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March 26, 2025
 

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DEFENSE

The head of the Self-Defense Forces' new Joint Operations Command, Gen. Kenichiro Nagumo, inspects an honor guard Monday morning at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2025
Japan launches new Joint Operations Command to unify SDF branches
The new command will allow for the smoother integration of operations across domains to prepare for and respond to possible emergencies.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to Royal Navy soldiers outside a BAE Systems factory in Barrow-in-Furness, England, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 23, 2025
Keir Starmer on Putin, Trump and Europe’s challenge: ‘We’ve known this moment was coming’
Behind a whirlwind of diplomacy is Starmer's true goal: Persuading Trump of the value of NATO.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington on Friday
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2025
U.S. defense chief Pete Hegseth to visit Japan next week
Hegseth will visit the Pacific island of Iwo Jima to participate in a joint memorial ceremony as Japan and the U.S. mark 80 years since the end of World War II.
An employee works at a production line of 155 mm artillery shells at the plant of German company Rheinmetall, which produces weapons and ammunition for tanks and artillery.
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2025
Europe is short of gunpowder and TNT when it needs them most
European governments dug into their munitions stockpiles to arm Ukraine, exposing how shallow their reserves were.
U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, at the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 22, 2025
Trump rejects idea that Musk should have access to top-secret China war plans
The U.S. president also denied a report that such a briefing had been planned to be held at the Pentagon on Friday.
A Self-Defense Forces officer speaks during a news conference Friday at the Tokyo District Court over a power harassment lawsuit he filed against the state earlier in the day.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 21, 2025
SDF officer sues the state over alleged power harassment
The officer is seeking more than ¥14 million in damages after being transferred to a post completely different from his field of expertise, which led to mental illness.
U.S. President Donald Trump with Elon Musk and his son at the White House this month. The Pentagon is scheduled on Friday to brief Musk on the U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China, two U.S. officials said Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 21, 2025
Musk set to get access to top-secret U.S. plan for potential war with China
Providing Musk with access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded military secrets would bring into sharp relief questions about his conflicts of interest.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 21, 2025
Pentagon eyeing plan to halt U.S. Forces Japan upgrade, reports say
The move could create “political risk” for Washington with Tokyo and reduce the scope of command and control in the Indo-Pacific region as the U.S.-China rivalry heats up.
Ukrainian troops fire a mortar toward Russian troops at a front line near the town of Chasiv Yar, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 21, 2025
EU leaders vow to continue backing Ukraine, but make no concrete pledge
European Union leaders said on Thursday that they will continue to support Ukraine, but they did not immediately endorse a call by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to provide at least €5 billion ($5.42 billion) for artillery ammunition purchases.
Despite the high cost of defending Ukraine, voters on both sides of the Atlantic — including Republicans in the United States — remain surprisingly united in their support for the country.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2025
The American and European publics still stand with Ukraine
Public attitudes in the U.S. are even more striking. When it comes to Ukraine, Americans broadly agree with Europeans.
The Pentagon's disbandment of the Office of Net Assessment ends a key institution that provided long-term strategic analysis, leaving the U.S. vulnerable to future geopolitical challenges.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 20, 2025
A sad day for U.S. strategic analysis as the Office of Net Assessment is disbanded
While most focused on the military, ONA was the only group to conclude that winning the Cold War relied on economic means, not troop numbers.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas presents the white paper on the future of European defense, in Brussels on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 20, 2025
EU proposes joint defense push amid Russia fears and U.S. worries
EU countries have already begun boosting their own defenses in response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The evolving national security landscape demands a shift in focus from traditional military power to economic resilience, technological leadership and the growing risks posed by both adversaries and allies.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2025
Trump's actions and the ‘new national security economy’
Soft power is poorly understood and it is no substitute for situations when brute force is required, but it has genuine influence in subtle ways.
A signed picture by photographer Joe Rosenthal of U.S. Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima is shown as part of a display at the new National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia, in November 2006.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 19, 2025
‘DEI’ purge prompts Pentagon to remove webpage on Iwo Jima flag-raiser
The Pentagon said that the page and others, which were removed under the Trump administration’s wide-ranging crackdown on diversity measures, were being restored.
A service member of the 13th Operative Purpose Brigade "Khartiia" of the National Guard of Ukraine operates a mine-laying unmanned ground vehicle with anti-tank land mines installed on it, in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on Jan. 13.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 19, 2025
Poland and Baltic nations plan to withdraw from land mine convention
Poland and the Baltics are concerned that an end to the war in Ukraine could lead Russia to rearm and target them, instead.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meet in Pyongyang in June 2024. Moscow has ditched its historic hostility to North Korea's nuclear program, a clear sign of Russia's scramble for allies amid its international isolation.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2025
It’s time to flip Russia’s script on North Korean nukes
Countries who want deterrence and stability must stop Russia from influencing perceptions of North Korea's nuclear program — one that, in an about-face, Moscow now supports.
Japan's cyberdefense legislation is designed for the government to acquire and analyze communication information in normal times.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2025
Japan's active cyberdefense bills include normal-time monitoring
The bills also call for establishing an independent organization to supervise cyberdefense operations and file relevant reports to parliament.
U.S. President Donald Trump reviews troops aboard the USS Wasp in Yokosuka, Japan, in May 2019. The shifting global security landscape has sparked discussions in many countries, including Japan, about developing nuclear weapons in response to changing U.S. commitments.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2025
Changing U.S. commitments spark nuclear armament debates, including in Japan
Given Japan's unique history in 1945, it will take more than fear or harsh rhetoric to push the country into considering the development of nuclear weapons.
Japan, despite facing multiple territorial disputes, lacks a dedicated university program on the issue, unlike Western countries, and would benefit from an interdisciplinary academic initiative to foster expertise.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 17, 2025
Japan needs academic programs focused on territorial issues
While many countries have territorial disputes with their neighbors — in fact, there are at least 150 active disputes worldwide — Japan faces issues with nearly all its neighbors.
The Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Minnesota is seen off the coast of Western Australia on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 17, 2025
U.S. starts to build submarine presence on strategic Australian coast under AUKUS
U.S. Navy personnel are due to arrive by the middle of the year at Western Australia's HMAS Stirling base to prepare for the Submarine Rotational Force West.
Ozeki Onosato on doorstep of yokozuna promotion after latest title
Onosato celebrates after winning the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka on Sunday.
Japan's first foreign swordsmith opens workshop in Hiroshima Prefecture
Johan Leutwiler checks a sword he made at his workshop studio in the Kui district of Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture.
Tokyo court strips Unification Church of religious corporation status
Nobuya Fukumoto (far left), a lawyer for the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, is surrounded by the media at the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday after it ordered the group to be stripped of its religious corporation status.
Japan launches new Joint Operations Command to unify SDF branches
The head of the Self-Defense Forces' new Joint Operations Command, Gen. Kenichiro Nagumo, inspects an honor guard Monday morning at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo.
Applications for forgery-proof passports start in Japan
New Japanese passports will be printed using laser technology based on banknote printing techniques, making forgery more difficult.
New SDF command will be key for contingency planning, Australian commander says
A Maritime Self-Defense Force SH-60K "Super Auk" from JS Shiranui prepares to land on HMAS Brisbane during Exercise Malabar 2023 while off the coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Cherry blossom season kicks off in Tokyo after warm weekend
Blooms are seen on the Meteorological Agency's sample cherry tree at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Monday.
Japanese wages likely to rise more than 5% again this year
Wages are set for another big increase this year as annual negotiations secure generous agreements.
Stay at home if Mount Fuji erupts, government panel says
Mount Fuji in November. For the first time, the government has released specific guidelines on how residents should act in the event that Mount Fuji erupts.
In pictures: Tokyo's weeklong celebration of baseball's best
Shohei Ohtani belts a home run in the fifth inning of the second game of the Tokyo Series between the Dodgers and Cubs.

Podcast

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

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