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July 04, 2026
 

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SDF

At the time of the joint Chinese-Russian bomber exercise on Dec. 9, the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington was conducting drills with the Maritime Self-Defense Force in waters south of the Kanto region.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2025
China may have tested Japan and U.S. readiness in Pacific
The Liaoning and Chinese and Russian bombers turned back in the Pacific Ocean near the coasts of Shikoku and the Kii Peninsula.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Soryu submarine. According to the Defense Ministry, Kawasaki Heavy falsified data on the fuel efficiency of submarine engines it manufactured between 1988 and 2021 for the Maritime Self-Defense Force.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2025
Defense Ministry suspends KHI from bidding over data falsifications
Kawasaki Heavy falsified data on the fuel efficiency of submarine engines it manufactured between 1988 and 2021 for the Maritime Self-Defense Force, the Defense Ministry said.
Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighter jets tasked with operations against airspace violations
JAPAN / FOCUS
Dec 26, 2025
Amid China tensions, Japan’s defense budget tops ¥9 trillion for first time
The request includes ¥100 billion to build a drone “shield” to help defend the country’s southwestern periphery amid rising concerns over Chinese military moves in the area.
Keiji Minatoya, from Kitaakita, Akita Prefecture, reenacts the time he was attacked by a black bear in 2023. Japan’s recent battle with bears has revealed issues that will continue to present challenges for the Japanese government going forward.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 26, 2025
Japan’s growing bear crisis reveals deeper issues
Currently, there are only around 220,000 licensed hunters in Japan, substantially lower than the 532,265 registered in 1970.
The United States has informed Japan that it hopes to expand Marine Corps live-fire training at five Ground Self-Defense Force firing ranges to include the use of heavy weapons such as antitank missiles and rocket launchers.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2025
U.S. hoping to use heavy weapons in training at five GSDF sites
An official from the Defense Ministry said that it plans to allow the use of such weapons after obtaining the understanding of regional communities.
Hisashi Matsumoto, minister in charge of cybersecurity, holds a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 23, 2025
Japanese government adopts new cybersecurity strategy
The new system will enable the police, the Defense Ministry and the Self-Defense Forces to work together in neutralizing critical attacks.
According to the Defense Ministry, only 89.1% of SDF positions were staffed as of the end of March 2025, making recruitment an urgent task.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 23, 2025
Japan to overhaul SDF pay scale in fiscal 2027, a year earlier than scheduled
The pay structure revision, originally slated for fiscal 2028, will now align with plans to bring forward revisions to Japan’s three key national security-related documents.
A Chinese H6 nuclear-capable strategic bomber flies over the Miyako Strait on Dec. 9.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 23, 2025
China’s recklessness risks a security crisis with Japan
China’s normalization of reckless and bullying behavior presents major risks to peace and security.
A mock model of the upgraded Mogami-class frigate is displayed during the Defense Security Equipment International Japan exhibition in the city of Chiba in May.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 17, 2025
Japan has long had tough rules on arms exports. That may soon change.
Japan is likely to scrap long-standing limits on its exports of lethal arms next year — a move that will have lasting implications for the ostensibly pacifist country.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Aegis destroyer Chokai at its Sasebo base in Nagasaki Prefecture in January
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2025
U.S. approves aid for upgrading MSDF’s Aegis destroyers
The estimated total cost for the Japanese government is $100.2 million.
Japan has moved in a decade from pacifist protest to broad acceptance of stronger defense, driven by regional threats and doubts about U.S. protection.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 16, 2025
What’s left of Japan’s pacifism meets reality
Despite the ruling LDP’s struggles in recent years, it’s striking how little support has shifted to traditional left-leaning parties that oppose revising the pacifist Constitution.
Shigeru Iwasaki, then chief of staff of the Self-Defense Forces, in Tokyo in April 2013. Countermeasures against Iwasaki include visa restrictions, freezing his properties, and prohibiting any transactions or cooperation with him, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2025
China launches countermeasures against former Japan defense official
The largely symbolic sanctions appear to be a response to the official Shigeru Iwasaki’s appointment earlier this year as an adviser to Taiwan’s Cabinet.
Military radar towers on Yonaguni, the westernmost inhabited island of Japan.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2025
Japan builds up ‘missile archipelago’ near Taiwan to counter China
As tensions between China and Japan rise, the sparsely populated island of Yonaguni finds itself right on the front lines.
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier sails through the Miyako Strait near Okinawa on its way to the Pacific in April 2021.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2025
China aircraft carrier flotilla headed home, one week after Japan radar incident
Aircraft from the Liaoning carrier were involved in what Tokyo said was a “dangerous” incident that saw Chinese military jets lock their radar on Japanese fighters.
Two V-22 Ospreys operated by the U.S. Marine Corps at a naval base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, on Friday.
WORLD
Dec 13, 2025
V-22 Osprey accidents soared in last two years, watchdog says
The most sweeping audit to date of the $56 billion program found that the Osprey has the second most so-called catastrophic risks of any U.S. Navy aircraft.
Akita Gov. Kenta Suzuki speaks at a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 11, 2025
SDF played large role in bear control efforts, Akita governor says
While the troops were not involved in culling the bears, they helped transport traps and provided much-needed manpower to the aging prefecture.
A Chinese J-16 fighter jet flies next to a Tu-95 nuclear-capable bomber during a joint long-range patrol near Japan on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2025
Chinese and Russian bombers hold joint drill near Japan in ‘show of force’
Two Russian nuclear-capable bombers flew from the Sea of Japan toward the East China Sea to join two Chinese bombers for a “long-range joint flight” above the western Pacific.
The Japanese Defense Ministry reported that Chinese military aircraft from the carrier Liaoning intermittently targeted Japan Air Self-Defense Force fighters with radar over the Pacific near Okinawa on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 9, 2025
Japan-China hotline seen not functioning after radar incident
Beijing has continued military activities in waters near the site of the incident, making the stable operation of the hotline crucial to avoid accidental clashes.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara speaks about the Chinese military's radar lock-on of Air Self-Defense Force aircraft over the weekend, during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 8, 2025
Japan and China trade barbs over radar lock-on as row shows no signs of abating
The government’s top spokesman said it “will continue to respond calmly and resolutely” after the “dangerous” incident Saturday that Beijing has said was triggered by Tokyo.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks during a news conference with his Australian counterpart at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2025
Chinese fighters target SDF jets with radar lock-on as tensions surge
Beijing pinned the blame for the encounter on Tokyo, saying that SDF aircraft had repeatedly harassed a Chinese naval formation during training.
‘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 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.
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. 
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
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.
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

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