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SDF

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.
A Starlink satellite communication system installed on the training ship Kashima of the Maritime Self-Defense Force for test operations at the Harumi Pier in Tokyo on May 15.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2024
Japan's MSDF eyeing Starlink for better internet connectivity at sea
Hoping to create an environment where MSDF members can freely use the internet while at sea, the MSDF plans to introduce the Starlink service on its vessels.
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.
Maritime Self-Defense Force's submarines docked at U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2024
MSDF overpaid ¥81 million for submarine battery charging, sources say
Contract documents did not spell out the amount of power needed for a full charge, resulting in 15 cases in which batteries were not properly charged.
Philippine Navy Flag Officer-in-Command Vice Adm. Toribio Adaci Jr. speaks during the opening ceremony of exercise Sama Sama 2023, the annual bilateral exercise between the Philippine and U.S. Navy, in Manila in October 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 8, 2024
Six countries conduct naval drills off the Philippines amid China tensions
This year's drills, which involve almost a thousand sailors and personnel, are high-intensity exercises focusing on antisubmarine, antisurface and antiair warfare.
Kuo Yu-jen, vice president of the Institute for National Policy Research, speaks in Taipei on Sept. 30.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 7, 2024
Taiwan welcomes Japan's security 'policy shift'
Of the Group of Seven major powers, Japan is the sixth country to have sailed through the Taiwan Strait.
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs on Saturday
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2024
11 Japanese nationals flee Lebanon on SDF plane
This was the first evacuation of Japanese nationals from Lebanon using SDF aircraft since tensions flared up in the Middle East in October last year.
Police inspect the site where what appeared to be an unexploded bomb was found on Friday in Tokyo's Kita Ward.
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2024
Possible dud shell found in residential area of Tokyo
Around 4:20 p.m. Friday, police received a call reporting that there is something that appears to be a dud shell at a construction site in the capital's Kita Ward.
A Japanese Self-Defense Force jet was forced to fire flares recently as a warning to Russian aircraft that violated the country's airspace, highlighting how both China and Russia tried to test Japan’s leadership during a period of political transition.
EDITORIALS
Sep 27, 2024
China tests Japan. Are its new leaders ready?
Most of China's moves require considerable planning. That means that the signals they sent were anticipated and approved by political decision-makers.
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.
A Maritime Self-Defense Force P-1 patrol plane fires off flares during a demonstration at an international fleet review ceremony in November 2022. The firing of flares is intended to confuse heat-seeking missiles but they are also commonly deployed to warn away other aircraft.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Sep 24, 2024
Moscow and Beijing unlikely to stop testing Tokyo's limits
Tokyo’s unprecedented decision to fire flares as a warning after a Russian military plane entered Japanese airspace may not be enough to prevent a recurrence.
A Russian IL-38 patrol aircraft is seen in this image taken by the Air Self-Defense Force on Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2024
Japan fighters fire flares after Russian military plane enters airspace
A Russian IL-38 patrol aircraft violated Japanese airspace off Hokkaido’s Rebun Island three times, with the ASDF firing flares for the first time in response.
Troops from the Ground Self-Defense Force take part in the 05JX military exercises on the island of Tokunoshima in Kagoshima Prefecture last November. While Japan's overall ranking in the 2024 Asia Power Index dropped, it scored improvements in the defense and security sphere.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2024
Japan falls behind India to No. 4 in new Asia power survey
The 2024 Asia Power Index highlights shifting power dynamics in the region, with the U.S. still dominant but facing rising military pressure from China.
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier sails in waters near Okinawa Prefecture on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2024
Chinese carrier sails between Japanese islands near Taiwan for first time
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier passed through a narrow waterway between Yonaguni and Iriomote islands in Okinawa Prefecture.
French Ambassador Philippe Setton says that, despite previous differences over whether Japan should host a NATO liaison office, Paris aims to deepen ties with Tokyo "in all security areas."
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2024
France-Japan military pact expected by year-end, envoy to Tokyo says
Concerns over the worsening security situation in the Indo-Pacific are speeding up negotiations on a visiting-forces pact between France and Japan.
A Russian Tu-142 aircraft that circled Japan on Thursday
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2024
Japan scrambled jets after Russian military aircraft circled country
Russia's planes did not enter Japanese airspace but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia.
A U.S. F-35B stealth fighter lands on the MSDF's destroyer Izumo off the coast of Japan's Shikoku region in October 2021.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2024
Maritime Self-Defense Force's 'Flattop' to undergo tests with U.S. fighters
The helicopter-carrying destroyer has been undergoing work to become an aircraft carrier for use with F-35B stealth fighters to be adopted by the Air SDF.
U.K. Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom says the Indo-Pacific region offers a unique opportunity to not only tackle shared security concerns but also to generate new sources of economic growth.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2024
U.K. envoy to Japan pushes back on Indo-Pacific disengagement concerns
The region — and Japan — remain “critical" to Britain's interests, Ambassador Julia Longbottom told The Japan Times.
A Mid-Range Capability, or Typhon, launcher with the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force arrives in the Philippines on April 8, in the capability’s first deployment to the Indo-Pacific region.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2024
U.S. eyeing midrange missiles in Japan for drills, U.S. Army secretary says
U.S. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said deploying the unit that hosts the missile system had been discussed during her visit to Japan last month.

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