author

 
Menu
Search
 
August 29, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Twitter

@jljzen

Jesse Johnson
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 3, 2019
Top North Korean and Chinese diplomats meet in Pyongyang amid stalled nuclear talks with U.S.
The foreign ministers of China and North Korea have held talks in Pyongyang, with the two allies vowing to bolster bilateral ties and work closely on security issues amid the North's stalled nuclear talks with the U.S.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 2, 2019
First U.S.-ASEAN joint maritime drills kick off as Washington beefs up presence in South China Sea
The United States and 10 Southeast Asian nations were set to kick off joint maritime naval exercises Monday, including drills in the disputed South China Sea, as Washington ramped up its moves against alleged "bullying" in the disputed waterway by Beijing.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 1, 2019
Scandal-hit Japanese lawmaker says 'war the only way' to take back Takeshima
A lawmaker who drew fire earlier this year for remarks suggesting the need for Japan to wage war with Russia to retake islands held by Moscow has made a similar claim that nothing short of conflict would allow for Japan to retake the disputed Takeshima islets in the Sea of Japan.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 31, 2019
Top North Korean official warns U.S. not to 'test our patience,' as appetite for nuclear talks fades
A top North Korean official has said expectations for talks with the United States over its nuclear weapons program "are fading away" after "offensive" remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Aug 28, 2019
Trump's de facto blessing of North Korea's missile tests sends ominous message to Japan
U.S. President Donald Trump may not mind North Korea's repeated tests of short-range missiles, but his not-so-begrudging acceptance of the North's actions is sending an unmistakable message to Asian allies.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 27, 2019
Pentagon blasts Beijing for 'bullying tactics' in South China Sea
In an unusually strong statement by the Pentagon, the U.S. has accused Beijing of employing "bullying tactics" in the disputed South China Sea, citing what it said was "coercive interference" in oil and gas activities in waters claimed by Vietnam.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 26, 2019
State Department spokeswoman says Seoul's scrapping of intel pact with Japan threatens U.S. troops
In a little-noticed tweet Sunday, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman delivered an unusually blunt criticism of South Korea's decision to pull out of an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, saying that the move endangers American troops.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 25, 2019
Japan calls South Korea's Takeshima military exercises 'unacceptable' as ties continue to sour
Tokyo, calling the drills “unacceptable,” makes a protest about South Korean military exercises Seoul says are intended to “defend” a cluster of rocky islands in the Sea of Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 25, 2019
The U.S. wants Japan's help to close its 'missile gap' with China. Is Tokyo up for it?
After formally withdrawing from a landmark arms-control treaty earlier this month, the United States now hopes it can better counter its geopolitical rival China by closing what experts characterize as a yawning "missile gap" with Beijing — and it may look to Japan for help.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 25, 2019
North Korea tests new 'super-large' multiple rocket launcher in latest display of firepower
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again oversaw the test-firing of a "newly developed" weapon, state-run media said Sunday, throwing up yet another obstacle to long-stalled denuclearization talks with the United States.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 24, 2019
North Korea fires two apparent missiles one day after South severs intelligence-sharing pact with Japan
North Korea fired two apparent ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Saturday morning, the Japanese government and South Korean military said, a day after Seoul severed a key intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 23, 2019
Seoul and trilateral alliance with Japan and U.S. will suffer most with GSOMIA pullout, Tokyo defense insiders say
The intelligence-sharing pact benefitted the South Korean military much more than it did Tokyo and Washington, experts say.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 22, 2019
South Korea decides to exit intelligence-sharing pact with Japan
South Korea's decision is “extremely regrettable,” a Japanese government source was quoted as saying.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Aug 21, 2019
Australia's decision to join U.S.-led maritime mission off Iran likely to heighten pressure on Japan
Australia's prime minister announced his country will join the U.S.-led mission to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing tensions with Iran, albeit under Australia's operational control.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Aug 20, 2019
U.S. test of previously banned missile raises fears of new nuclear arms race
The U.S. military has conducted a flight test of a type of missile banned for more than 30 years, under a treaty from which it bolted earlier this month, the Pentagon said Monday, in a move experts said was likely to have been closely watched by China, Russia and even North Korea.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2019
Chinese missile arsenal could embolden Beijing to seize Senkakus and force U.S. from region, report claims
The study by the University of Sydney says a decade of “delayed and unpredictable funding” for the U.S. defense budget has seen Washington lose its primacy in the Western Pacific.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 17, 2019
North Korea's Kim praises new weapons tests and vows 'invincible military capabilities'
North Korea's test-firing of "projectiles" Friday morning was of a "new weapon," state-run media said Saturday, with leader Kim Jong Un urging his scientists to continue building weapons "to discourage any forces from daring to provoke us."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 16, 2019
North Korea fires more 'projectiles' into Sea of Japan and vows not to meet with South
North Korea added insult to injury Friday when, hours after blasting South Korea's leader as "impudent" and vowing not to meet with Seoul officials, it launched two more "projectiles" into the Sea of Japan.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 10, 2019
North Korea fires off ballistic missiles hours after Trump talks up 'beautiful letter' from Kim
North Korea on Saturday fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, South Korea's military said, with the apparent weapons test — its fifth in 16 days — flying in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump's jubilant exhortations after receiving another "beautiful letter" from Pyongyang...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Aug 8, 2019
Trump's push for South Korea to pay more for U.S. troops puts Japan on notice
In a move likely to have implications for Japan, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that discussions have begun with South Korea to get the Asian ally to pay more for the cost of maintaining U.S. troops there.
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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER