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May 14, 2025
 

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MINISTRY

The Justice Ministry is considering helping Ukraine improve laws and regulations.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 14, 2024
Japan to help Ukraine improve laws to support reconstruction
The move is intended to support Ukraine's negotiations for EU membership and create an environment good for Japanese companies to enter the Ukrainian market.
Maritime Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Adm. Ryo Sakai says during a news conference Friday that he will step down on July 19 to take responsibility for a string of scandals involving MSDF members.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 14, 2024
Crisis grips Japanese government over Defense Ministry scandals
Some believe such scandals may influence the debate over tax hikes that were proposed to finance the five-year defense spending boost through fiscal 2027.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa speaks at a news conference on Friday over sexual assault incidents involving U.S. service members.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 14, 2024
Japan lawmakers criticize U.S. for failing to report military assault cases
Meanwhile, the Japanese government has not protested the failure or demanded improvements, saying there was no problem with the U.S. side.
The Defense Ministry in Tokyo
JAPAN / Society
Jul 12, 2024
Defense Ministry hands out rare mass punishment over SDF issues
The ministry has disciplined a total of 218 Self-Defense Force members and senior officials following a wide-ranging investigation.
Members of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces take part in a military review at Camp Asaka in October 2018. The nation’s public is currently favorable to the SDF, but if scandals aren’t handled correctly, that opinion may change. 
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2024
A multitude of scandals threaten Japan’s national defense
Individually, recent scandals are troubling. Together they are reflective of a problematic culture within the defense forces and bureaucracy.
Ground Self-Defense Force troops conduct a military drill on the uninhabited island of Irisuna in Okinawa Prefecture in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 12, 2024
Japan’s new defense white paper delivers strongest words yet on Taiwan
Tokyo pins the blame squarely on China's large-scale military exercises around the democratically ruled island for continued tensions in the region.
A down jacket that uses recycled feathers. An Environment Ministry survey has shown that around 60% of newly supplied clothing in Japan is expected to be discarded without being reused.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 12, 2024
Japan aims to recycle 50,000 metric tons of discarded clothing
Large amounts of clothes are being thrown away as a result of massive production amid the spread of fast fashion.
A monitor in Tokyo shows the yen strengthening to the ¥157 range against the dollar late Thursday evening.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 12, 2024
Japan likely spent $22 billion on yen intervention Thursday
Japan’s currency firmed from around ¥161.58 against the dollar to ¥157.44 in little more than half an hour.
Ground Self-Defense Force members participate in a seminar to prevent harassment at Camp Asaka in Tokyo in April.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 10, 2024
Spate of scandals threaten to tarnish Defense Ministry and SDF’s reputation
The emergence of multiple scandals is the latest challenge for the Defense Ministry as it seeks to strengthen Japan’s defense capabilities.
A meeting on judicial issues facing Pacific island countries was held in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2024
Japan to help Pacific island nations promote rule of law
The ministry has been supporting Southeast Asian countries in improving their judicial systems since the 1990s.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara holds a news conference at the Ministry of Defense last month.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2024
MSDF divers suspected of fraudulently receiving allowances, sources say
They have been making false claims for the diving allowances for many years, and the total amount they have fraudulently received may reach tens of millions of yen.
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.
A sign warning about the frequent appearance of bears in Tono, Iwate Prefecture, in April 2021
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2024
Japan moves to permit use of rifles to hunt bears in residential areas
Under a proposed legal revision, hunters would be allowed to fire rifles if there is a risk of human injury or a bear has entered a building.
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.
Children sit near a flooding seawall during high tide in Serua, Fiji, in 2022.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2024
Japan to share weather data with Pacific island nations
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will announce the plan at the July 16-18 summit in Tokyo with Pacific island leaders.
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.
Protesters rally in front of the Okinawa Prefectural Government building in Naha on Thursday following recent revelations of sexual abuse cases involving U.S. servicemen in Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 5, 2024
Info-sharing on U.S. soldiers' crimes to improve, Kamikawa says
The central government will also strengthen measures to prevent U.S. servicemen from committing sex crimes in Japan, the foreign minister said.
Japanese household spending unexpectedly fell in May as higher prices continued to squeeze consumers' purchasing power.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 5, 2024
Japan’s household spending falls, clouding growth outlook
The yen's slide is expected to further raise prices for imported raw materials, energy, and food.
Japan’s redesigned yen banknotes are shown at the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday, the day the new ¥10,000, ¥5,000 and ¥1,000 bills went into circulation. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 3, 2024
The new yen notes have an important story to tell
The inspiring stories of the three trailblazers whose portraits are featured on the new yen banknotes say a lot about the past, present and future of Japan.
Transport ministry issues warning to Haneda Airport operator
The operator of Tokyo's Haneda Airport has been warned by the government over its inappropriate transactions.
Xi defiance pays off as Trump meets most China trade demands
Then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits a school in South Gate, California, in February 2012. Experts say Xi won big in his standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Nissan shares surge as carmaker set to cut 20,000 jobs in huge overhaul
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on cars and car parts imported to the U.S. have been painful to most global brands, but crippling in Nissan’s case.
Japan might be playing long game in U.S. tariff talks
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House earlier this year. Ishiba said Monday that farmers won't be sacrificed for automakers in Japan's tariff negotiations with the U.S.
More details emerge about stabbing near Tokyo University metro station
Yoshitaka Toda, the suspect in Wednesday's knife attack at Todaimae Station on the Tokyo Metro Nanboku Line, leaves a police station in the Japanese capital the same day for a pre-detention medical examination.
Sculpted waves, sleek updos: Showa hairstyles are back in fashion
The larger-than-life hairstyles of Japan's Showa Era are unmistakable — and they're making a comeback.
Consumption tax set to dominate Upper House election debate
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan should produce its own AI defense solutions, Sakana AI CEO says
Sakana AI CEO David Ha speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Nissan gets ‘wake-up call’ with $4.5 billion annual net loss
Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa in Tokyo as the company releases its results
Japan set for bigger role in Philippines after SDF’s debut in key drills
Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Michael Logico, who was involved in managing the latest iteration of the Balikatan U.S.-Philippine drills, told The Japan Times that he expects military ties with Japan to surge even further once Tokyo ratifies a key visiting-forces agreement with Manila.

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