NEWSWORTHY
Japan transport ministry to ease huge costs for retired SDF pilots hoping to move into airline jobs
The transport ministry said Tuesday it will revise a system that currently costs retired Self-Defense Force pilots millions of yen to secure their commercial pilot's instrument rating certification, amid predictions there will be a shortage of airline pilots by around 2030. The current system requires ...
The Air Self-Defense Force plans to put on display VIP cabins used by the Emperor and high officials from two government aircraft set to be decommissioned in March, one of which will be made available for public viewing at no extra cost, officials have ...
Air Self-Defense Force jets scrambled as Russian bombers and fighters skirt Japanese coasts
Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets were scrambled to intercept four nuclear-capable Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bombers and four Sukhoi Su-35S multirole fighter jets flying in two separate formations over the east and west coasts of Japan on Friday, the Defense Ministry said in a ...
Abe's attacks on local governments yields backlash against his push to revise pacifist Constitution
Prime Minister Abe’s dream of revising the Constitution gets harder after he claims 60 percent of Japan’s local governments are resisting Tokyo’s efforts to recruit new SDF members.
Three Japan MSDF officers suspended for role in driving ensign to suicide with power harassment
The Defense Ministry's Maritime Staff Office said Tuesday it has punished three Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel over the suicide of a serviceman last year. Following a probe into the matter, officials reached the conclusion that power harassment was involved in the suicide of an MSDF ...
The South Korean military on Wednesday accused Japan of clear provocations, alleging Japanese patrol planes deliberately flew at low altitudes recently near South Korean naval vessels, a claim immediately denied by Tokyo. Suh Wook, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's operational headquarters, said the ...
Japan to consider sending GSDF officers to non-U.N. peacekeeping force on Egypt-Israel border
The government said Tuesday it will consider sending Ground Self-Defense Force officers to the command of the Multinational Force and Observers, which operates in areas around the border between Egypt and Israel. If realized, this would mark the first dispatch of Japanese personnel for an ...
A 32-year-old woman who used to serve in the Air Self-Defense Force debuted last month as a geiko — another term used to refer to geisha — in Gifu, a city known for having a unique tradition of entertaining guests on riverboats with geisha ...
Japan ready to exchange radar records with South Korea over maritime lock-on incident
Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya on Tuesday showed readiness to exchange records with the South Korean military, with the aim of breaking the impasse over the Dec. 20 radar lock-on incident. "In order to deepen discussions with South Korea it would be possible for the two ...
Suga warns that ties with South Korea are in 'severe state' after forced labor rulings
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga's recent comment that ties with South Korea are in a "severe state" signals that simmering tensions between the neighbors and U.S. security allies could worsen. Tokyo and Seoul have sparred over rulings by South Korea's top court that two of ...
With new 777 on the way, time runs out on government's 747 for VIPs
The government's official aircraft for VIPs will be decommissioned at the end of March after carrying prime ministers and Imperial family members for a quarter of a century. The jet has also been used for international assistance and humanitarian support activities, traveling to 100 countries ...
