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August 29, 2025
 

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Jesse Johnson
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 16, 2019
North Korea hints talks with U.S. could be halted and missile, nuclear tests restarted if military exercises go ahead
North Korea hinted Tuesday that long-stalled working-level denuclearization talks with the United States due to be restarted soon could be halted and nuclear and missile tests restarted if the U.S. goes ahead with planned joint military exercises with South Korea.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 14, 2019
China holds military drills off southeastern coast in wake of U.S. approval of Taiwan arms deal
China's military carried out air and naval drills off its southeastern coast in "recent days," the Defense Ministry said in a brief statement Sunday, a move that comes less than a week after the U.S. approved a $2.2 billion arms deal for self-ruled Taiwan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 13, 2019
U.S. ambassador to Japan William Hagerty to leave post for Senate run, Trump says
U.S. Ambassador William Hagerty will leave his post to run for the Senate, President Donald Trump tweeted late Friday. Hagerty received a “Complete & Total Endorsement” from the American leader.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 11, 2019
U.S. Forces Korea acknowledges North Korean ICBM can hit anywhere in the United States
U.S. Forces Korea has said for the first time that North Korea's powerful Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) can hit targets anywhere in the mainland United States, with an estimated range of nearly 13,000 km (8,000 miles).
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 10, 2019
U.S. hopes to see 'freeze' of North Korea's nuke program as starting point — not endgame, State Department says
The United States hopes to see a "freeze" of North Korea's nuclear weapons program as a starting point — not an endgame — for Pyongyang eventually relinquishing its arsenal, a State Department spokeswoman said Tuesday ahead of a fresh round of talks expected to kick off later this month.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jul 9, 2019
$2.2 billion Taiwan-U.S. arms deal angers China, but sale more symbolic than signal of strength
The U.S. State Department's approval of a possible sale to Taiwan of "big ticket" weapons at an estimated value of $2.2 billion is likely to be seen as a symbolic move that makes sense for both Taipei and Washington as they grapple with an increasingly assertive China.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 3, 2019
Pentagon calls Chinese anti-ship missile test in South China Sea 'disturbing'
The Pentagon has blasted as "disturbing" a Chinese missile launch from its man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea, saying that the test was meant to intimidate other claimants to the strategic waterway.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 30, 2019
Trump becomes first sitting U.S. leader to enter North Korea
Sixty-six years after the Korean War was halted in an armistice, U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday became the first sitting American leader to set foot on North Korean soil when he met dictator Kim Jong Un for the third time in just over a year.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 29, 2019
Trump looks to meet North Korea's Kim — again — but will this be more than a photo op?
Even on foreign soil, U.S. President Donald Trump — a notorious creature of habit — doesn't stray too far from his Saturday morning ritual: firing off tweets that routinely shake up the geopolitical order.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 29, 2019
North Korea calls Trump invite to meet Kim at DMZ over weekend 'interesting'
In a stunning move employing the Twitter diplomacy that he has become famous for, U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet him at the border between the two Koreas over the weekend — a proposal the regime in Pyongyang called "interesting."
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2019
On approach to Osaka G20, Trump whips up storm for Abe on defense and trade
Ahead of his departure for the G20 summit, U.S. President Trump appears to have reignited the controversy over the possibility of terminating the postwar defense pact with Japan.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 26, 2019
One-third of Americans would back nuclear strike on North Korea — even if it killed a million civilians, survey shows
Over one-third of Americans would back a preventive attack by the U.S. on North Korea — including one using nuclear weapons — despite knowing it would kill some 1 million civilians, an innovative new survey has found.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 24, 2019
Pompeo says U.S.-North Korea relationship 'in a better place' after letters
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday confirmed that President Donald Trump had sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, voicing hopes of a quick restart to denuclearization talks.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 23, 2019
Kim Jong Un receives letter from Trump, saying he will 'seriously contemplate' its 'interesting content'
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has received an "excellent" letter from U.S. President Donald Trump, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday, just days before Trump travels to Asia for the Group of 20 summit in Osaka.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 20, 2019
In Pyongyang, Xi and Kim discuss nukes as speculation grows over possible message to Trump
Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday kicked off his first visit to Pyongyang as president, meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, telling him that the international community expects the U.S. and North to restart nuclear talks in efforts to produce a tangible outcome.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 20, 2019
High-profile defector says Kim has shown 'great interest' in meeting Abe, but summit will come at a cost
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has shown "great interest" in meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — with a major caveat — one of the highest-ranking North Korean diplomats to defect in years told a news conference Thursday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 19, 2019
Xi writes rare op-ed in North Korea's ruling party newspaper, touts 'grand plan' for East Asia stability
Chinese President Xi Jinping has penned a front page op-ed in the Wednesday edition of North Korea's ruling party newspaper, a day ahead of his landmark visit to the nuclear-armed country, writing that Beijing is willing to work with Pyongyang to prepare a "grand plan" for achieving "permanent stability"...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 18, 2019
When it comes to North Korean nukes, Xi wants U.S. and Japan to know that China still wields immense power
When Xi Jinping makes his first visit to North Korea as China's president on Thursday, he'll be broadcasting a message to the U.S. and Japan: When it comes to Pyongyang's nukes, Beijing still wields immense power.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 17, 2019
China's Xi to make first visit to North Korea as president on Thursday
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will make his first visit to North Korea as president on Thursday, state-run media from both countries reported Monday, just over a week before Xi is due to meet U.S. leader Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe separately on the sidelines of the Osaka Group of 20 summit....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2019
Japan's largest warship joins U.S. carrier for military exercises in disputed South China Sea
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Izumo helicopter carrier has joined the United States' sole forward-deployed aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, in joint military exercises in the disputed South China Sea, the MSDF and U.S. 7th Fleet said in separate statements Wednesday.
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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