Prosperous and post-postmodern, but still struggling both with its neighbors and its past, Japan faces a host of challenges. Its problems were compounded many times over by the triple disasters of March 11, which left Japan grappling with vexing new issues, from the future of nuclear power to food safety. The focus of the seminar is Japan, but more broadly it explores how values, ideas, history, citizens, organized interests, political and economic forces, international pressures, and leaders collide and find accommodation as countries struggle to resolve complex problems.  The seminar looks at a series of contemporary debates in Japan as a window for thinking about Japan and East Asia in an era of great change.  How Japan resolves these and other issues and problems to be examined in the seminar will define Japan’s place in the world and is important for the future of Asia as well.