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July 05, 2026
 

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DEFENSE

A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2026
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
China’s Defense Ministry said the flight demonstrated the two countries’ “resolve and capability to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability.”
An Airbus Eurodrone remotely piloted aircraft system is displayed at the International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport near Paris in June last year.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2026
KHI and Airbus eye cooperation on Japanese variant of Eurodrone
Kawasaki Heavy Industries has signed a preliminary deal with Airbus to cooperate on a possible Japanese anti-submarine version of a European defense drone.
Soldiers from the Germany Army and the Navy take part in the Armed Forces Day at the Bundeswehr University in Munich on June 6.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 27, 2026
Germany could revive conscription by mid-2027, senior lawmaker says
Berlin is looking to revamp its army and has committed to increase its troop strength to at least 260,000 soldiers — up from the current 185,000 — by 2035.
An Iranian woman who lost two of her children in a February airstrike on a school in Minab walks near the school on May 21.
WORLD / FOCUS
Jun 27, 2026
An analyst’s missed remark surfaced in deadly Iran school strike probe
An analyst’s missed remarks and U.S. intelligence systems that weren’t connected to one another are among the missteps that led to an airstrike on an Iranian school.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said a bill enacted by parliament on Friday will allow his ministry to respond to the most severe and complex security environment of the postwar period.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 26, 2026
Japan enacts bill to add space operations into ASDF’s fold
The renaming of the ASDF by the end of fiscal 2026, will mark the first name change for any branch of the Self-Defense Forces since its establishment in 1954.
Chinese warships and fighter jets take part in a military display in the South China Sea in April 2018.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 26, 2026
The world should reject China’s latest maritime power grab
The U.S. and international community must immediately reject that claim. Otherwise, Beijing will interpret the silence as tacit acceptance.
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 26, 2026
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
The planned longer-term presence of a U.S. midrange missile system in Japan, combined with the fielding of other advanced weaponry, is complicating Chinese military planning.
U.S. Marines and Japanese and Australian soldiers prepare to take part in Exercise Southern Jackaroo in northeast Australia on May 29. The U.S. military's participation falls under the recently renamed U.S. Pacific Command.
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2026
Indo-Pacific name change unnerves many
Names reveal strategic priorities. Even if the area of responsibility has not been altered.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and Canadian Defence Minister David McGuinty in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2026
Canadian defense minister says he discussed GCAP fighter with Japanese counterpart
Canada’s potential interest comes as the ⁠program attracts attention from potential new partners and a rival European fighter project has collapsed.
A Self-Defense Forces member stands guard at the entrance of the Defense Ministry in Tokyo in April.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2026
Japan rejects Chinese claim SDF ‘harassed’ Chinese aircraft carrier group
The Defense Ministry in Tokyo said the accusations “are not true” and pledged to continue to “professionally and diligently” monitor the waters and airspace around Japan.
Nissan Motor's Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. U.S. defense firm Anduril Industries is in talks to acquire the plant to build military drones in Japan, sources say.
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2026
U.S. defense firm Anduril in talks for Nissan plant to build drones in Japan, sources say
While sources say no decision has been made, any deal could transform one of Japan’s first large-scale postwar car factories into ​a weapons hub.
Participants in Finland’s National Defense Course gain access to military facilities, information and demonstrations that few Finns ever see.
WORLD
Jun 25, 2026
Finland’s secretive training course prepares its elite for war
Participants attend classified briefings and visit strategic facilities as well as government sites normally closed to the public over a period of three to four weeks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, during a welcoming ceremony before talks at the Kremlin in Moscow in May 2025.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2026
Scarier than fiction: ‘The Wizard of the Kremlin’ comes to life
The objective is not to promote authoritarianism directly, but to corrode the trust that sustains democratic societies and international cooperation grounded in rule of law.
Senior Japan Innovation Party member Seiji Maehara speaks to reporters after his party submitted national security proposals to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2026
JIP takes sharper nuclear stance than LDP in security proposals
The junior coalition partner in the ruling bloc is pushing for a “realistic review” of allowing nukes into the country, while the LDP is looking to bolster extended deterrence.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un salutes the new Choe Hyon destroyer following its commissioning ceremony at Nampo port in North Korea on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 24, 2026
North Korea’s Kim unveils plans for new warships and nuclear-armed navy
Kim Jong Un has vowed to modernize his navy, but questions remain whether the investment will ultimately prove worthwhile for the strongman.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara speaks during a news conference on Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2026
Two Japanese held in China for allegedly smuggling export-restricted goods
The goods the two are alleged to have smuggled were rare-earth related products, media reports said.
This picture taken and released by Taiwan's Central News Agency on June 22 shows a row of armored military vehicles driving along the highway in Taoyuan, Taiwan.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2026
Taiwan says warning time for any China attack is shortening
The island’s military needs to test if it can respond immediately to ⁠a war breaking out, its defense minister says.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at a World War II memorial event in Okinawa on Tuesday
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2026
Takaichi heckled at WWII memorial in Okinawa
A small but vocal number of demonstrators shouted slogans throughout Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s speech at an event commemorating the 81st anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa.
Samples of rare earth luminescent materials displayed at an exhibition on China’s manufacturing achievements at the National Museum in Beijing in March
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 24, 2026
China’s mineral squeeze testing Japan’s military buildup
The restrictions are exposing vulnerabilities in Japan’s defense-industrial supply chains while also providing the clearest test yet of Tokyo’s push to bolster economic security.
Destroyed facilities of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works during the Russia-Ukraine war in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, in May 2022.
WORLD
Jun 24, 2026
Ukraine’s Azov fighters were forced from Mariupol. Now they’re hitting back.
The 2022 defeat turned Azov into a symbol of endurance in Ukraine — and paved the way for its return.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japanese police arrest nine over Sierra Leone-based special fraud
Japanese police have arrested nine individuals for their alleged involvement in a special fraud case using Sierra Leone as a base.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan's renewable goals.
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.

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

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