Obama, Japan is a sleepy Japanese fishing port that went nuts for Obama — cheering him on and dancing for him in March 2008 when “his winning steak in the U.S. presidential primaries stalled.” And above, Obama village dwellers sing “O-B-A-M-A! Obama!” as a tribute to Barack.

Over the last day and a half, I’ve been seeing as much as possible of the area around the Izu Peninsula in Japan. For those who want to venture out and see scenery like that above, Hana Fubuki is a great place to stay with seven different, private natural hot springs baths.

(Patrick Doherty directs the New America Foundation/U.S.-Cuba 21st Centry Policy Initiative.

I took this picture this morning at Shibuya station in Tokyo, watching a real mob of people pack themselves in a 12-person thick long line entry into the Ginza line subway where train cars arrive every two minutes.

After spending some time in China recently listening to the stories of Chinese officials and others on what roles they played or in what circumstances they or their families suffered during the Cultural Revolution, I can easily imagine twenty or thirty years from now similar historic reflections in the form of special lectures, movies, even…

(Steve Clemons and Shanghai Municipal Government official Cao Yang at the Shanghai Museum; photo credit: Peter Pi) This past week, TWN‘s Steve Clemons has been in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuxi, and Shenzhen. Today, we are flying to Tokyo. Monday will be DC. Tuesday and Wednesday — Bonn, Germany. Thursday and Friday — Dallas, Texas.

Among the Obama administration’s many promised changes to the United States’ strategic posture is an intention to “press the reset button” on U.S.-Russian relations.

Jonathan Guyer is a Program Associate at the New America Foundation/Middle East Task Force.

Oakley the Amazing Weimaraner gives me this look when he’s had it. “China, China, China. . . All you talk about is China. Enough.” (in Weimaranerese of course) On the other hand, he didn’t think that the fashionable Camp Doha-inspired reflector collars (suggested by regular reader POA) were such a bad idea.

Most national security analysts see the provocative second nuclear test by North Korea as a direct “poke” at Barack Obama — testing his resolve in a high stakes international stand-off and demanding senior level US attention.