A strong, politically savvy woman is just what Japan and the United States need to strengthen relations on both sides of the Pacific.
Caroline Kennedy, who is in line for the post of U.S. ambassador to Japan, may or may not exactly fit that bill. With any luck, though, she could leverage her appointment as Washington's top envoy to Tokyo to heighten awareness of just how seriously both sides need to take the issue of female leadership.
Not that there is a dearth of other pressing problems at stake.
North Korea's nuclear aspirations show no sign of abating, while worries about tensions in the East China Sea over a handful of barren rocks possibly triggering armed conflict between Japan and China persist. Meanwhile, an arms race is building up in the Asia-Pacific, and the United States needs to strengthen ties with solid allies such as Japan more than ever.
Read the rest of this op-ed on CNN.com.