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December 04, 2024
 

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DEFENSE MINISTRY

A new era in Japan-U.S. military cooperation is set to begin after Japan's parliament enacted new laws to establish a joint command headquarters for the nation’s Self-Defense Forces.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 14, 2024
Let the real work on Japan’s defense modernization begin
Scheduled to go into effect in March 2025, the Japan Joint Operations Command will centralize command of the country’s military services.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Kaga destroyer has undergone the first stage of modifications to turn it into a de facto aircraft carrier for F-35B stealth fighter jets.
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
May 13, 2024
MSDF’s Kure base expanding mission as it marks 70th anniversary
The unit has increased its activities not only in national defense, but also in disaster relief operations and overseas missions.
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.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Izumo helicopter carrier is docked in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in April.
JAPAN
May 10, 2024
Japan says viral video of MSDF ship likely real, not fabricated
The Defense Ministry said it has determined that the footage was not AI-generated because details matched that of the actual Izumo helicopter carrier.
Members of the Polish military train with the Patriot air defense system at an airport in Warsaw in February 2023.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 4, 2024
Missile defense successes fuel global urgency to acquire systems
Experts say the practical and political incentives of investing in the systems will be too hard to ignore — and intensify arms races.
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 3, 2024
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
Although “China” was not uttered by the officials during their news conference in Hawaii, Beijing’s growing assertiveness was clearly on their minds.
Crew members check an SH-60K helicopter on the deck of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Hyuga-class destroyer JS Ise during a three-day maritime exercise between the United States and Japan in the Philippine Sea on Jan. 31.
JAPAN
May 3, 2024
MSDF chopper crash likely caused by human factors
The accident off the Pacific island of Torishima on the night of April 20 left one crew member dead and seven other still missing.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara takes part in an arrival ceremony with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon in Washington last October.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 30, 2024
‘Collective capacity’ to top agenda at four-way defense talks in Hawaii
One thing will be on Defense Minister Minoru Kihara's mind: how to deepen military and security cooperation with allies to counter China.
The Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade takes part in a military drill on the uninhabited Irisuna island in Okinawa Prefecture, close to the prefecture's main island, in November. Japan's defense-related spending for fiscal 2024 is expanding to 1.6% of its gross domestic product.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 29, 2024
Japan ups defense spending to 1.6% of GDP with eye on 2027 goal
The budget edges closer to the 2% of GDP standard that many Western nations have targeted, which Tokyo aims to achieve by 2027.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said he has instructed his ministry to investigate whether or not there have been any further incidents.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 26, 2024
Five senior SDF officers punished for mishandling secret info
They passed on secret information to personnel within their units who were not cleared to handle such data.
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.
A crew member walks past an SH-60K helicopter on the deck of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Hyuga-class Ise helicopter carrier during a joint exercise between the U.S. and Japan in the Philippine Sea on Jan. 31.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2024
U.S. military and MSDF ocean observation ship to join hunt for crashed helicopters
The search effort is ramping up as officials work to narrow down the cause of the deadly crash.
Saturday's crash involved two Maritime Self-Defense Force SH-60K helicopters that were conducting nighttime anti-submarine training about 270 kilometers east of Torishima in the Izu Islands.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2024
No sign of aircraft issues in MSDF chopper crash, defense officials say
As the search for survivors continues, officials acknowledge the difficulty of salvaging the helicopters due to the depth of waters at the crash site.
The Air Self-Defense Force's T-4 jet trainers are expected to be replaced with a new trainer co-developed by Japan and the United States.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Apr 22, 2024
Japan-made jet trainer plans dim after Kishida-Biden summit
Some lawmakers in Japan's ruling bloc have questioned the idea of joint development
Contact was lost with the two SH-60K helicopters, each carrying four crew, in an area east of Torishima in the Izu Island chain during anti-submarine warfare training Saturday night.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2024
At least one dead, seven missing after two MSDF helicopters crash off Izu Islands
The two aircraft were believed to have collided during a nighttime training anti-submarine drill, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara is considering visiting Hawaii for talks with his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2024
Japan and U.S. mull holding defense ministers meeting in Hawaii
Kihara and Austin are expected to agree to accelerate efforts to realize more effective command and control systems for the Japan-U.S. alliance.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. John Aquilino speaks at the IISS Special Lecture in Singapore in March last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2024
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Aquilino to visit Japan as term set to expire
Adm. John Aqulino is expected to discuss a planned revamp to the command and control framework for U.S. forces in Japan with the SDF chief of staff.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kaga vessel was unveiled Monday in the city of Kure, in Hiroshima Prefecture, after completing the first stage of work to turn it into a flattop for F-35B stealth fighter jets.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 9, 2024
MSDF unveils modified Kaga vessel refurbished for F-35B stealth fighters
The former helicopter carrier's flat deck has been given heat-resistant paint, new markings and a reshaped deck.
A woman walks past a TV showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at the main railway station in Seoul on March 18.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 2, 2024
North Korea launches intermediate-range missile as elections loom for South
The Defense Ministry said the weapon had traveled some 650 kilometers before splashing down in waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
Gen. Hiroaki Uchikura, the Air Self-Defense Force's chief of staff, speaks during a news conference at the Defense Ministry on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 22, 2024
ASDF lieutenant general suspended over workplace bullying
It is the first punitive action against an ASDF lieutenant general for harassment.
Japan’s 2024 buzzword of the year urges a reevaluation of past norms
Sadao Abe, who played the role of a time-traveling Showa Era teacher transported to present day in a popular TV drama, receives the 2024 buzzword of the year award for the word "futehodo," the nickname of the series.
Princess Aiko, only child of emperor, turns 23
Princess Aiko on Nov. 22 ahead of her 23rd birthday on Sunday at the Imperial Palace
Ishiba questioned on political reform, social issues and the economy
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks in the Lower House in Tokyo on Monday.
Nearly 90% in Japan and China have negative views of other
Chinese people's sentiment toward Japan is believed to be impacted by their use of social media platforms such as Weibo and Douyin, as well as whether they have visited Japan.
Bear that attacked Akita supermarket employee captured
A brown bear in Hokkaido. In the city of Akita, a bear that attacked a supermarket employee over the weekend was captured in a box trap on Monday morning.
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.
The Geisha bean is the leading lady of Tokyo's coffee scene
Discovered in the 1930s, the Geisha coffee plant came to worldwide fame in the early 2000s and now represents some of the best coffee on the planet — Tokyo's top cafes included.

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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