Recent reports of suspected sabotage targeting undersea cables near Taiwan and in the Baltic Sea are highlighting a vulnerability in Japan — an island nation that relies almost entirely on such cables to stay connected to the rest of the world.
The government is increasingly aware of the risk. Tucked into this year’s economic and fiscal policy guidelines, referred to as honebuto no hōshin, which set the tone for budget planning for the next fiscal year, is official recognition of submarine cables as strategic infrastructure vital to Japan’s economic security.
What exactly are undersea cables, and how real is the threat of disruption — especially for a country such as Japan, which faces frequent natural disasters and growing geopolitical tension?
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