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April 04, 2025
 

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DEFENSE

In a group interview at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Thursday, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya declined to make predictions about the Liberal Democratic Party’s approach to any revisions to the Status of Forces Agreement, but said he believes “some wisdom will probably come about” from planned talks within the party.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 4, 2024
Top diplomat says Foreign Ministry will ‘quietly examine’ revising SOFA pact
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya says finding a "mutually acceptable" solution to issues in the pact governing the U.S. military presence in Japan is key.
While NATO membership is unlikely until the war concludes, some NATO members are open to allowing Ukraine to strike deep into Russia, though U.S. President Joe Biden remains hesitant.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 4, 2024
Biden has a crucial decision to make on Ukraine
Biden may not be the U.S. president to make the congratulatory call to Ukraine's leader when peace is declared, but he can help keep him in the fight until it happens.
The Indonesian Navy's KRI Karel Satsuitubun-356 frigate. Jakarta and Moscow have different maritime goals, with Indonesia facing threats of smuggling and piracy while Russia is looking for willing allies.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 3, 2024
Joint Russia sea drills signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift
Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or U.S.-China rivalry
A U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber (front) flies in formation with South Korean, Japanese and U.S. fighter jets during a joint air drill in South Korean airspace south of Jeju Island on Sunday.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2024
U.S. bomber joins air drill with South Korea and Japan
The exercise took place three days after Pyongyang launched one of its most powerful and advanced solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, face off in an election Tuesday that will have wide-ranging implications for Japan.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 3, 2024
Status quo or disruption? Breaking down the U.S. election's impact on Japan
Regardless of who wins, Washington is likely to have limited bandwidth to change tack in a significant way with its most important Asian ally.
The United Nations Headquarters in New York City
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2024
U.N. panel adopts nuclear abolition resolution proposed by Japan
The resolution mentioned the selection of Nihon Hidankyo, the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, and comes amid a tense security environment.
Atomic bomb survivors and members of Nihon Hidankyo attend a news conference a day after the group won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, in Tokyo on Oct. 12.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2024
Nihon Hidankyo to send 31 people to attend Nobel Peace Prize ceremony
"We hope to deliver the voices of hibakusha in the midst of perilous situations in the world," the assistant secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo said.
In a June paper, six Chinese researchers from three institutions, including two under the People's Liberation Army's leading research body, the Academy of Military Science (AMS), detailed how they had used an early version of Meta's Llama as a base for what it calls "ChatBIT."
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 2, 2024
China researchers develop AI model for military use on back of Meta's Llama
The evidence was believed to be the first showing that Chinese military experts have been systematically trying to leverage the power of open-source LLMs.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (right) shakes hands with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell before their meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Friday morning, ahead of the announcement of Japan and the EU's new defense and security partnership.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 1, 2024
Japan and EU launch defense and security tie-up amid mutual China concerns
The move is aimed at developing, deepening and strengthening cooperation and dialogue across all areas of security and defense, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya says.
The U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and two Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers transit the Philippine Sea in April 2017. Washington has recently deployed additional carrier strike groups to the Middle East as tensions in the region grow.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 1, 2024
Both U.S. presidential candidates’ security strategies raise concerns
Whoever wins the election will be strongly constrained by the challenging geopolitical environment. Plus, there is unease about both candidates' foreign policy stances.
Officials gather at the BRICS summit in Russia on Oct. 24. It it estimated that by 2040-2050, the gross domestic product of the Group of Seven countries will be surpassed by that of emerging economies, raising questions as to whether the U.S. is prepared for this shift.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 1, 2024
The U.S. is unprepared for a multipolar world
There is little acknowledgement in the U.S. that the world it now made up of multiple centers of power, which risks making Washington's foreign policy ineffective.
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.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets with South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun during the U.S.-ROK Security Consultative Meeting at the Pentagon in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 31, 2024
North Korea troops could lengthen and broaden Ukraine war, U.S. warns
The move looks increasingly like a deployment to support Russia's combat operations in the Kursk region, the U.S. defense secretary said.
A 15,000-pound undersea cable for transportation to Brazil, at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on June 8, 2009.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 31, 2024
U.S. agency to launch review of undersea cables and national security risks
More than 400 subsea cables form the backbone of the internet, carrying more than 99% of the world’s data traffic.
A building in Tokyo housing the Tokyo District Court
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 30, 2024
Ex-ASDF colonel pleads not guilty to confidentiality breach
According to his indictment, So Kanno is alleged to have leaked information about the systems of E-2D early warning planes.
A U.S. Army specialist peers out from the shadows during a 12-day jungle operations training course near Honolulu on Oct. 10.
WORLD
Oct 30, 2024
The U.S. army prepares for war with China
What the Pentagon calls a Great Power War would put the world’s two strongest militaries in direct conflict,
North Korean special forces soldiers march and shout slogans during a military parade marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang in April 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Oct 29, 2024
North Korean troops in Russia could have dangerous ramifications for Asia
Kim Jong Un's decision to send soldiers amid the war in Ukraine highlights the gamble he appears to be willing to take in his strategic relationship with Moscow.
Soldiers stand in formation in front of Chinese flags at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sept. 29. China's Ministry of State Security said on Tuesday it had uncovered devices that had been hidden on the ocean floor and were sending back information that could "pre-set the field for battle.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 29, 2024
China reports finding spying devices at sea
Beijing said the devices — it did not specify where they were found — act as underwater "lighthouses" that guide submarines, among other functions.
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.
NATO and the so-called Indo-Pacific Four nations of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand have largely focused on security matters in Europe.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Oct 29, 2024
Why the security of Asia and Europe are inseparable
Cooperation between Europe and the Indo-Pacific, including Japan, has never been more important as their defense depends not only on the U.S., but on each other.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.

Podcast

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Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

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By Johan Brooks

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