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October 19, 2025
 

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DEFENSE

Japan has made several exceptions to its arms export rules in recent years as part of a broader retreat from the pacifist stance it adopted after its defeat in World War II.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2025
Kawasaki in talks to develop Taurus missile engines
The involvement of a Japanese partner could complicate matters due to Tokyo's ban on transfers of weapons to countries in conflict.
Visitors look at airborne weapons displayed at a booth of Aviation Industry Corporation of China at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, or Zhuhai Airshow, in Zhuhai, China, in November 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Oct 16, 2025
Russian training could help Chinese paratroopers play key role in a Taiwan invasion
Leaked documents indicate that Russia is training and equipping Chinese units to potentially airdrop onto the island to clear a path for follow-on forces.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte gives a statement during a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO's headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 16, 2025
NATO and EU scramble to boost drone defenses to counter Russia
High-profile incidents in Poland and Estonia have set off a flurry of activity from European officials to plug gaps in the continent's defenses.
A tram carriage displays a recruitment advertisement for the German armed forces in Berlin on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 16, 2025
Conscription row mars Germany's push to beef up deterrence
Disagreements have emerged within Germany's ruling coalition over whether to use a draft lottery or a purely voluntary approach in an effort to boost military recruitment.
The tanker Boracay, part of Russia's "shadow fleet" suspected of involvement in drone flights over Denmark, is escorted by a French naval vessel on Oct. 1 off the coast of Saint-Nazaire, France.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2025
Putin is taking his hybrid warfare to the sea
Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to contest the Baltic, make no mistake.
A drone detection and defense system is parked in Kottingbrunn, Austria, on Oct. 3
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 12, 2025
How can Europe protect its skies against 'escalating' drone menace?
Concerns are growing that such disruptions are part of Russian hybrid war tactics three-and-a-half years into its invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George Washington during a trilateral exercise including the United States, Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea in November last year
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2025
Japan and U.S. leaders may tour U.S. aircraft carrier
According to sources, the two sides plan to have their leaders visit the Yokosuka base during U.S. President Donald Trump's upcoming trip to the Asian nation later this month.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers remarks at a memorial service for Self-Defense Forces personnel who died in the line of duty, on Saturday at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 11, 2025
Ishiba attends memorial for fallen SDF members
The prime minister pledged to "do everything we can to protect the lives and the peace of the people of Japan."
North Korea's new Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile is displayed during a military parade to celebrate the 80th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang in this image released Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 11, 2025
North Korea unveils new long-range missile during military parade
The North has called its Hwasong-20 ICBM "the most powerful nuclear strategic weapon" — though the missile is still under development.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani speaks during a news conference on Friday at the ministry.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2025
Japan to assist Ukraine with mine removal training
Instructors will deliver lectures on explosive ordnance disposal and conduct practical exercises for Ukrainian soldiers.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te speaks during National Day celebrations in Taipei on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 10, 2025
Taiwan president unveils 'T-Dome' air defense system to counter China threat
Taiwan is ramping up defense spending and modernizing its armed forces, but faces a China that has a far larger military.
Newly elected Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi is often compared to Margaret Thatcher, but the analogy fails because Japan today is not 1980s Britain and her success depends on pragmatism, not ideology.
EDITORIALS
Oct 10, 2025
Pragmatism, not ideology, must guide Takaichi
The key difference from Thatcher lies in economic policy, as the LDP has never been a truly neoliberal party.
North Korea celebrates the 80th founding anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang with a military parade on Oct. 10.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 10, 2025
North Korea’s military is more advanced than you think
Pyongyang is now in its strongest strategic position in decades, a reality that demands urgent attention.
U.S. President Donald Trump outside the White House in Washington on Thursday. Trump has suggested that Spain could be removed from NATO over defense spending.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 10, 2025
Trump floats throwing Spain out of NATO over defense spending
Spain has previously earned Trump’s ire for rejecting calls to increase defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product.
A China Coast Guard vessel is seen on a giant screen showing news footage about the coast guard's law enforcement patrols in waters around Taiwan, outside a shopping mall in Beijing on April 1.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 9, 2025
China honing abilities for a possible future attack, Taiwan warns
China has been using AI tools to weaken Taiwan's cybersecurity and to scan for weak points in critical infrastructure, the island's defense ministry said.
Military and national security leaders across major Western countries and the world show dangerous overconfidence and cognitive biases, risking global conflict.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 9, 2025
Global war and the cognitive traps leaders don’t see
Even a cursory scan of today’s major military powers suggests that their leaders and policy elites are dangerously overconfident.
A Ground Self-Defense Force member conducts a military drill with an anti-ship missiles unit at the GSDF's Camp Miyako on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2025
Top Pentagon nominee says Japan has 'long underemphasized' defense spending
John Noh, the White House's nominee to be the Defense Department's top Asia official, said Tokyo “has long underemphasized spending for its own defense.”
The Jingei, the third of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Taigei-class submarines, was commissioned in March last year. It is equipped with lithium-ion batteries, enabling it to have a longer diving time and cruising distance than older models with lead-acid batteries.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Oct 8, 2025
With nuclear sub proposal, Japan faces array of political and tech challenges
An expert panel has called for Japan’s next-generation subs to be able to operate longer and strike targets from farther way, a shift from current policy.
Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister if appointed, will have her work cut out for her and face key diplomatic challenges with the U.S., China and South Korea, as well as persistent economic and demographic issues.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 8, 2025
Will Takaichi become the prime minister Japan needs?
An admirer of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi is an adherent to Shinzo Abe’s pragmatic yet conservative vision.
A Royal Australian Navy submarine during a maritime exercise in Darwin, Australia
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 8, 2025
Pentagon conducting ‘brass-tack’ review of AUKUS, nominee says
The comments from John Noh, Trump’s pick for assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs, mark a rare moment that the administration has acknowledged the review.
Why I chose Japanese citizenship over permanent residency
Jon Heese (second left) takes part in a 2024 New Year's nihonshu barrel opening ceremony.
Tokyo ordered to pay damages to South Asian woman over police response
The Tokyo High Court held that, “even taking the woman’s consent into account” for sharing her personal information, the officers breached their duty of care and acted unlawfully.
Former PM Tomiichi Murayama dies at age 101
Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama speaks during an interview in Tokyo in March 2007.
Japan's fractured politics could ensnarl Takaichi's economic plans
Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of Japan's ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, attends a news conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on Oct. 4.
Tokyo homebuyers split on purchase plans as living costs soar, survey shows
A survey showed that some potential homebuyers in Tokyo are delaying purchases while others are wary of missing out on opportunities posed by rising home prices.
What does Jimbocho think of its unexpected ‘cool’ status?
Tokyo's Jimbocho neighborhood is a haven for book lovers, its rows of secondhand bookstores spilling over with printed materials.
What you need to see at this year's Tokyo film festival
Chloe Zhao’s "Hamnet"
New film explores how Japan and the U.S. found common ground through baseball
Masanori Murakami became the first MLB player from Japan when he made his debut with the Giants on Sept 1, 1964.
As they wrestle for power, Japan’s political parties must remember their base
Rengo's head Tomoko Yoshino speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Oct. 8.
Sumo is about to hit London and the West with a force previously unseen
Preparations advance on Monday for the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Podcast

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

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

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