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July 11, 2025
 

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DEFENSE

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (second right) takes part in the inauguration ceremony for the Deep Tech Lab - Quantum in Copenhagen on Sept. 29.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2024
The growing strategic race in emerging technologies
Japan’s security and trading partners are increasingly serious about developing quantum capabilities. Japan has to do more to both keep pace.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a summit in Bangkok in November 2022. Despite Japan-China relations stagnating in recent years, Xi's administration presents some interesting opportunities for an overture between the two countries.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 12, 2024
Will Japan and China’s relations continue to stagnate?
Japan and China have historically been at odds and relations have stagnated. This pattern can be broken by seizing the moment, one that offers some key opportunities.
An Iranian missile during the National Army Day parade in Tehran in April
WORLD
Aug 11, 2024
Iran to deliver hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia soon: sources
Moscow possesses an array of its own ballistic missiles, but the Fath-360 system could allow Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets beyond the front line.
A Russian battle tank drives outside the town of Sudzha on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 9, 2024
Russia battles Ukrainian troops for third day after shock incursion
It is one of the biggest Ukrainian attacks on Russia since the war began in February 2022.
South Korean Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik on during an interview in Seoul on Wednesday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 8, 2024
South Korean nuclear weapons would break U.S. ties, defense chief says
The idea of another term for former U.S. President Donald Trump, who complained about the cost of the U.S. military presence in South Korea, has fueled the debate.
Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 7, 2024
Japan and Mongolia likely to agree on defense equipment transfer pact
Japan and Mongolia are likely to reach a broad agreement to conclude a treaty aimed at allowing the two nations to export defense equipment to one another, Japanese government officials said Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin attend the Japan-U.S. Extended Deterrence Dialogue in Tokyo on July 28.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 7, 2024
Japan-U.S. alliance transforms with concrete 'two-plus-two' talks
Despite the long and challenging history of Japan-U.S. two-plus-two meetings, this year's Tokyo meeting was truly groundbreaking.
U.S. President Joe Biden escorts Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to their trilateral summit at the White House in Washington in April.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 6, 2024
As U.S. ‘minilateral’ diplomacy grows, Japan emerges as key actor
As geopolitical tensions in the region rise, the breakout of any conflict would put Tokyo on the front lines alongside Washington.
Despite China’s advocacy for “no first use” as a global standard and its call for inclusion in international law for nuclear weapons, many analysts view it as a political statement rather than a practical strategy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 6, 2024
China’s 'no first use' nuclear policy rings hollow for many
Critics argue that China's NFU policy is less credible due to its expanding nuclear arsenal and the secrecy surrounding
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara speaks on July 30 during a parliamentary inquiry into a series of scandals involving the ministry and the Self-Defense Forces.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 6, 2024
The wider international and domestic implications of the SDF scandals
The problems have put the spotlight on Japan’s ability to convince its partners that it’s ready to shoulder a larger security role.
Map exercises for evacuations, simulating a situation in which an armed attack is expected, are conducted at the Okinawa Prefectural Government office in Naha on Jan. 30.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2024
Japan works on evacuation plans in event of Taiwan contingency
Issues such as stockpiling food and being able to swiftly evacuate all residents of the islands in Okinawa remain as Japan considers various contingencies.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un participates in a ceremony for transferring tactical ballistic missile launchers to frontier military units, in Pyongyang on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 5, 2024
North Korea's Kim sends 250 new tactical ballistic missile launchers to border
South Korea said the launchers could be used in various ways, such to attack or threaten South Korea.
People pray at the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima to mark the anniversary of the dropping of the A-bomb in 1945. Over half a century on, the global framework to stop nuclear weapons proliferation needs a serious rethink.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 5, 2024
What stands in the way of a nuclear weapon-free world?
Almost 80 years after the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the world is still far from abolishing nuclear weapons due to a crumbling of the nonproliferation architecture.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (left) shakes hands with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, after their joint news conference at a hotel in Manila on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 4, 2024
Philippines and Germany commit to reaching defense pact this year
The two countries' defense chiefs met in Manila during the first such visit by a German defense minister, as their countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations.
The dark side of artificial intelligence is that it could make deadly and low-cost bioweapons more accessible to nonstate actors.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2024
AI may save us, or may construct viruses to kill us
One reason biological weapons haven’t been much used is that they can boomerang. If Russia released a virus in Ukraine, it could spread to Russia.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
WORLD
Aug 3, 2024
Pentagon deploying ships and fighters to boost Mideast presence
The moves come as Israel faces threats from Iran to avenge assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
Chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Gen. Romeo Brawner (left), and Yoshihide Yoshida, chief of staff of the Joint Staff of the Self-Defense Forces, in Manila in July
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 2, 2024
Philippines and Japan militaries hold first joint exercises in South China Sea
The drills, which took place within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, followed similar exercises between Manila and Washington on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government is working hard to enhance Japan's global and regional influence through strategic defense reforms and international partnerships.
EDITORIALS
Aug 2, 2024
Japan’s defense reforms and diplomacy boost regional security
Considerable progress was made this week in a series of meetings with Tokyo's counterparts in various endeavors, the heart of which is the Japan-U.S. alliance.
Israel is engaged not only in fighting real wars but also in ideological conflicts that shape its security, existence and global legitimacy.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2024
Challenged on all fronts: Israel’s five wars
What do those who support Israel's right to self-defense suggest it do to combat an enemy that entrenches itself in hundreds of miles of tunnels beneath civilians?
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shakes hands with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 31, 2024
China lodges protest with Japan over 'irresponsible remarks' in talks with U.S.
China's director-general of Asian affairs at the Foreign Ministry lodged a complaint with the Japanese Embassy, in the latest row between the Asian giants.
NGOs condemn rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric ahead of Upper House vote
Sanseito head Sohei Kamiya holds a board that reads "Japanese First" in Tokyo on July 2. In a joint statement on Tuesday, eight human rights nongovernmental organizations described the far-right party's stance as "hate speech."
Japan and Canada ink key intel-sharing deal
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand shakes hands with Japan's top diplomat, Takeshi Iwaya, at the end of a signing ceremony for an information security agreement, after bilateral talks in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Foreign drivers in Japan to face tougher license conversion rules from October
According to the National Police Agency, there were 75,905 people who converted their foreign driver’s license to a Japanese one in 2024, up from 48,885 in 2019.
Tokyo hit by torrential rainfall at rush hour
People line up at Shibuya Station in Tokyo as they try to avoid the heavy rain on Thursday.
Japan stands its ground after Trump letter delivers 25% U.S. tariff shock
U.S. President Donald Trump (left) and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at Morristown Airport, New Jersey, on Sunday. Trump on Monday sent letters to 12 countries notifying them of new "reciprocal" tariff rates effective Aug. 1.
NGOs condemn rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric ahead of Upper House vote
Sanseito head Sohei Kamiya holds a board that reads "Japanese First" in Tokyo on July 2. In a joint statement on Tuesday, eight human rights nongovernmental organizations described the far-right party's stance as "hate speech."
Japanese dancers find a home abroad at Houston Ballet
“Giselle” lead Yuriko Kajiya (center), performing with Connor Walsh as Albrecht, is one of six Japanese dancers at Houston Ballet.
From the Abes to the Ohtanis: How siblings shape athletic development
Olympic judoka Uta Abe (second from left) and Hifumi Abe (second from right) with their brother Yuichiro (center) and their parents. “I’m always consciously trying to be a good older brother,” Yuichiro said.
Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
Scams involving police impersonation surge
A video by the National Police Agency warns about fake scams.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
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