Tag - defense

 
Menu
Search
 
July 03, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

DEFENSE

Jiro Hamasumi (center), secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo, stands alongside the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday.
JAPAN
May 2, 2026
Hiroshima A-bomb survivor calls for abolition of ‘devil’s weapons’ at U.N.
Jiro Hamasumi, secretary-general of Japan’s leading group of atomic bomb survivors, was exposed to the bomb while still in his mother’s womb in Hiroshima.
Germany Chancellor Friedrich Merz (left), French President Emmanuel Macron (second left), British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (second right) and Italian leader Giorgia Meloni arrive for a news conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris on April 17.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
May 2, 2026
Trump’s attacks on Europe’s leaders worsen transatlantic frost
The latest U.S. broadsides, fired over disagreements about the Iran war, have raised fresh questions about the best way to handle a mercurial ally.
Soldiers give a briefing on the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon system in Australia's Northern Territory last July.
WORLD
May 2, 2026
U.S. seeks to deploy hypersonic missile for the first time against Iran
If the request, which has not been made public, is approved, it would also send a signal to strategic adversaries Russia and China.
U.S. Army soldiers take part in a combined military exercise at the U.S. military's Hohenfels Training Area in Hohenfels, Germany, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2026
U.S. withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany, U.S. officials say
The drawdown would bring U.S. troop levels in Europe back to roughly pre-2022 levels, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a buildup by then-President Joe Biden.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi departs on an official trip to Vietnam and Australia from Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Friday.
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2026
Golden Week security assignments for Takaichi’s Cabinet
Japan has strengthened ties with countries throughout the region through aggressive security diplomacy that has revitalized agreements.
U.S. military service members participate in a NATO exercise. U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated he is considering withdrawing troops from alliance member states amid friction over the Iran war.
WORLD
May 1, 2026
Trump says he’s open to reducing U.S. troops in Spain and Italy
Trump has repeatedly quarreled with European allies for not doing enough to pay for their own defense and support the U.S. war in Iran.
In a bipolar system dominated by America and China, Japan should navigate the rivalry by deepening its alliances, diversifying economic ties and maintaining flexible, practical diplomacy in Asia. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 30, 2026
Japan’s balancing act in an era of U.S.-China dominance
Tokyo’s move toward defense spending of 2% of GDP is not militarism. It is overdue burden-sharing within an alliance that is the foundation of regional deterrence.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump meet aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington during a visit to the U.S. Navy base at Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in October.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 30, 2026
Japan can help Asia learn to live without the U.S.
Tokyo will have to learn salesmanship quickly — because more is at stake than a few conglomerates’ profits. The entire region is learning to live with the U.S.
A Tomahawk Land Attack Missile is fired during Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 30, 2026
Pentagon’s $25 billion price tag for Iran war may miss key costs
Pentagon officials declined to give a more detailed breakdown of the costs when pressed for answers during a congressional hearing.
Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander U.S. Forces Korea, delivers remarks at a House Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington on Apr. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 30, 2026
A vision for the peninsula: Our interview with the head of the U.S. military in South Korea
A transcript of The Japan Times’ interview with U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson.
Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov (fourth from left) and Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin (fifth from left) clap as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during the opening ceremony of a memorial museum honoring North Korean troops killed while fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine, in Pyongyang on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 29, 2026
North Korea’s Ukraine war lessons reshaping calculus on Korean Peninsula
Pyongyang’s battlefield experience, ability to project force overseas and increasingly rapid weapons development cycles are worrying trends, the head of U.S. Forces Korea says.
A soldier from Ukraine’s Taifun unmanned aerial vehicle unit holds a new model Marsianin attack drone on April 7 in Kharkiv region, Ukraine.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 29, 2026
Japan’s Terra Drone expands investment in Ukraine drone sector
The Tokyo-based company looks to bring battlefield-tested technology back to Japan to tap into a multibillion-dollar defense budget for unmanned systems.
The Google logo during the CERAWeek energy conference 2026 in Houston, Texas, on March 24. A reported agreement between Google and the U.S. Department of Defense requires the tech giant to help adjust its AI safety settings and filters at the government's request.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 28, 2026
Google inks deal allowing Pentagon to use AI models for classified work
A reported agreement requires the tech giant to help adjust its AI safety settings and filters at the government’s request.
Taiwan is on alert after spotting two Chinese warships near its Penghu islands on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 28, 2026
Taiwan on alert after spotting two Chinese warships near its Penghu islands
China sends its warships ‌and warplanes ‌into the waters and skies around the island on an ​almost daily basis.
A ceremony is held at Misawa Air Base to mark the arrival of the first operational F-35A Lightning II to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s 3rd Air Wing in February 2018. The SDF is already one of the world's best equipped militaries.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 28, 2026
Japan’s constitutional theater: Revising Article 9 would be a mistake.
The distance between constitutional language and security practice is not a mistake that needs correcting.
U.S. Army Gen. Xavier Brunson (center), commander of U.S. Forces Korea, walks on a pontoon bridge with U.S. and South Korean Army soldiers during a U.S.-South Korea joint river-crossing exercise, part of the annual Freedom Shield joint military training, near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on March 14.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 28, 2026
Head of U.S. military in South Korea calls for ‘kill web’ linking Seoul, Tokyo and Manila
U.S. Army Gen. Xavier Brunson said the strategy seeks to fuse the strengths of Washington’s regional treaty allies into a single, networked system capable of coordinated actions.
Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Koo in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in July last year
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 27, 2026
Taiwan downplays impact of Chinese sanctions on European arms makers
China’s Commerce Ministry banned exports on Friday of dual-use ​items to the seven companies over arms sales to Taiwan, placing them on its export control list.
Taiwan-based Thunder Tiger Group's Papa Delta drone is displayed during a media tour in Taichung, Taiwan, on April 21.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 27, 2026
U.S. presses Taiwan parliament to pass ‘comprehensive’ defense budget
Taiwan’s government has said delays in passing the budget could mean Taiwan risks losing its place in the production and delivery queue for U.S. weapons.
Russian troops at a Victory Day military parade rehearsal in St. Petersburg last week. Russia's military spending rose 5.9% in 2025 to $190 billion, equivalent to 7.5% of GDP.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 27, 2026
Global military spending surges on insecurity, report finds
The three top spenders — the United States, China and Russia — spent a combined total of $1.48 trillion, just over half of global expenditure.
Commander of the Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment, Maj. Gen. Toshikatsu Musha, and commander of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Amphibious and Mine Warfare Force, Rear Adm. Ikeuchi Izuru, attend the opening ceremony of the U.S.-Philippines Balikatan joint military exercises, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, on April 20.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Apr 26, 2026
Beyond the hub-and-spoke: Japan quietly emerges as a secondary connector
Tokyo is positioning itself as a strategic hub for middle-power security diplomacy that reinforces the U.S.-led order while diversifying its own security partnerships.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Why is the yen so weak and what can Japan do about it?
Japan spent ¥11.7 trillion ($73 billion) between late April and late May to prop up the weak yen.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.

Podcast

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

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency
New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER