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May 04, 2024
 

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SDF

An honor guard from the Self-Defense Forces prepares for a ceremony.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 17, 2024
Japan SDF to soften hairstyle rules as recruit shortage worsens
The Defense Ministry will allow recruits to have longer hair from April this year as it aims to attract young people.
Maritime Self-Defense Force officers engage in a training of emergency medical treatment in the Kunisaki transport vessel in September 2022.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2024
Japan Defense Ministry to make blood products fit for all types
The use of whole blood products will help save time checking blood type compatibility and provide speedier treatment to injured troops.
Taiwanese soldiers train at a base in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Tuesday. The island has decided to extend compulsory military service for young males from four months to one year amid increasing threats from China.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 7, 2024
Taiwan extends military conscription, a system Japan might want to consider
As Japan struggles to fill its military ranks, compulsory national service might be its only solution.
Ground Self-Defense Force troops participate in a joint military drill and demonstration with the U.S., British, Canadian, German and other countries' militaries in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, on Jan. 7.
COMMENTARY / Japan / EXPLAINER
Feb 5, 2024
The Rosetta Stone to decipher Japan's new security deals
Japan has already signed several agreements this year that, together with previous ones, form a dense web of security pacts — one worth untangling.
The U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Milius arrives at the American naval base in Yokosuka, Japan, in May 2018.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2024
China named as hypothetical enemy for first time in Japan-U.S. military exercise
The computer simulation exercise, which began on Feb. 1 and is slated to be held through Thursday, envisions an emergency in Taiwan.
The Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2024
China ships warn Japan SDF planes to leave airspace near Senkakus
The issuance of warnings may have been newly added to tasks of the China Coast Guard.
Members of the Self-Defense Forces engage in search operations in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 13.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2024
170,000 SDF members sent to Noto quake areas over one month
SDF personnel rescued about 1,000 people, according to the Defense Ministry.
An F/A-18 fighter jet takes off from the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier during a three-day maritime exercise between the U.S. and Japan in the Philippine Sea, between Okinawa and Taiwan, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2024
U.S. and Japan conduct joint naval drills
U.S. Rear Adm. Carlos Sardiello called the joint exercises "a great rehearsal opportunity for us."
Japanese troops take part in a joint military drill and demonstration conducted by the Ground Self-Defence Force with participants from the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany and others at Camp Narashino in the city of Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, on Jan. 7.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2024
Japan and Germany sign military supply-sharing pact
The agreement simplifies the process of sharing food, fuel and ammunition between the Self-Defense Forces and the German military.
A rendering of next-generation fighter jets under joint development by Japan, Britain and Italy
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 28, 2024
Japan and U.S. agree on AI research for drones to assist new fighter jet
Tokyo and Washington hope to use the technology in drones that would work in tandem with the Asian nation's next fighter jet.
The Defense Ministry has punished senior GSDF officials over the use of an official vehicle to visit Tokyo's war-linked Yasukuni Shrine, but said that since the trip was a private one and "based on their free will," it was not subject to any penalty.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 27, 2024
GSDF vice chief punished for using official car for Yasukuni visit
The ministry, however, said that the visit itself to the shrine was a private one and "based on their free will," and thus not subject to any penalty.
Unfortunately for Japan, the demographic cliff is approaching and the government will need more than minor course adjustments to fix its Self-Defense Forces' recruitment woes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 26, 2024
Cosmetic changes won’t fix the SDF’s recruitment problem
Facing demographic decline, Japan explores innovative solutions to boost recruitment in the Self-Defense Forces.
A Ground Self-Defense Force AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter fires ammunition during a live-fire exercise in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jan 25, 2024
Will drones replace helicopter pilots in the Self-Defense Forces?
Japan has already begun to make a major shift to transfer the functions of traditional defense aircraft to unmanned aerial vehicles.
Ground Self-Defense Force members remove snow on a section of the Meishin Expressway in Gifu Prefecture on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2024
Japan weather agency warns of more heavy snow
The warning comes a day after heavy snowfall caused nearly 800 vehicles to become stuck on the Meishin Expressway in Gifu Prefecture.
Runa Kurosawa, 20, a soldier with the Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, takes part in military training inside the Maritime Self-Defense Force's amphibious transport ship JS Osumi in waters near Okinawa Prefecture on Nov. 14.
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2024
The female marines Japan is training for war
The Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade — meant to lead assaults from the sea in a possible future war — has about 40 women in its 2,400 strong unit.
A person walks amid the snowy wreckage of collapsed homes and power lines in earthquake-hit Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 16, 2024
U.S. military to join relief effort in earthquake-hit Noto area
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said that the U.S. military and the SDF would be working “side by side” in the operations.
The Defense Ministry in Tokyo is one of the places newly added to the list of locations where the acquisition and use of land in nearby areas is subject to tighter regulations.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 15, 2024
Japan tightens land use rules near six U.S. military facilities
The law encourages scrutiny of land use near designated facilities and the regulation of activities there that could prevent interference of operations in the area.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese prior to their talks in San Francisco on Nov. 17, 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 15, 2024
Japan and Australia in talks on cooperation in military contingencies
With China in mind, Tokyo envisions establishing bilateral defense cooperation guidelines with Canberra to clarify their role-sharing, sources said.
Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2024
Vice GSDF chief visited Yasukuni Shrine with subordinates
The ministry is investigating the details as the visit may be a violation of an administrative vice minister directive issued in 1974.
A member of the Self-Defense Forces leads residents from Fukamimachi, a village isolated by the Jan. 1 earthquake, to safety in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 11, 2024
Ishikawa earthquake response sees growing opposition scrutiny
Criticisms of the number of SDF personnel deployed to the area and level of financial support for evacuees have grown louder among opposition parties.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

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