RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE On May 4, political analyst Tobias Harris examined the unraveling of Japan’s “Abe consensus” and its implications for the country’s democratic future during the 19th Griffith and Patricia Way Lecture. In his talk, “Japan’s Democracy in an Age of Uncertainty,” Harris dissected the “Abe consensus” — the political framework that governed Japan

Japan’s 2024 general election for the House of Representatives marked a turning point. The long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suffered its second-worst showing since 1955, while the far-right populist party Sanseito entered the lower house for the first time, signaling potential shifts in governance with global implications. The fifth volume of “Japan Decides,” co-edited by

The Japan Times named “Japan Decides 2014: The Japanese General Election” (Palgrave Macmillan), a collection of 21 essays by prominent specialists on Japan and edited by Jackson School Professor Robert Pekkanen, Steven Reed and Ethan Scheiner, in its recommended reading for the holidays and beyond article published on Dec. 19.