Jun 6, 2012

Cabinet reshuffle for convenience

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reshuffled his Cabinet Monday — the second in nine months. His aim is clear: removing obstacles — Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka and infrastructure and transport minister Takeshi Maeda — to facilitate negotiations with the opposition Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito ...

Jun 2, 2012

Naval exercise tweaks Constitution

It was reported Monday that Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ships and naval ships of the United States and a few other countries fired at and sank a decommissioned U.S. Navy ship during an exercise off Hawaii in July 2010. Apparently this was an exercise ...

May 4, 2012

Mr. Noda, Mr. Obama and the alliance

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda met with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on April 30 and later issued a joint statement underlining the importance of “the U.S.-Japan Alliance” as “the cornerstone of peace, security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.” Clearly an ...

Jan 6, 2012

SDF mission in South Sudan

The government on Dec. 20 adopted an action plan to send Ground Self-Defense Force engineers in 2012 as part of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS), in which some 5,500 people from 59 countries are taking part. This is ...

Jan 5, 2012

Scrutinizing weapons exports

The Noda administration on Dec. 27 drastically relaxed Japan’s long-standing weapons-export ban. For the second time, the Democratic Party of Japan government greatly changed Japan’s defense policy without sufficient public discussions. In December 2010, it introduced the new concept of “dynamic defense capabilities,” which ...