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Tim Kelly
Japanese radio equipment maker Icom director Yoshiki Enomoto shows its model IC-V82 device, which the company said they stopped production in 2014, during an interview at its headquarters in Osaka on Thursday.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Sep 21, 2024
Hack of Hezbollah devices exposes dark corners of Asia supply chains
Counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 7, 2024
U.S. opposition to Nippon Steel deal 'very unsettling,' PM hopeful Ishiba says
Some experts say blocking the deal could undermine U.S.-Japan cooperation on national security, and put the lie to the notion of "ally shoring."
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel has asked Japan to name its representatives for a joint task force on disaster relief hub.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2024
U.S. urges Japan to name disaster relief hub task force members
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel asked Japan's foreign and defense ministers to provide the names of four officials at its "earliest convenience."
Self-Defense Forces soldiers walk past a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile unit in Tokyo in October 2017.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2024
U.S.-Japan Patriot missile production plan hits Boeing component snag
The plan to boost production by the U.S. ally is being delayed by a shortage of a critical component manufactured by Boeing.
Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers participate in a seminar to prevent harassment at the GSDF's Camp Asaka in Tokyo on April 16.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 13, 2024
Japan's military needs more women. But it's still failing on harassment.
Nine months after the Defense Ministry pledged to take drastic measures, it has no plans to implement a national system for reviewing training standards.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara (third from left) attends a ceremony last month for the Ground Self-Defense Force's systems communications and cyber school.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 26, 2024
The glitch in Japan's plans to bolster U.S. defense
Japan has suffered high-profile hacks in recent years that have elevated concerns over whether Tokyo can fully support its security partners.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Akasaka Palace state guest house in Tokyo in May 2022.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2024
Biden and Kishida likely to discuss Texas bullet train project, sources say
The leaders may publicly voice support for the multi-billion-dollar Texas project after Wednesday's talks.
Sunao Takao (center) interprets as then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump talk prior to a working lunch at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 26, 2024
Japan tees up Abe's ex-interpreter to help chart course with Trump
Japanese officials are preparing to deploy the Harvard-educated bureaucrat to bolster engagement with the Republican candidate's campaign.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks in Washington on Wednesday. Japan has stepped up attempts to engage with people close to Trump in recent weeks, worrying that if he returns to power he may seek some kind of deal with Beijing that could undermine recent efforts by the Group of Seven countries to counter China.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2024
Japan's message for Donald Trump: Don't cut a deal with China
Tokyo has stepped up attempts to engage with people close to Trump in recent weeks.
Runa Kurosawa, 20, a soldier with the Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, takes part in military training inside the Maritime Self-Defense Force's amphibious transport ship JS Osumi in waters near Okinawa Prefecture on Nov. 14.
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2024
The female marines Japan is training for war
The Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade — meant to lead assaults from the sea in a possible future war — has about 40 women in its 2,400 strong unit.
Kubura fishing port and Kubura district on the island of Yonaguni, Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2023
Frontier islanders decry lack of plan to aid fleeing Taiwanese
Concerned about the potential for a China-Taiwan conflict, Japan has embarked on its biggest defense buildup since World War II.
A Ground Self-Defense Force marine takes part in a landing drill as a part of the country's nationwide 05JX military exercises on the island of Tokunoshima, in Kagoshima Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 19, 2023
Japanese marines drill on island seen as vulnerable to China
The joint exercises were meant to show the readiness of ground, sea and air forces to defend Japan's territory and infrastructure.
Japan's Self-Defense Force on Sunday conducted a tsunami evacuation drill in Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost island, in Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2023
Japanese island holds disaster drill in shadow of Taiwan threat
Yonaguni is only 110 km from Taiwan. In August last year, China fired missiles into nearby waters in response to a visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is saluted by Maritime Self-Defense Force members during the International Fleet Review to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the MSDF, at Sagami Bay, off Yokosuka, on Nov. 6, 2022.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 3, 2023
Weak yen forces Japan to cut back on historic military spending
Officials and industry sources said Japan will begin cutting back on aircraft purchases in 2024, the second year of the buildup plan, due to the weak yen.
A model of a new fighter jet of the Global Combat Air Programme led by Britain, Japan, and Italy, is seen at the DSEI defense event in London on Sept. 12.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2023
HQ for multilateral jet fighter project to be placed in U.K.
Japan and Britain will dominate design and manufacturing on the project.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki speaks at a news conference in Naha on Sept. 4. Tamaki has raised issue with Japan's ongoing military building and its effect on Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2023
Rapid military buildup a worry for Okinawans, governor says
"We must never allow people in Okinawa to go through the same horrible experience that we went through" in World War Two, said Denny Tamaki.
An official explains the National Defense Report at the Ministry of National Defense in Taipei on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 12, 2023
Japan elevates Taiwan security ties in move likely to rile China
The defense ministry said it would only pursue "nongovernmental" ties with Taipei.
Protesters shout slogans and raise banners reading "Don't throw polluted water into the sea! Keep your promises" during a rally against Japan's plan to discharge treated radioactive water from the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima plant into the ocean, in front of the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 18, 2023
Fukushima water release poses test for Japan-South Korea unity
The dumping of radioactive water may happen days after a summit in which the U.S. wants Japan and South Korea to lock in friendly ties.
While the U.S. referenced China 20 times in its October announcement of semiconductor export controls targeting Chinese companies, Japan has chosen broad equipment controls not specifically aimed at its bigger neighbor.
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2023
As Japan aligns with U.S. chip curbs on China, some in Tokyo feel uneasy
Tokyo remains worried that targeting China will provoke damaging retaliation, such as a ban on Japanese electric cars.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2023
Japan needs computing power surge to stay in AI race, says government adviser
Japan, the world's third-largest economy, has been slow to invest in the field, and lags the United States in AI computer infrastructure.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?