japanese are wild about Korean bulgogi and soap operas while many Koreans love Japanese sushi and anime. That doesn’t mean, however, that the two countries are particularly close. 

The contemporary, increasingly international version of Christmas is less a religious festival than a celebration of affluence, modernity, and above all Westernness. [...] Without anyone willing it, Christmas has become part of a package of Western soft power.

The foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan on Monday achieved an agreement meant to resolve a decades-long impasse over Korean women forced into Japanese military-run brothels during World War II. [...] The deal, which included an apology from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and an $8.3 million aid fund from Tokyo for the elderly former sex slaves, could reverse decades of animosity and mistrust between the thriving democracies, trade partners and staunch U.S. allies.

In India, Japan may have found an appropriate strategic partner in Asia so as to work towards stability in the region. The two key elements of the new Indo-Japan strategic partnership are civil nuclear cooperation and that in defence [sic]. 

Three main strands run through the narrative: learning Japanese, creating camaraderie with Keio University students, and acquiring extropy. That ambassadors come and go is a truism. Yet, precious few make a permanent mark on the country and people where they are accredited. Aftab Seth is one such scholar-diplomat. 

Abe’s call for an agreement, however, did not quite translate into strong public diplomacy. A press briefing by a Japanese official on the opening day, held to explain Abe’s speech, turned out to be the only news conference for the international media held by the Japanese delegation during the 13-day conference, which ended Saturday.

India selected Japan to help build its first high-speed rail link in a coup for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a defeat for China, which also had bid for the signature project. The $15 billion deal clinches three years of negotiations and reflects the deepening relationship between India and Japan stemming from the personal relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abe.