FROM THE EDITOR (SHIRAISHI Takashi)

CHRONOLOGY
January – February 2008

THE DIVISION IN THE GOVERNMENT (TAKENAKA Harukata)
Tax Reform Runs into a Legislative Logjam (ABE Yasuhisa)
Gloom in Kasumigaseki (Editorial Department, RONZA)
Rethinking the Role of the Upper House (MACHIDORI Satoshi)
Don’t Turn the Clock Back (Takenaka Heizô)

REASSESSING JAPAN’S DIPLOMATIC OPTIONS (Shiraishi Takashi)
Sino-Japanese Relations: Pursuing Mutual Benefits (FENG Zhaokui, OKABE Tatsumi)
Diplomacy for Japan as a Middle Power (SOEYA Yoshihide)

THE SHIFTING BALANCE OF ECONOMIC POWER (Nariai Osamu)
Lessons from the Subprime Crisis (TAKEMORI Shunpei)
Japan’s Place as a Peripheral State (NISHIMURA Yoshimasa)

SOCIAL SECURITY IN AN AGING JAPAN
Ideas for Pension Reform (KOJIMA Akira)

LOCAL DIPLOMSCY
Saving Asia with the "One Village One Product" Movement (HIRAMATSU Morihiko)