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August 29, 2025
 

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Jesse Johnson
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 6, 2019
U.S. sends B-52s for missions over disputed South and East China seas and around Japan
A U.S. B-52 bomber was sent near disputed islands in the South China Sea and another circumnavigated Japan, conducting joint military exercises with the Air Self-Defense Force, the U.S. Pacific Air Forces said Wednesday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 5, 2019
Chinese defense spending to grow 7.5% in 2019 as Beijing seeks 'world-class' military
China's defense budget will jump 7.5 percent this year, down slightly from last year's 8.1 percent, as Beijing grapples with ongoing territorial disputes and seeks to create a "world-class" military, a draft budget from the annual session of the country's rubber-stamp parliament showed Tuesday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 4, 2019
China vows 'reasonable' rise in defense spending ahead of budget's release
China will maintain "a reasonable and appropriate growth rate" for defense spending this year, a top government spokesman said Monday ahead of the release of the country's defense budget — a closely watched indicator of Beijing's strategic intentions.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 4, 2019
U.S. and South Korea kick off smaller-scale military drills as Trump blasts costs
The U.S. and South Korea militaries began a new, smaller-scale joint exercise Monday after the Trump administration canceled large-scale drills just days after U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in Hanoi for their second summit that ended without any deal on denuclearizing...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 28, 2019
'Sometimes you just have to walk': Trump and Kim fail to reach nuke deal at second summit
“It was about the sanctions,” the U.S. president said. “Basically they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn't do that.”
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 28, 2019
Kim, Trump hail prospects for success as U.S.-North Korea summit enters second day
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were set to hold a second day of talks in Hanoi on Thursday — including a scheduled "signing ceremony" — as the two leaders, who once traded barbed insults over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, met for the second time in eight months....
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 27, 2019
Top U.S. government lawyer's presence at North Korea talks points to end-of-war declaration
In a potential sign that the U.S. is preparing to reach a deal in Hanoi with North Korea that could include a so-called end-of-war declaration and the opening of liaison offices in both countries, a top State Department lawyer who has handled key issues in East Asia is taking part in negotiations, sources...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2019
Kim, Trump arrive in Hanoi ahead of second nuclear summit
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on Tuesday for their second summit, where the two aim to find common ground in negotiations that could ultimately see the North relinquish its nuclear weapons.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 26, 2019
U.S. Navy sends ships through Taiwan Strait in move likely to anger China
The U.S. Navy has sent ships through the Taiwan Strait, as Washington ramps up naval activities in the waterway stoking criticism from Beijing on Tuesday after a similar sailing just a month ago.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 25, 2019
Seoul says U.S. and North Korea could reach deal on end-of-war declaration
The United States and North Korea could reach a deal on declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War at a summit meeting this week between their two leaders, South Korea's presidential Blue House said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2019
North Korea alleges 'nuclear weaponization' by Japan as Trump-Kim summit draws near
In the latest jab at perennial foe Japan, Pyongyang has blasted Tokyo over its alleged "nuclear weaponization" just days ahead of a second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 23, 2019
North Korea's Kim cites own children as reason to give up nukes: ex-CIA official
A former top CIA officer who took part in several meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said that Kim had voiced his sincerity to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about giving up his nuclear weapons by citing the burden that they would be for his children, media reports said Friday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 20, 2019
Ahead of Trump-Kim summit, focus shifts from immediate denuclearization to longer-term approach
With the second North Korea-U.S. summit just a week away, the focus of that meeting has shifted from demands that Pyongyang immediately relinquish its nukes to whether the two parties have the wherewithal to lay the groundwork for such an ambitious goal in the long term, interviews with leading U.S....
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 18, 2019
'I believe Putin': Trump dismissed U.S. intelligence on North Korean missile threat, ex-top FBI official claims
As North Korea ramped up its nuclear program, building missiles that most experts agree could hit the continental United States, U.S. President Donald Trump told officials that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had reassured him that Pyongyang did not possess such weapons — a claim Trump believed, according...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 16, 2019
Trump claims Abe nominated him for Nobel Peace Prize
Did Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominate U.S. President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize? Trump seems to think so.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2019
Air Self-Defense Force jets scrambled as Russian bombers and fighters skirt Japanese coasts
Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets were scrambled to intercept four nuclear-capable Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bombers and four Sukhoi Su-35S multirole fighter jets flying in two separate formations over the east and west coasts of Japan on Friday, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 13, 2019
Episode 7: Kim-Trump — what's next?
On this week's episode, Japan Times staff writer Jesse Johnson discusses what the next meeting of the U.S. and North Korea might mean for Japan, and features editor Shaun McKenna talks us through some of Japan's biggest summer music festivals. Hosted by Oscar Boyd.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 13, 2019
Top U.S. military brass cautiously optimistic on North Korean diplomacy despite claim Kim won't relinquish his nukes
The top U.S. military commander for Asia and the head of American forces in South Korea have both expressed rare cautious optimism on diplomatic progress with North Korea while also reiterating earlier intelligence assessments that the country was unlikely to relinquish its nuclear arsenal.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2019
Wreck of USS Hornet, from which first WWII airborne attack on Japan was launched, found in South Pacific
The discovery of the wreck of the USS Hornet aircraft carrier, which played a key role in several monumental points during World War II including the Doolittle Raid on Japan and the pivotal Battle of Midway, was announced Tuesday by U.S. researchers, more than 75 years after the vessel was sunk.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Feb 12, 2019
More in Japan see U.S. as 'major threat,' while cyberattacks and climate change top concerns, survey shows
The surprising shift in perceptions of the U.S. under Trump was “the largest change in sentiment among the global threats tracked.”
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
Confusion over Japan’s ‘hometown’ plan overshadows African development event
First Lady Yoshiko Ishiba (center, in white and blue dress) hosts an event on Japanese culture with the first ladies of African leaders on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
Is Kishida plotting a return of the king? Or would he rather stay a kingmaker?
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chairs a plenary session at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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