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November 21, 2024
 

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DEFENSE MINISTRY

A prototype vehicle equipped with a laser system to destroy drones is unveiled at the Ground Self Defense Force's Asaka training field in Saitama Prefecture on Nov. 9.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2024
Japan to test anti-drone laser system next year
The prototype vehicle is based on an existing large GSDF vehicle and is equipped with a high-power laser and a system to automatically detect and track targets.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani speaks during a news conference at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2024
Japan defense chief says no decision yet on relocating U.S. military's command
A U.S. newspaper reported that U.S. Forces Japan is considering moving its command from its Yokota base in Tokyo's western suburbs to central Tokyo.
A SeaGuardian unmanned drone is seen at the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Hachinohe Air Base in Aomori Prefecture in June last year.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2024
MSDF to deploy U.S.-made SeaGuardian surveillance drones
The Defense Ministry said Friday it plans to procure a total of 23 SeaGuardian drones over the next 10 years or so.
A Russian Navy Yasen-class vessel that sailed westward through the Soya Strait on Monday
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2024
Russian nuclear-powered submarine sails through Soya Strait
The presence of a Yasen-class vessel, Russia's most advanced nuclear-powered attack submarine, was confirmed by the MSDF for the first time.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a speech prior to reviewing Self-Defense Forces troops during a ceremony at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Camp Asaka, which straddles Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 9, 2024
Ishiba vows to bolster alliance with U.S. following Trump return
Work is underway for setting up Ishiba's first face-to-face meeting with Trump, who won Tuesday's U.S. presidential election, later this month.
A man watches a news broadcast about a North Korean missile test, at the main rail station in Seoul on Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2024
North Korea fires off missiles hours before U.S. voters head to polls
Pyongyang launched at least seven short-range missiles that flew about 400 kilometers each before splashing down in waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
A man at a rail station in Seoul watches a news broadcast on Thursday with file footage of a North Korean missile test.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 31, 2024
North Korea fires off ICBM with longest flight time yet
The missile, which flew for 86 minutes, fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, landing in waters some 300 kilometers west of Hokkaido's Okushiri Island.
Hugh Jeffrey, the Australian Department of Defence’s deputy secretary for strategy, policy and industry, says the next 18 to 24 months will see Tokyo and Canberra not only test and share new technologies and capabilities, it will also see increased military deployments to each other’s territories.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2024
Japan and Australia gear up for boosted defense tie-ups over next two years
In an interview, a senior Australian defense official spoke about cooperation in the industrial and technical fields in addition to military-to-military ties.
A Ground Self-Defense Force V-22 Osprey transport aircraft
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2024
GSDF suspends Osprey flights over accident during training
All GSDF Ospreys will remain grounded until the cause of the incident is identified and countermeasures are taken thoroughly.
When Italy’s Cavour aircraft carrier visited Japan in August, it was the latest in a string of other ports of call by European nations such as Britain, Germany and France, all of whom are engaging in military and defense industry partnerships in East Asia.
ASIA PACIFIC / Longform
Oct 25, 2024
Will Europe's pivot to Asia have any teeth?
Deals are being made and carriers are making visits, but it is yet to be seen if nations on the other side of the world will come when a crisis hits.
NEC CEO Takayuki Morita
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 25, 2024
Japan’s military pivot is firing up NEC’s defense tech business
NEC is targeting more than 60% revenue growth in its aviation, space and defense unit by March 2026.
An F-35B stealth fighter jet lands on the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kaga helicopter carrier during a test on Sunday of the southern coast of California.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2024
F-35B fighter makes first landing on de facto aircraft carrier Kaga
The Maritime Self-Defense Force is conducting tests to determine if there are issues with such aircraft taking off from the vessel while verifying other procedures.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 20, 2024
Japan and U.S. defense chiefs voice 'sense of crisis' amid China military moves
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also agreed to work toward bolstering their command-and-control frameworks.
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier takes part in the Joint Sword-2024B military drills east of Taiwan, in this screenshot from video released Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 15, 2024
China says it won't rule out use of force to take Taiwan as war games end
Japan and the U.S. condemned the large-scale Chinese military exercises around Taiwan as Beijing hinted that more could come.
A map released Monday shows the locations of the Joint Sword-2024B military drills being conducted by China around Taiwan. China deployed planes and ships to encircle the island in drills Beijing said were aimed at sending a "stern warning" to "separatist" forces on the self-ruled island.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 14, 2024
China kicks off fresh round of large-scale war games around Taiwan
The exercises, code-named Joint Sword-2024B, are intended to 'test the joint operations capabilities of the theater command's troops.'
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.
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.
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.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

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

Longform

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

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