Tag - sdf

 
Menu
Search
 
July 11, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

SDF

Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Apr 21, 2019
Chinese Navy’s 70th anniversary celebrations: Mere muscle-flexing or something more?
China’s navy will mark its 70th anniversary this week with an array of events, including a massive international fleet review and parade — but is this merely military muscle-flexing or something more nuanced?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 15, 2019
Blazing the way forward in Japan-Australia security ties
RAA negotiations are an epoch-making template for Japan’s security relationships.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2019
Japan won’t consider revising F-35A procurement plans while cause of crash still not known
The Defense Ministry is not considering a revision to its plan to procure a total of 105 F-35A stealth fighters despite the crash Wednesday of one of the jets into the sea off Aomori Prefecture, Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2019
F-35A fighter jet crashed, Japan’s defense ministry says, as hunt for missing pilot continues
According to Air Self-Defense Force, the incident in waters off Aomori Prefecture is the first crash involving an F-35A fighter anywhere in the world.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 5, 2019
U.S. trains with ASDF in Western Pacific as area sees ramped-up military drills by China
B-52 bombers from Guam have trained with Air Self-Defense Force and Okinawa-based U.S. fighter jets in the Western Pacific, just days after China sent a total of six bombers and other aircraft through a key entryway into the Pacific for their own military exercises.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 31, 2019
Heisei’s legal legacies include greater civic participation
With Emperor Akihito abdicating on April 30, the Heisei Era that began Jan. 8, 1989, after his father’s death will also come to an end. With this column I’d like to look back at some of the noteworthy changes that occurred to Japan’s laws and legal institutions during the past three decades.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 26, 2019
GSDF launches new bases in Kagoshima and Okinawa for defense of Japan’s southwestern islands
The Ground Self-Defense Force launched new camps on Amami Oshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture and Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture on Tuesday, as part of its moves to enhance the defense of southwestern islands in the country.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2019
Japan plans to develop home-made long-range anti-ship missile to counter threat
The Defense Ministry plans to develop a domestically made long-range anti-ship missile, apparently in response to advanced, longer-range air-defense missiles now in service with the Chinese Navy, according to sources.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 13, 2019
Journalists get tour of Japan’s Izumo amid debate over equipping ship with aircraft carrier capabilities
Journalists on Wednesday were given a guided tour of the Izumo — Japan’s largest flat-topped helicopter carrier — for the first time since the Defense Ministry revealed a controversial plan late last year to convert it so that it could handle fixed-wing aircraft — which critics and some opposition...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2019
Japan to send MSDF destroyer to China for first time in seven years as Beijing marks naval anniversary
The destroyer will take part in an international fleet review to mark the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Chinese Navy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2019
SDF draws fire for recruitment poster featuring female anime characters in skimpy costumes
A Self-Defense Forces recruitment office in Shiga Prefecture has caused a stir by releasing a poster that features female anime characters wearing super-short skirts, which expose what appear to be underwear. Some people have described the image as a form of sexual harassment.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2019
VIP cabins used by the Imperial family and prime ministers on a decommissioned ASDF aircraft to go on display
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 said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2019
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 statement.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 15, 2019
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 14, 2019
Torn between airplanes and Japanese arts, former Air Self-Defense Force officer debuts as geisha in Gifu
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 performances and ukai cormorant fishing.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2019
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.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2018
Japan discloses footage of radar lock-on by South Korean warship
Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya says the footage proves that a South Korean military destroyer locked fire-control radar on an MSDF aircraft on Dec. 20.
EDITORIALS
Dec 19, 2018
Clarify intentions behind the new defense program
The planned upgrade would give the MSDF the capability to engage in missions that extend beyond the nation’s conventional defense posture.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 19, 2018
Are 105 more F-35s Japan’s best option?
The fighter can’t fulfill crucial operational requirements of the Air Self-Defense Force.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2018
Japan’s two Aegis Ashore anti-missile candidate sites run into local opposition
Located in northwestern Honshu on the Sea of Japan coast, Akita Prefecture has long been thought of in Tokyo and especially western Japan as remote — part of poet Matsuo Basho’s famed “The Narrow Road to the Deep North.”
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Trump says ‘Japan’ instead of Iran at meeting in Ankara
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference during a NATO leaders' summit in Ankara on Wednesday.
World’s first fully sealed vertical-farming facility opens in Tokyo
Fully sealed units are stacked on top of each other at Plantx's vertical-farming facility in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Wednesday.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.

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

Destination Restaurants 2026 award ceremony report
Destination Restaurants 2026 award ceremony report

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER