Japan’s Strategic Turn

When I first visited Japan more than 30 years ago, the Cold War had ended, China had not yet risen, and the country—although it was no longer the Japan as Number One of Ezra Vogel’s best-selling 1979 book—was formidable. Japan’s GDP was not very far behind that of the United States, was larger than that of most of the rest of Asia combined, and was seven times that of China. On a recent visit, I found a very different country. Even in 1995, there were ominous signs: the collapse of property…