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Jesse Johnson
For Jesse Johnson's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo attend a working luncheon at the Sofitel Hotel in Manila on Tuesday. Blinken’s trip, which also touched upon economic cooperation, followed a trade mission visit by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo a week earlier.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 19, 2024
Blinken pledges closer U.S.-Philippine security ties ahead of trilateral summit with Japan
The top U.S. diplomat and his Philippine counterpart also signaled the allies were eyeing ways to "operationalize" security cooperation with Tokyo.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife, Yuko, welcome Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and his wife, Louise Araneta, at the Akasaka Palace state guest house in Tokyo last December.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 19, 2024
Biden, Kishida, Marcos to hold first trilateral summit in April
The summit comes as economic and security ties continue to grow and the partners cast wary eyes on China.
People walk past a television showing a news broadcast of a past North Korean missile test, at the main railway station in Seoul on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 18, 2024
North Korea launches three ballistic missiles as top U.S. diplomat visits Seoul
The latest launches came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Seoul for a multinational democracy summit.
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Programme's fighter jet is displayed at the DSEI Japan defense show at Makuhari Messe in Chiba in March 2023.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2024
Japan's ruling coalition approves export of future joint fighter jet
The step removes a potentially critical hurdle for the multinational Global Combat Aircraft Program involving the U.K. and Italy.
A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 flies near Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Thursday morning.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2024
U.S. military resumes Osprey flights in Japan
The resumption came after Washington last week lifted a worldwide flight ban on the aircraft following a deadly crash last year.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is also LDP president, told an Upper House budget committee meeting that the government would put in place rigorous hurdles that must be cleared before the fighter jet’s export is approved.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 13, 2024
Kishida agrees on need for strict rules to export of fighter jet
Concessions by the LDP president could pave the way for a deal with junior coalition partner Komeito on a revision to Japan's defense export guidelines.
The defense request is largely seen as a symbolic opening shot in what is expected to be a protracted spending battle in Congress ahead of a November presidential election that will almost certainly pit President Joe Biden against his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 12, 2024
With eye on Indo-Pacific, Biden seeks record U.S. defense budget
But the $895.2 billion figure for fiscal 2025 is only about a 1% increase from the $886.3 billion proposal made last year — far below inflation levels.
Space One readies its KAIROS small rocket for launch on Saturday morning in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture. The launch was postponed later that morning.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 9, 2024
Space One postpones bid to be Japan's first private firm to put satellite in orbit
The Tokyo-based startup halted the mission after a ship ventured into a "maritime warning area" just 10 minutes before the launch.
A U.S. V-22 Osprey lands on the USS Mesa Verde ship during excercises in the Baltic Sea in September.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2024
U.S. lifts Osprey flight ban, eyeing aircraft's return to Japan's skies
Tokyo and Washington will closely coordinate a timeline for resuming flights of Osprey V-22 aircraft in Japan, three months after a deadly accident.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, speaking at an Upper House budget committee session on Tuesday, said that if Japan is unable to sell the new fighter to other countries, the joint project’s success could be undermined.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 6, 2024
Fighter exports crucial for ‘favorable security environment’: Kishida
The prime minister is seeking the backing of Komeito to revise export rules for fighter jets that Tokyo is seeking to build with Britain and Italy.
A military delegation arrives for a meeting Monday, ahead the annual session of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 5, 2024
China defense spending to climb 7.2% amid rivalry with U.S.
Beijing's 1.67 trillion yuan ($231.4 billion) budget makes 2024 the ninth straight year to see a single-digit hike in the country’s defense outlays.
A U.S Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter lands as U.S. soldiers wait during the Freedom Shield joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States, at a training field near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas in Pocheon, South Korea, on March 19, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 4, 2024
South Korea and U.S. kick off annual drills focused on North's nuclear threats
The Freedom Shield joint exercise, which features twice as many field training drills as last year, will run through March 14.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS security partnership after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego in March last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 3, 2024
AUKUS eyes defense tech collaboration with Japan, report says
Japan’s involvement in the partnership would be limited to specific projects and would exclude nuclear-powered submarines.
Japan has been particularly sensitive about the prospect of resuming Osprey flights following the November crash of a U.S. Air Force CV-22 variant.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 2, 2024
U.S. to lift ban on Osprey flights, three months after deadly Japan crash
The U.S. military will next week share its plans with Japan — the sole international partner involved in the Osprey program.
A U.S. B-52 bomber conducts joint training with Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighter jets on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 2, 2024
Japanese fighter jets and U.S. bombers train over Sea of Japan and East China Sea
The joint exercises over the two waterways were seen as a show of deterrence to both Beijing and Pyongyang.
Japan-made defense products on display at the Singapore Airshow on Feb. 23. Japan’s revision of its defense export guidelines is critical for the development of a next-generation fighter jet with the U.K. and Italy.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 29, 2024
Talks on easing Japan defense export rules pushed back to March
The Liberal Democratic Party and junior coalition partner Komeito failed to reach an agreement on revisions to existing restrictions on Wednesday.
While Tokyo and Washington have maintained strong ties under U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida amid intensifying concern over China’s regional ambitions, Japanese officials are still hedging their bets by sending out feelers in the event of another term under Donald Trump.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 28, 2024
Ex-senior Trump official reassures Tokyo over possible comeback
A former deputy assistant to the ex-president swatted away concerns, saying Trump's 2024 White House bid "is a very different effort than 2016."
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet approved an economic security bill on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2024
Japan Cabinet OKs bill on new economic 'security clearance' system
Government officials and private sector employees will be given access to classified information under the system once they pass a screening process.
Takuya Yokota (second from right), head of a group of families of abductees to North Korea, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 26, 2024
Families of North Korea abductees give Japan breathing room for summit
The group won't oppose Tokyo's lifting of sanctions on Pyongyang if all abductees are returned while their parents' generation is still alive.
Anti-landing barricades on a beach in Kinmen, Taiwan
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 25, 2024
China Coast Guard conducts patrols in waters near Taiwan's Kinmen Islands
The move comes amid rising tensions in the area just 5 kilometers from mainland China following a deadly incident earlier this month.

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A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world