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August 29, 2025
 

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Jesse Johnson
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 7, 2019
Trump aide John Bolton links future Asia missile deployment to protecting allies including Japan
U.S. national security adviser John Bolton on Tuesday linked the deployment of intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) in Asia to protecting America's allies in the region — including Japan — despite Chinese warnings it would take retaliatory countermeasures.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 7, 2019
Kim's latest missile test and warnings come amid fears of a return to 'fire and fury' of 2017
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country's test of a "new-type" of guided missile Tuesday was a warning over joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises, state media said Wednesday, amid fears of a possible return to 2017's ramped-up pace of weapons testing and threats of "fire and fury."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Aug 6, 2019
North Korea launches salvo of criticism and missiles after joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises kick off
North Korea on Tuesday launched a salvo of strident criticism — as well as two apparent short-range ballistic missiles — conducting its fourth weapons test in less than two weeks and blasting Washington and Seoul over joint military exercises.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 6, 2019
China announces fresh military exercises in South China Sea as U.S. carrier enters waterway
China has announced it will hold military exercises near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 5, 2019
U.S. military mum as report says joint exercises with South Korea begin despite warnings from North
South Korea and the United States kicked off joint military drills Monday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, despite warnings and weapons tests from North Korea in recent weeks.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 4, 2019
U.S. looks to deploy new missiles to Asia, defense chief says amid tensions with China
The U.S. is hoping to deploy new ground-based intermediate-range missiles to Asia "sooner rather than later," U.S. defense chief Mark Esper said of a move that could have huge ramifications for regional security.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 3, 2019
U.S. struggles to find footing as trade and history row threatens Japan-South Korea intel-sharing pact
Japan's defense intelligence-sharing agreement with South Korea could be in jeopardy as Seoul weighs its options amid a trade and history clash with Tokyo that threatens joint efforts to rein in Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 3, 2019
Trump minimizes missile launches as North Korea opens door to more powerful tests
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday continued to downplay North Korea's three tests of short-range ballistic missiles over eight days as Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry appeared to open the door to the possibility of even more powerful tests in the near future.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 2, 2019
Trump plays down third North Korean missile test in eight days as allies' concerns grow
North Korea fired two "new-type" projectiles from its east coast, the South Korean military said Friday — the country's third launch in just over a week, but one that U.S. President Donald Trump looked to play down — as a trade and history clash between Tokyo and Seoul threatened joint efforts to...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 31, 2019
North Korea fires two short-range missiles into Sea of Japan for second launch in six days
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from its east coast Wednesday, the South Korean military said, less than a week after the launch of two similar weapons as it looks to heap pressure on Seoul and Washington to halt upcoming joint military drills.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 30, 2019
Top U.S. envoy to North Korea to attend ASEAN forum, as speculation of sideline talks grows
The U.S. special envoy to North Korea, Stephen Biegun, will join Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the Thai capital for meetings on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum this week, in a move that could signal possible talks with the nuclear-armed country.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 29, 2019
China announces military exercises in areas near Taiwan in South and East China seas
China has announced large-scale military exercises in broad swaths of the waters and airspace in both the South and East China seas near Taiwan, days after Beijing said in a defense white paper that it will not renounce the use of force in efforts to reunify Taipei with the mainland.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 25, 2019
North Korea raises stakes with firing of two short-range missiles into Sea of Japan
Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said that Japan was still analyzing whether the projectiles were, in fact, ballistic missiles.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 25, 2019
U.S. sends warship through Taiwan Strait after warning from Beijing
The U.S. Navy has sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait, a move that came the same day that Beijing warned it would not rule out using force against self-ruled and democratic Taiwan to halt any move toward formal independence.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 24, 2019
China defense white paper singles out Japan over security shift and blasts U.S. for undermining global stability
China has singled out Japan for its shifting security policies and lambasted the United States for undermining global stability, noting rising strategic competition among major powers, in its first defense white paper in seven years.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jul 23, 2019
Kim inspects new submarine in first public display of North Korea's nuclear capabilities since 2017
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected a "newly built submarine" that was to operate in the Sea of Japan, state-run media said Tuesday, in one of the first displays of power related to his country's nuclear capabilities since November 2017.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 22, 2019
North Korea's Kim casts vote in local elections with '99.98%' turnout
Under the thin veneer of supposedly free elections, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un cast his ballot Sunday in nationwide polls to choose new deputies to the country's local assemblies, state-run media has reported.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 21, 2019
Top South Korean official says joint U.S. military exercises to continue despite threat from North
Joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises scheduled for next month are going ahead, a top Seoul official said Saturday, despite a threat by North Korea to boycott working-level talks with Washington and possibly restart nuclear and longer-range missile tests.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 20, 2019
'Top Gun' sequel, co-produced by China's Tencent, drops Japanese and Taiwanese flags
Eagle-eyed viewers have spotted a curious discrepancy in the first trailer for "Top Gun: Maverick," the sequel to the beloved '80s classic "Top Gun," which Paramount debuted Thursday — the patches on the iconic leather jacket worn by star Tom Cruise no longer bear the Taiwanese and Japanese flags....
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jul 17, 2019
U.S. needs new bases and new capabilities in Asia to counter China threat, defense chief nominee says
U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to be the next defense chief has said that new military bases are needed "throughout the Indo-Pacific region" while also urging the fielding of "new capabilities" amid the threat to U.S. and allied forces from powerful Chinese missiles.
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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