El Japó, abans i després de Fukushima

Historically speaking, Japanese identity is torn between Asia and the West and the country has "reinvented" itself several times, as a result of historical changes that have hit the Japanese people hard, some of which have been tragic. This happened in 1868 with the Meiji restoration, which opened Japan up to western modernisation. The country was also reborn after military defeat in 1945 and became the world's second economy in 1968. Japan will also rise up with renewed energy in the wake of the tragedy that occurred on 11th March 2011, at Fukushima. While Japan lacks natural resources it benefits from an extraordinary resource, its people. Reconstruction has already started, yet on this occasion it will not be enough to merely rebuild infrastructures, the country will also have to be rethought, revitalised and rejuvenated. Its great challenge is to adapt to the geostrategic changes that have occurred since the start of the 21st century. While Japan has immense abilities, it lacks the size and population of China, which is increasingly overtaking both the US and a Europe that is encountering great difficulties in overcoming its financial crisis. The future of Japan will depend on how its political relations evolve with the Chinese giant, and on the archipelago opening itself up unreservedly to the outside world. It must take advantage of its privileged location on the Asian-Pacific Rim, the new centre of world economic expansion. Japan continues to be, after the US and China, the world's third most successful economy.