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October 13, 2025
 

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DEFENSE

Hours before talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung has signaled that reaching a deal with Washington on its demand to have U.S. forces in South Korea play a larger role in countering China will prove difficult.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 25, 2025
Lee signals resistance to shifting U.S. Forces Korea’s focus to China
President Lee Jae Myung’s remarks come just hours before he meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in talks that are expected to be dominated by defense and security issues.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (right) and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (second from right) inspect the Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter carrier Kaga and receive an explanation about the SH-60K patrol helicopter in the hangar at the MSDF's Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 24, 2025
Ishiba inspects MSDF de facto aircraft carrier and British vessel
The Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter carrier Kaga is undergoing refitting and training to make it a de facto aircraft carrier.
A soldier speaks to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on July 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 24, 2025
Taiwan voters reject lawmaker recalls, clouding defense budget
None of the seven opposition Kuomintang legislators targeted in Saturday’s second round of recall elections by the Democratic Progressive Party were removed.
A billboard displays an ad for the German armed forces in Berlin on Wednesday. The advertising slogan reads: "Standing up for our democracy. Every morning."
WORLD / FOCUS
Aug 24, 2025
Germany is one step closer to reviving military conscription
A law headed for Cabinet approval on Wednesday seeks to boost Bundeswehr recruitment to help deter Russia and defend European allies.
Director of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency Lt. Jeffrey Kruse (left) testifies during a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington in March 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 23, 2025
In latest purge, Hegseth removes head of Pentagon intel agency and others
The move appeared to be the latest attempt to penalize current and former military, intelligence and law enforcement officials whose views have been seen as at odds with Trump.
A military drill in Taiwan. Taipei has ramped up investment in military equipment and weapons over the past decade in response to intensifying pressure from China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 22, 2025
Taiwan president ups defense spending target to 5% of GDP
The move comes as China has ramped up military and political pressure over the past five years to assert its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (center) talks with the main commanders of the Korean People's Army's overseas operations units that participated in the war alongside Russia, at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 21, 2025
North Korea has 'undeclared' ICBM base near China border: report
The facility in North Pyongan province likely houses six to nine nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles and their launchers.
Acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby visits BlackSea Technology facilities to view a drone test in Baltimore, Maryland, in June.
WORLD
Aug 21, 2025
The U.S. Navy is building a drone fleet to take on China. It's not going well.
A recent naval test designed to showcase the Pentagon’s top autonomous drone boats ended in failure due to software glitches and human error.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani takes part in a welcome ceremony with his Turkish counterpart, Yasar Guler, at Turkey's Defense Ministry in Ankara on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 20, 2025
Japan and Turkey defense chiefs pledge industry tie-ups as Tokyo eyes drones
While drones were not explicitly mentioned by either side in readouts of the meeting, they were believed to have featured prominently in discussions.
Students visit the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park in late April. Attitudes in Japan are shifting away from the traditional pacifist views that have held sway since the end of World War II.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 20, 2025
Trump shock spurs Japan to think about the unthinkable: nuclear arms
There is a growing willingness to loosen the country’s decades-old pledge not to produce, possess or host nuclear weapons in its territory.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with European leaders in Washington on Monday amid signs of U.S. and its NATO partners drifting further apart. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 19, 2025
All is not quiet on the Western front
The Trump-Putin Alaska summit is further evidence that the U.S. and its NATO partners are drifting further apart with each passing month.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to the media after a meeting in Tokyo last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 19, 2025
Ishiba says Japan considering role in security guarantees for Ukraine
The “coalition of the willing,” which groups 30 nations backing Ukraine that includes Japan, has been working for months to craft a comprehensive package of security guarantees.
Izumi Nakamitsu, U.N. undersecretary-general and high representative for disarmament affairs, speaks during a news conference on Monday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2025
U.N. official Nakamitsu urges Japan to attend disarmament summit
Nakamitsu highlighted the importance of Tokyo's involvement in disarmament in the face of rising tensions and nuclear threats.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Choe Hyon destroyer in this photo released Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 19, 2025
North Korea's Kim threatens rapid nuclear expansion amid U.S. war games
The call by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un comes amid escalating tensions with the U.S. and South Korea as the allies conduct joint military drills.
Australia’s decision to select Japan's upgraded Mogami-class warship, seen in this computer-generated image, has been “well received across Japanese industry," a Defense Ministry official said.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 17, 2025
Winning warship bid gives Japan confidence boost as Tokyo eyes more exports
Japan’s successful offer of state-of-the-art warships to Australia is seen as a "model" case for the future export of entire military systems, including to Southeast Asia.
Rescuers clear debris as they work at the site of a destroyed residential building following a Russian air attack in Kyiv on July 31.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 16, 2025
Trump’s pause on Ukraine aid hurt its readiness, watchdog finds
The eight-day halt in March "had tangible effect” on the conflict as well as "significant residual effects on the delivery of security assistance,” the U.S. European Command said.
The HMS Prince of Wales arrives at the Port of Darwin, Australia, in July during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
EDITORIALS
Aug 15, 2025
Operation Highmast reinforces claims that ‘security is indivisible’
European governments recognize that developments in the Indo-Pacific have a profound impact on their national interests.
Russia's Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system unit is put on show during a military parade in central Moscow on May 9.
WORLD / Politics / EXPLAINER
Aug 15, 2025
Why is Putin talking about a new nuclear weapons treaty with the U.S.?
If a U.S.-Russian summit on Ukraine makes progress toward a new arms control treaty, the Russian president could argue he is engaging on wider peace issues.
U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement regarding the Golden Dome missile defense shield in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington in May.
WORLD
Aug 15, 2025
Trump’s Golden Dome still shrouded in mystery, even for its builders
Government officials told defense contractors last week they weren’t even allowed to mention the project by name.
A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey aircraft flies over the island of Okinawa in March 2018.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 14, 2025
Precautionary Osprey landings signal safety, not alarm
Two precautionary V-22 Osprey landings in northern Honshu demonstrated the aircraft’s safety and its role in enhancing Japan’s rapid-deployment and island-defense capabilities.
University of Tokyo lands its highest spot ever in global higher education ranking
The University of Tokyo in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
After ruling bloc breakup, CDP and Komeito eye unified PM candidate
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda speaks to reporters at the Diet in Tokyo on Friday.
As the Osaka Expo comes to a close, what will its legacy be?
After a run-up marked by apathy, organizers soon found they had the opposite problem as crowd control became a concern.
Why Japan's coalition collapsed — and what's next
Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi enters party headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
‘Takaichi trade’ starts unwinding as political calculus upended by Komeito exit
Less than a week ago, Sanae Takaichi seemed set to become Japan's first female prime minister.
‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.
A Japanese comedian walks into an Aussie bar … and stays there
Takashi “Waka” Wakasugi stopped by the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya Ward last month following his stint at Edinburgh Festival Fringe performing his show “Comedy Samurai.”
Chemistry Nobel winner Kitagawa says downtime helped him think up new material
Susumu Kitagawa speaks to reporters at Kyoto University on Wednesday after receiving the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry the same day.

Podcast

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

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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