China asks Japan to maintain 'exclusively defense-oriented' policy
China on Wednesday asked Japan to maintain its "exclusively defense-oriented" policy under the war-renouncing Constitution, as some Japanese ruling lawmakers have called for Tokyo to acquire the ability to attack foreign bases. "Because of historical reasons, Japan's military security trends have always received the attention ...
In Japan under Shinzo Abe, more power to the PM, but to what end?
In his final Counterpoint column, Jeff Kingston considers where Japan is heading under scandal-hit Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Lawmakers in the Diet should once again scrutinize how far the administration intends to expand the SDF's overseas missions under Abe's call for "proactive contribution to peace" and how that should be controlled.
Defense Minister Tomomi Inada will visit the United States to hold talks with her U.S. counterpart Ashton Carter on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. The meeting that comes as the two countries eye closer cooperation under Japan's new security legislation. The talks between Inada and ...
Japan's postwar defense posture underwent a major change this week as new security legislation took effect, but how the government plans to implement the laws remains unclear.
The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday dismissed a retrial request over a 1959 Supreme Court ruling that found the U.S. military's presence in Japan constitutional. The 1959 ruling is often referenced by proponents of security policy reforms to justify the use of the right to ...
Abe cites need for Japan to fully exercise right to collective self-defense
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suggests that the Constitution should be amended to give Japan the power to fully exercise the right to collective self-defense.
The Supreme Court is locked in a war with the Abe administration over the independence of the judicial branch.
Japanese pacifism is not the moral choice
Only in Japan is unilateral pacifism considered viable, but in a world of new threats a policy of sympathetic indifference is morally questionable.
Gauging Abe's 'proactive contributions to peace'
While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has talked a good game about Japan playing a bigger international role, his track record so far shows little has changed.
Expanding SDF's role in South Sudan likely to wait until late 2016
The Abe administration is considering waiting until November 2016 or later to expand the role of the Self-Defense Forces in the U.N. peacekeeping operation in South Sudan under the controversial security legislation passed last month, according to a government source. The current plan is to ...
The Abe government versus the Emperor on history issues
Shinzo Abe and the Foreign Ministry have been mincing words when it comes to Japan's war responsibility, in stark contrast with Emperor Akihito's forthright statements of remorse and apology.
