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October 16, 2025
 

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PLA

A Maritime Self-Defense Force P-1 patrol plane fires off flares during a demonstration at an international fleet review ceremony in November 2022. The firing of flares is intended to confuse heat-seeking missiles but they are also commonly deployed to warn away other aircraft.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Sep 24, 2024
Moscow and Beijing unlikely to stop testing Tokyo's limits
Tokyo’s unprecedented decision to fire flares as a warning after a Russian military plane entered Japanese airspace may not be enough to prevent a recurrence.
A Russian IL-38 patrol aircraft is seen in this image taken by the Air Self-Defense Force on Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2024
Japan fighters fire flares after Russian military plane enters airspace
A Russian IL-38 patrol aircraft violated Japanese airspace off Hokkaido’s Rebun Island three times, with the ASDF firing flares for the first time in response.
A screengrab from footage released by the Russian Defense Ministry shows ships from the country's Pacific fleet in the Sea of Japan earlier this month.
WORLD
Sep 21, 2024
Russia and China start naval exercises in Sea of Japan, agencies report
Russia and China started naval exercises in the Sea of Japan on Saturday, Russian news agencies cited Russia's Pacific Fleet as saying.
Warships and fighter jets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy take part in a military display in the South China Sea in April 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Sep 21, 2024
U.S. leans on shipbuilding prowess of allies to compete with China
America’s shipbuilding industry has virtually collapsed over the last generation, raising concerns amid its rivalry with China.
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier sails in waters near Okinawa Prefecture on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2024
Chinese carrier sails between Japanese islands near Taiwan for first time
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier passed through a narrow waterway between Yonaguni and Iriomote islands in Okinawa Prefecture.
A screenshot from video taken on Aug. 31 shows a China Coast Guard ship colliding with the Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua near Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 16, 2024
Philippines vows continued presence after South China Sea reef pullout
Manila denied it has given up on Sabina Shoal, a day after it withdrew a ship that had been stationed there amid a five-month standoff with China.
China Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons toward a Philippine resupply vessel on May 4 near the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. Beijing claims the waterway almost in its entirety despite an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 12, 2024
China to 'crush' foreign encroachment in South China Sea, PLA official says
Lt. Gen. He Lei said the Chinese military will "resolutely crush any foreign hostile encroachment on China's territorial, sovereign and maritime rights and interests."
Participants chat in front of an electronic image of a soldier before the closing session of the Responsible AI in the Military Domain summit in Seoul on Tuesday.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Sep 11, 2024
Global blueprint for regulating military AI proving elusive
The challenges of setting up guardrails against the misuse of the technology were highlighted during an AI summit in Seoul.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on July 3.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 11, 2024
Russia and China join forces for major naval exercise
Moscow and Beijing have deepened cooperation in recent years, as both countries seek to counterbalance what they see as a United States-led global order.
A Chinese Navy ship heads northeast in the Tsushima Strait about 130 kilometers southwest of Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2024
Chinese ships enter Sea of Japan ahead of military drills with Russia
Local media in Japan suggested the Chinese ships were on their way to drills with Russia announced by Beijing on Monday.
A Mid-Range Capability, or Typhon, launcher with the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force arrives in the Philippines on April 8, in the capability’s first deployment to the Indo-Pacific region.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2024
U.S. eyeing midrange missiles in Japan for drills, U.S. Army secretary says
U.S. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said deploying the unit that hosts the missile system had been discussed during her visit to Japan last month.
Gabon President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema waves as he arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport ahead of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing on Sep. 1.
WORLD
Sep 7, 2024
U.S. pitches deal to thwart Chinese military base in Africa
The U.S. is assembling an economic and security assistance package for Gabon in a bid to prevent China from establishing a military footprint there.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning has said that Chinese ships passing through the Tokara Strait are exercising the right of transit passage, "which is completely legitimate and legal."
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2024
China says its military ships going through Tokara Strait have right of transit
The sailing was part of a series of recent moves by the Chinese military near Japan that Tokyo has said are “cause for concern.”
A Chinese Navy Shupang-class survey ship
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2024
Tokyo protests after Chinese Navy ship enters Japanese territorial waters
The move came just days after Japan strongly protested the first entry into its airspace by a Chinese military aircraft.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks at a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Aug 27, 2024
Japan calls Chinese military aircraft incursion 'unacceptable' threat to safety
Officials are grappling with the rationale for and response to the entry into Japanese airspace off Nagasaki Prefecture.
A China Coast Guard ship is seen from the Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Cabra during a supply mission to Sabina Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Aug 27, 2024
China-Philippine tensions center on new flash point: Sabina Shoal
Clashes between the countries’ vessels have become more frequent and intense as the two sides vie for control over the disputed South China Sea atoll.
A Chinese military Y-9 intelligence-gathering plane that entered Japanese airspace on Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2024
Japan says Chinese military violated territorial airspace for first time
The ministry said one of the Chinese military's Y-9 intelligence-gathering planes had briefly entered Japanese territory near the Danjo Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture.
A Philippine's military-chartered boat sails past a China Coast Guard ship during a resupply mission for the BRP Sierra Madre, in the Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea, on Nov. 10.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 25, 2024
Philippines accuses Chinese vessels of blocking South China Sea supply mission, ramming its ship
The Philippines says Chinese vessels made "aggressive and dangerous" maneuvers including ramming the ship and using water cannons.
This screen shot from the Philippine Coast Guard video taken on Monday shows a Chinese air force fighter jet deploying flares near a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources plane that was flying near the Chinese-controlled, Philippine-claimed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 24, 2024
Philippines says China fired flares at its South China Sea plane
The unprovoked Chinese "harassment" included "deploying flares multiple times at a dangerously close distance of approximately 15 meters, Manila said.
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
Hypothermia in the land of the rising Sanae
Amid the election of Sanae Takaichi as Liberal Democratic Party president, and possibly the next prime minister, Japan's economy shows signs of recovery, but weak wages, a conservative corporate culture and currency issues raise doubts about a true economic thaw.
Number of scenarios now on the table for who might be Japan’s next prime minister
Newly-elected leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party Sanae Takaichi (right) celebrates with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after winning the LDP leadership election in Tokyo on October 4.
Could an opposition candidate become Japan's next prime minister?
The lawmaker that secures a majority of votes in the Lower House will become prime minister. If no one gets a majority, the two top contenders will enter a runoff in which the person with the highest number of votes gets elected.
Coalition talks could bring Takaichi closer to being PM
Nippon Ishin no Kai leader and Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura meets with Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo on Wednesday.
As temperatures drop in Japan, bear attacks shoot up to historic highs
Bear warning signs at the Akita Prefectural Government building
Sumo is about to hit London and the West with a force previously unseen
Preparations advance on Monday for the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Number of scenarios now on the table for who might be Japan’s next prime minister
Newly-elected leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party Sanae Takaichi (right) celebrates with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after winning the LDP leadership election in Tokyo on October 4.
Pace eyes great strides for Japan’s art market
Pace Japan Vice President Kyoko Hattori, the de facto head of the nation’s business, believes a larger, more lucrative art market will allow Japan to be more attractive for collectors.
A frenetic diplomatic schedule looms for Japan’s next leader — whomever that may be
As horse-trading and speculation surge over who will be elected the next prime minister in parliament — the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Sanae Takaichi or a possible candidate put forward by a unified opposition — Japan’s next leader will be confronted with a quick succession of key diplomatic events.
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.

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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