Beginning as the Cold War entered its final thaw and ending shortly before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Heisei era saw thirty years of considerable social upheaval and significant shifts in the political landscape. Cabinet after cabinet faced significant challenges in steering Japan through domestic issues, from scandal, internal conflict, and large-scale governmental reorganization to natural disaster and a financial sector in crisis, and in addressing pressing questions over Japan's vital relationship with the US and with Asia at large. What can be learned from the political upheaval of Japan's Heisei era? And how did these years come to define the present political environment? The second in the Examining Heisei Japan series, this volume assembles a wealth of contemporary insights and scholarly articles by respected Japanese academics and political scientists, revisiting key events to shed new light on these pivotal three decades in Japanese politics.