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April 28, 2025
 

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DEFENSE

A Maritime Self-Defense Force's SH-60K helicopter. On April 20, two such helicopters collided during nighttime training off a remote island near Tokyo, killing all aboard.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2024
Lack of coordination and improper lookout caused MSDF copter crash
Both SH-60K helicopters were aware of the other’s presence but had not performed evasive maneuvers up until the collision, possibly misjudging their distance, panel says.
Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are assembled at the company’s plant in Renton, Washington, on June 25.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2024
Boeing in talks with U.S. Defense Department on impact of guilty plea
The plea in relation to two fatal crashes involving its planes in 2018 and 2019 potentially threatens the company's ability to secure lucrative government contracts.
Japanese troops during an amphibious landing exercise on Tokunoshima island, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan is letting go of old assumptions about the reliability of the rules-based international order and is making efforts to boost its military capabilities.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2024
As militaries are rebuilt, are we turning American?
Some countries stopped investing in their militaries and defense under the illusion that the rules-based order would prevail. Now, they're facing tough, new realities.
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force conduct drills in Shizuoka Prefecture in May.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2024
Japan SDF hiring falls far short of target in fiscal 2023
The number of Self-Defense Forces personnel hired in fiscal 2023 totaled 9,959, only 51% of the Defense Ministry's target.
Ground Self-Defense Force personnel take part in a joint amphibious landing exercise with Philippine and U.S. troops in San Antonio, in the Philippines' Zambales province, in October 2018.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 8, 2024
Japan and Philippines ink key military pact in defense ties upgrade
The agreement — Tokyo's first with a Southeast Asian nation — will facilitate mutual military visits.
Outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a meeting in Brussels last month.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 7, 2024
NATO turns 75 with Ukraine and future on line
Leaders will meet in Washington in the shadow of setbacks in Ukraine and electoral headwinds on both sides of the Atlantic.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida listens to U.S. President Joe Biden as they hold a joint news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington in April.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 6, 2024
Biden again takes credit for pushing Japan to boost defense spending
The U.S. president said for the second time in just over a year that he had pushed Japan to its hike defense budget — comments likely to upset Tokyo.
An unarmed AGM-86B air-launched cruise missile is released from a B-52 bomber over the Utah Test and Training Range during a Nuclear Weapons System Evaluation Program sortie in September 2014.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2024
Trump advisers call for U.S. nuclear weapons testing if he is elected
A number of nuclear experts reject a resumption as unnecessary and say it would threaten to end a testing moratorium that has been honored for decades.
Ryo Sakai, the chief of staff of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, is expected to quit his post following reports that several MSDF vessels allowed unvetted personnel to handle top secret information related to national security.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2024
MSDF chief may quit over widespread mishandling of secret info
The latest revelation comes just months after the ministry punished five SDF members over leaks of secret information to unvetted personnel.
An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during an operational test at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in August 2017. Surging costs for the U.S. Air Force's new Sentinel ICBM may further embolden arms control advocacy groups who argue that the Sentinel should be scrapped in favor of extending the life of Minuteman III missiles.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2024
Cost of U.S. Sentinel ICBM swells again to $214 million per missile
The program is now expected to cost taxpayers $141 billion, or 81% more than forecast four years ago.
A Ukrainian national flag is pictured in front of the NATO emblem, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, in July last year.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2024
NATO allies at summit to unveil Ukraine 'bridge to membership'
A senior U.S. official described the plan as quite substantial, saying that it will include training coordination, logistics and force development.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is welcomed by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Oct. 5, 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 5, 2024
India's Modi heads to Moscow for first visit since Ukraine invasion
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday makes his first visit to Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, walking a fine line between maintaining a longstanding Moscow alliance while courting closer Western security ties.
Gen. Romeo Brawner, the chief of the Philippines' military, speaks at a news conference in Manila on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2024
Philippines hopes to sign key defense pact with Japan
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa are set to meet with their Philippine counterparts in Manila on Monday.
U.S. Air Force F-35A fighter jets will be deployed at Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2024
U.S. to upgrade Japan-based military aircraft
The U.S. Defense Department will spend over $10 billion to upgrade tactical military aircraft deployed in Japan over the next several years.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his sister Imee, children of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, answer questions during a press briefing at the Supreme Court in Padre Faura, Metro Manila, Philippines, on April 2, 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 4, 2024
Philippine senator makes TikTok claim about China missile plans
Sen. Imee Marcos, the sister of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., made her claim in a video that has had over 900,000 views on TikTok.
The right-wing slogan “Make Europe Great Again” — a play on Donald Trump’s campaign slogan — is gaining prominence in European politics.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 3, 2024
‘Make Europe Great Again’ is becoming 'MEGA.' Should Japan worry?
The right-wing "Make Europe Great Again" movement is gaining traction, but Japan shouldn't put it in the same box as its more problematic cousin, MAGA, in the U.S.
The Defense Ministry holds a lecture for military and police officials from Pacific island countries at the ministry on Friday as part of its security-related capacity-building support.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 3, 2024
Japan Defense Ministry boosting aid to Pacific island nations
Only three out of 14 Pacific island nations — Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga — have armed forces.
A Ukrainian serviceman waits for Russian drones next to a military vehicle with a anti-aircraft cannon at an undisclosed location in Donetsk region, Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 3, 2024
China is making and testing lethal attack drones for Russia
Beijing may be edging closer to providing Russia with the sort of lethal aid that western officials have warned against.
U.S. President Joe Biden in the Oval Office in Washington. The idea that the U.S.-China hotline can bridge communication gaps during crises rings hollow.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2024
If a phone rings in a forest and no one answers, is it a hotline?
Hotlines allow states to talk in crisis situations. But China often doesn't pick up when the U.S. calls, raising doubts about the utility of the communications link.
The focus on artificial intelligence comes as the Self-Defense Forces grapple with concerns about recruitment and its abilities to harness the power of new technologies.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2024
Japan’s Defense Ministry unveils first basic policy on use of AI
The new policy comes as Japan looks to stave off a manpower shortage and keep pace with China and the U.S. on the technology’s military applications.
China seizes disputed reef near key Philippine military outpost
China Coast Guard officers unfurl a national flag on Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in disputed waters of the South China Sea this month in this screen shot taken from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Japan to resist Trump efforts to form trade bloc against China
As Japan gears up for the trade talks, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is also seeking to cushion the blow that the U.S. tariffs may have on the domestic economy.
As many as nine dead after driver plows into Vancouver festival crowd
An ambulance is parked at the site of the Lapu Lapu day festival, where a vehicle drove into a crowd killing several people in Vancouver on Saturday.
Japan’s legal system struggles to deal with AI-made child sexual abuse images
AI-generated content — including those made using pictures of real people, which are known as “deepfakes” — is not explicitly covered under Japan's current legal framework, nor are human-drawn illustrations that depict child abuse.
How to bring up bad news in Japanese
As in other cultures, when someone shares bad news in Japanese it’s best to respond with supportive words.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
Built in a flash, Osaka Expo pavilions wrestle with sustainability
Kengo Kuma & Associates oversaw the construction of the Malaysia pavilion, which is encased in interwoven rows of bamboo that appear to ripple.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.

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One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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