Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool/Reuters In 1990, during a banquet for the South Korean president in Tokyo, Akihito expressed his “deepest regret” for the Japanese occupation of Korea.

Seven decades after its surrender ended World War II, Japan took its most significant step away from the pacifist foreign policy that shaped 70 years of its post-war history.

US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 13, 2023.

Three times in the modern era, Japan has reacted to profound international shifts with a sweeping remake of its foreign policy — in ways that drastically altered global history.

Like Germany, the other World War II-era aggressor turned pacifist nation, Japan has responded to the invasion by swiftly joining the U.S.-led effort to confront Russia.

The Japanese, observing events in China, instituted the same discourse and modernized more rapidly than China did during the Meiji Restoration. Mainland Chinese citizens still frequently measure ...

Key Points. Implementing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s vision of a more regionally and internationally engaged foreign policy is essential to the future of Japan and the region.

Another museum dedicated to the Opium Wars, the Sea Battle Museum, opened nearby in 1999. As it was when the British warships arrived, Guangdong is still the drugs hub of China.