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December 21, 2024
 

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Robert D. Eldridge
The U.S. decision to suspend the use of a firing range in the Senkakus has had lasting consequences, undermining Japan's claims to the islets and sending mixed signals about U.S. support for Japanese sovereignty over the area.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 10, 2024
A restart of Senkaku firing ranges is long overdue
The suspension also had strategic consequences, depriving both U.S. and Japanese forces of vital military training ranges.
The Osprey provides vertical takeoff and landing like a helicopter but is also capable of flying at high speeds over long distances when operating as a conventional plane.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 3, 2024
The Japan-U.S. alliance needs the versatile Osprey
In Japan, there has been an outsized and lingering concern about the aircraft’s safety. That concern is, frankly, misplaced,
Self-Defense Force soldiers search for survivors after a landslide swept through a residential area in Asaminami Ward, in the city of Hiroshima, in August 2014. Despite the nation’s numerous natural disasters, the government needs better contingency planning.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 28, 2024
Is Japan ready for the worst-case scenario?
Is the nation ready for massive disasters? Based on my studies of Japan’s crisis management system, I say “no” and unfortunately not.
Taiwanese soldiers train at a base in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Tuesday. The island has decided to extend compulsory military service for young males from four months to one year amid increasing threats from China.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 7, 2024
Taiwan extends military conscription, a system Japan might want to consider
As Japan struggles to fill its military ranks, compulsory national service might be its only solution.
U.S. President Richard Nixon in the Oval Office of the White House in June 1972
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 19, 2023
Nixon's 1953 trip to Okinawa and its lasting impact
Nixon’s trip to Okinawa 70 years ago this month planted seeds for his agreeing to its reversion when he became the U.S. president.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 21, 2023
Memorializing those lost in the GSDF helicopter crash
All 10 SDF members on board a helicopter that crashed in the Miyako Island group are believed to have died in the crash.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2023
Disasters can be deadly, but the aftermaths can be deadlier
Largely forgotten, more people died in the days, weeks and months after the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes due to illness and depression than in the quakes themselves.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2023
The global community should recognize Taiwan — or else
Diplomatic acceptance by the global community of the self-ruled island of Taiwan may be the only way to deter Chinese aggression.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2022
Soviet air incursions and the birth of the ASDF
In light of the impact of military aerial incursions, it would not be an exaggeration to describe the Soviet Union as the father of the ASDF.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 20, 2022
Lessons for the LDP from Okinawa's gubernatorial election
The LDP had better get its house in order if it wants to even begin to reverse the trend of opposition-supported candidates winning office in Okinawa.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 15, 2022
Behind the Japanese government’s purchase of the Senkaku Islands
Tokyo's attempts to not aggravate Beijing further over the Senkakus raises questions over how far it will go to defend its own territory.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 18, 2022
Pacific War hostilities didn’t exactly end on Aug. 15, 1945
The Soviet Union, and thus Russia, permanently damaged Japan's trust with its actions in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 19, 2022
Fix structural problems now or face SOFA revision later
The bottom line, however, is that without transparency, accountability and trust, the U.S.-Japan alliance will not enjoy the full support of the public.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2021
Not everyone is sold on the new U.S. ambassador to Japan
Emanuel's appointment is worrisome for Japan, which desires the ambassadors sent to Tokyo to have influence and support in their home governments, something he does not seem to enjoy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 18, 2021
History in the making: Kobe's Japan-Taiwan Exchange Summit
The Kobe Declaration will likely go down in history as an important turning point in Japanese-Taiwanese relations, particularly for its call for a Taiwan Relations Act for Japan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2021
An important issue for Japan’s coming Lower House election: Defending Taiwan
Japan's security, and hence its future, is directly related to Taiwan's security and future existence. A vote for Taiwan is a vote for Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 14, 2021
Some 70 years ago it was taboo to deploy the SDF for disaster relief. Today it's indispensable.
Today, it is almost a given that the SDF will be called upon to assist local communities and prefectures after a disaster. But, 70 years ago, it was basically forbidden.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 12, 2021
Shimoji Island's airport takes on new importance amid China threat
Clearly, circumstances are different today compared to 1971. So the outdated Yara memo preventing Okinawa's Shimoji Airport from being used for military purposes needs to be reconsidered.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 18, 2021
Okinawa reversion agreement stands the test of time
Greater foresight by the two governments was thus necessary then, as is a more proactive approach by them today regarding the bases.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 21, 2021
Okinawa’s wasted COVID-19 year
For political reasons, the economic contribution of the Okinawa bases is heavily downplayed, sometimes by five or 10 times as much, in local government publications and the media.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
A year after going private, structural reforms bearing fruit for Toshiba
Toshiba's Corporate Senior Executive Vice President Koji Ikeya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
Curiosity didn’t kill the meme: Why cats still rule Japanese YouTube
A screen shot from YouTube user @lagelda shows the simplicity of going viral in Japan in 2024: A cat dancing to EDM in front of a green screen.
With rare Asia carrier deployment, France seeks greater interoperability
The flight deck of the French Navy's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier during a stop at Changi Naval Base in Singapore in May 2019

Podcast

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

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

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