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July 13, 2025
 

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DEFENSE

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the first test-fire of the Hwasong-16B, a new-type intermediate-range, solid-fueled ballistic missile outside Pyongyang in this image released Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 3, 2024
North Korea aims to adopt solid-fuel missiles for faster launches
Analysts say solid-fuel missiles can be faster to deploy than liquid-fuel variants, but it's unclear if the North can or will adopt these exclusively.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks on as he guides a training of the fire division in this picture released on March 19. Pyongyang has spent decades stockpiling millions of rounds of artillery and thousands of rockets in the terrain north of the demilitarized zone, which sits some 40 kilometers away from Seoul.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 3, 2024
Kim Jong Un faces annihilation in nearly all Korea war scenarios
Although North Korea has a manpower advantage, the bulk of its forces rely on "increasingly obsolete equipment” dating back to Soviet era.
The Osprey provides vertical takeoff and landing like a helicopter but is also capable of flying at high speeds over long distances when operating as a conventional plane.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 3, 2024
The Japan-U.S. alliance needs the versatile Osprey
In Japan, there has been an outsized and lingering concern about the aircraft’s safety. That concern is, frankly, misplaced,
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia's defense minister and president-elect, at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 3, 2024
Kishida and Prabowo agree to strengthen Japan-Indonesia ties
Prabowo, who is set to take office as president in October, said that the two countries have built a good cooperative relationship so far.
It would be dangerous for Kyiv to negotiate with Moscow at this stage of the war as Russia occupies 18% of Ukraine's territory.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 3, 2024
Negotiating with Putin now won’t end the war
The surest way to end the war is for Japan, and others, to support Kyiv militarily. Negotiating with Putin at this stage is dangerous and unrealistic.
NATO headquarters in Brussels. In attacking the transatlantic alliance, Trump fails to see that the grouping is key to safeguarding the United States' own interests.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 3, 2024
NATO is not a hegemonic burden
Trump is wrong in wrangling over NATO. Withdrawing from the alliance would hurt U.S. interests — without really reducing its military spending.
Virginia-class attack submarine USS Hawaii passes by Diamond Head crater on Oahu in Hawaii in July 2009.
WORLD
Apr 3, 2024
U.S. attack submarines to counter China are up to two years late
Delivery dates for Virginia-class subs are an estimated 24 to 36 months past the contracted dates
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Izumo destroyer docked in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in November 2021
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2024
Online video of Japanese destroyer may be fake: Defense Ministry
Video seemingly shot by a drone, which are banned around the military base.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg presents the alliance's annual report at NATO headquarters in Brussels on March 14.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 3, 2024
NATO ministers mull €100 billion military fund for Ukraine
The plans will be discussed during a two-day meeting in Brussels.
The top U.S. military commander in the Indo-Pacific, Adm. John Aquilino, has said that Beijing is maintaining its goal of being able to invade Taiwan by 2027.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 2, 2024
Will China truly be ‘ready’ to invade Taiwan by 2027? It’s complicated.
The most important factor shaping any plan will not be based on just military readiness, but rather on political and strategic objectives, analysts say.
Vladimir Putin knows that if NATO member states are dragged back into policing a restive Balkans, they will be distracted from their focus on supporting Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2024
Putin’s new front in the Ukraine war is in the Balkans
The Russian leader is pushing propaganda and religious strife in Kosovo and Bosnia to distract NATO from his illegal invasion.
A woman walks past a TV showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at the main railway station in Seoul on March 18.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 2, 2024
North Korea launches intermediate-range missile as elections loom for South
The Defense Ministry said the weapon had traveled some 650 kilometers before splashing down in waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
Chinese Coast Guard ships fire water cannons at a Philippine boat during a supply mission near Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on March 5. This incident highlights the danger that such confrontations could have for sparking a wider conflict.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2024
Beware the steady creep toward crisis in the South China Sea
The Philippines is pushing back. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has adopted a policy of “assertive transparency” to show the world what China is doing.
A boy watches Self-Defense Forces live-fire drills in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in 2017. Japan’s defense posture is shifting, as the government’s recent approval of new arms export regulations signals.  
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 1, 2024
Is Japan leaving pacifism behind?
How a previous generation of Japanese leaders, those who made defense budget and arms export limits a national credo, would view the current shift.
Smoke rises from Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, on March 17. Ending the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and deterring conflicts in the Indo-Pacific region is a key global goal.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 31, 2024
How should Japan deal with Ukraine, Gaza and the Indo-Pacific region?
The power, institutions and values that underpin the international security order are being compromised worldwide.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attend a meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's far eastern Amur region last September.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 31, 2024
What does Russia's veto on North Korea sanctions monitoring mean?
Ending the U.N.'s monitoring will provide North Korea's Kim Jong Un with a major win, experts say.
With emerging headwinds in the U.S. and Japan, U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will have their work cut out for them next month as they look to maintain the momentum driving change in the alliance between both countries.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 31, 2024
Kishida heads to U.S. with a mission — maintain alliance momentum amid challenges
Defense and security will likely top the agenda, though it is unclear how the PM will handle the issue of Ukraine assistance amid a split U.S. Congress.
Commercial and residential buildings are seen on Ishigaki Island, in Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2024
Japan to set up new shelters on southwestern islands
The central government has picked five municipalities on the Sakishima southwestern islands in Okinawa Prefecture.
A U.S. military Osprey aircraft flies over the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the center of the city of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, in August 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 30, 2024
Japan designates U.S. bases in Okinawa as security-linked sites
The government has designated 184 sites in 28 of the country's 47 prefectures as critical to national security in the fourth round of such designations.
Japan’s Cabinet agreed to ease defense export rules for the nation’s next-generation fighter jet, a concept model of which is seen on display here at a defense show in Chiba in March 2023.
EDITORIALS
Mar 29, 2024
Japan greenlights its defense industry
The government's steps on easing defense export rules will allow Japanese companies to participate more fully in the global market for defense equipment.
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.
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.
Nissan clinches $4.5 billion bond deal after orders soar
Nissan Motor has raised $4.5 billion through a junk bond sale in U.S. dollars and euros, part of which carries a record-high coupon rate.
Chinese fighters came within 30 meters of Japanese spy aircraft, Tokyo says
A Chinese JH-7 fighter jet makes an near an Air Self-Defense Force YS-11EB surveillance aircraft over the East China Sea this week in this image released Thursday.
What Japanese politics could look like after Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (center) waves to attendees as he departs after delivering a campaign speech in Yokohama on Sunday.
New IG Arena set to dial down temperature at Nagoya Basho, in a good way
With IG Arena getting glowing early reviews as the Nagoya Basho’s replacement venue, it may be a while before fans wax nostalgic about the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.
Once a niche, anime is now mainstream content for Netflix and other streaming services
Though Netflix remains the dominant choice globally for anime viewers, Amazon Prime Video has also invested heavily in anime, steadily adding titles to their catalogue.
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.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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