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December 05, 2024
 

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Jesse Johnson
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a debate with other political party leaders at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 13, 2024
Japan to ‘seriously consider’ U.N. nuke ban treaty observer status, Ishiba says
Japan, the sole country to be attacked with nuclear weapons, has faced criticism for not participating in some form in the treaty.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, attends a debate with other political party leaders at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 13, 2024
Ishiba to consider visiting U.S. to meet president-elect, report says
The prime minister has articulated the importance of building a relationship with the president-elect before the U.S. inauguration in January.
Former Prime Minister Taro Aso speaks during the Ketagalan Forum in Taipei in August 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2024
Former PM Taro Aso calls Taiwan a ‘country' — much to China's chagrin
Tuesday’s remarks were not the first time Aso has sounded off about Taiwan and how a conflict over the island would represent an emergency for Japan.
Gen Nakatani (center), who was named defense minister last week, attends an extraordinary session of the Lower House at parliament in Tokyo on Oct. 1.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2024
U.S. and Japan defense chiefs agree to beef up Nansei Islands presence
Two controversial proposals put by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba — an Asian version of NATO or revising the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement — were not discussed.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has floated an idea of creating an Asian version of the NATO security framework.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 8, 2024
Ishiba's 'Asian NATO' dead on arrival as new PM set for diplomatic debut
Many Asian countries maintain delicate ties with China, making the creation of any defense group aimed at countering Beijing's influence difficult.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba listens to a reporter's question as he attends a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 2, 2024
South Korea's Yoon and Japan's Ishiba agree to continue 'shuttle diplomacy'
In his first phone call with the South Korean leader, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stressed the importance of the two countries’ maintaining close communications,
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, 66, has experience as the onetime head of Japan’s former Defense Agency before it became a full-fledged ministry and is seen as a pair of steady hands.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 2, 2024
Ishiba looks to 'defense tribe' to fill key Cabinet positions
The new prime minister has named four former defense ministers to key posts — most notably, the defense and foreign affairs portfolios.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 2, 2024
Ishiba holds first phone call with Biden as prime minister
In their talks, Ishiba noted that the U.S.-Japan alliance “has been strengthened considerably” under his predecessor, and pledged “to continue along that path.”
Taiwanese soldiers exit an amphibious assault vehicle to another position during a landing drill as part of the Han Kuang military exercise in Pingtung, Taiwan, in July 2022. Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. is bound by law to sell arms to Taiwan for its self-defense.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 30, 2024
U.S. announces $567 million military aid package for Taiwan
The order means the U.S. will directly ship its own weapon stocks to Taiwan, a move it has employed often to support Ukraine’s war effort.
Shigeru Ishiba, newly elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, speaks at a news conference after winning the party's leadership election in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2024
Ishiba's foreign policy vision to face immediate tests as he takes helm
The new Japanese leader will be greeted immediately with the challenge of reining in escalating regional tensions and building up the U.S. alliance.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Sazanami leaves Sasebo Naval Base in Saikai, Nagasaki Prefecture, in April 2012.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 28, 2024
Japan and U.S. partners hold dueling military drills with China in South China Sea
The first MSDF warship to transit the Taiwan Strait joined naval and air forces from Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and the U.S. for the exercises.
A series of satellite images from Planet Labs appears to show cranes at the Wuchang shipyard in Wuhan, China, on June 15.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 27, 2024
China's newest nuclear-powered submarine sank this year, U.S. says
It was not clear if the sub was carrying nuclear fuel, but the accident has dealt a major blow to Beijing as it seeks to showcase its growing military prowess.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Sazanami arrives in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean during a scheduled port visit in July. The Sazanami became the first Japanese warship to sail through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 26, 2024
Japan MSDF warship sails through Taiwan Strait for first time
The transit on Wednesday, which follows a spate of Chinese military moves near Japan, drew a strongly worded warning from Beijing.
Yonaguni Mayor Kenichi Itokazu speaks to a Ground Self-Defense Force soldier at the town hall on Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost inhabited island in Okinawa Prefecture last November.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2024
Deterring Taiwan conflict is top priority for Japan's ‘front-line’ mayor
The mayor believes the U.S. and Japan must do away with "strategic ambiguity" over Taiwan if they intend to keep China in check.
Chinese military vehicles carrying DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles travel past Beijing's Tiananmen Square during a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, on Oct. 1, 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 25, 2024
China fires long-range missile into Pacific Ocean in rare test
Tokyo said it had not received advance notification from the Chinese side of the launch, which Beijing said was part of annual military training.
A Maritime Self-Defense Force P-1 patrol plane fires off flares during a demonstration at an international fleet review ceremony in November 2022. The firing of flares is intended to confuse heat-seeking missiles but they are also commonly deployed to warn away other aircraft.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Sep 24, 2024
Moscow and Beijing unlikely to stop testing Tokyo's limits
Tokyo’s unprecedented decision to fire flares as a warning after a Russian military plane entered Japanese airspace may not be enough to prevent a recurrence.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (left) holds talks with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi (right center), during their 55-minute meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 24, 2024
China urges Japan to deal with stabbing 'calmly' as details of motive elude
Beijing has been trying to prevent the stabbing of the 10-year-old Japanese boy from spiraling into a wider diplomatic row between the Asian powers.
A Russian IL-38 patrol aircraft is seen in this image taken by the Air Self-Defense Force on Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2024
Japan fighters fire flares after Russian military plane enters airspace
A Russian IL-38 patrol aircraft violated Japanese airspace off Hokkaido’s Rebun Island three times, with the ASDF firing flares for the first time in response.
A China Coast Guard ship (left) collides with the Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua near the Sabina Shoal, in disputed waters of the South China Sea, on Aug. 31.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 22, 2024
'Quad' cements ties with coast guard patrols amid China concerns
China has long objected to the Quad, calling it part of a concerted effort to encircle and contain Beijing.
A stranded car is seen on a mud-covered road following heavy rain in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2024
Six dead and six more missing after 'unprecedented' rains in quake-hit Ishikawa
Authorities called for continued vigilance due to the risk of landslides and flooding in rivers and low-lying areas.
South Korea's Yoon backs down after parliament rejects martial law
Soldiers try to enter the National Assembly building in Seoul, after South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law late Tuesday evening.
BOJ weighs case for first triple hike since Japan’s bubble burst
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda reiterated in an interview published Saturday that authorities will raise rates if the economy performs in line with projections.
Australian says romance scam tricked her into smuggling drugs into Japan
Donna Nelson says her life was turned upside down when she learned that the man she was falling for had tricked her into smuggling 2 kilograms of methamphetamine into Japan.
Jetstar Japan loses lawsuit over disciplinary action against cabin crew
Jetstar Japan has been ordered to pay back wages to two cabin crew members for the periods they were suspended.
Nomura CEO takes pay cut after former employee charged with attempted murder
Kentaro Okuda, CEO of Nomura Holdings, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
U.S. Space Force launches first unit in Japan
Activated on Wednesday, U.S. Space Forces Japan — a component similar to the one established at South Korea’s Osan Air Base in 2022 — will operate out of Yokota Air Base in the city of Fussa, western Tokyo, with a staff of about 10.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Europe eyes 'boots on the ground' in Ukraine as possible peace deal option
A serviceman with the Ukrainian Army's 24th mechanized brigade fires a machine gun during an exercise, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the country's Donetsk region on Friday.
Seven strangers and an algorithm: Can this new dinner app help you make friends?
Timeleft uses an algorithm to match its users with five or six strangers in an effort to prompt “human connection” over dinner at a restaurant. It determines the attendees with the help of a simple personality quiz available when you sign up for the service.
Don’t worry, you can still use your Japan health insurance card — for now
A My Number card reader at a pediatric clinic in Tokyo. While the government will stop issuing new health insurance cards on Monday, most people will remain unaffected by the move in the short term as existing health insurance cards can still be used for another year.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
By Tomoko Otake

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