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July 10, 2026
 

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Jesse Johnson
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during the Reagan National Defense Forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2025
‘Free-riding’ U.S. allies that don’t step up ‘will face consequences,’ Hegseth warns
In an apparent jab at Japan, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington is “optimistic” that Indo-Pacific allies will ramp up defense spending “in a few years.”
U.S. President Donald Trump makes a speech aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier during his visit to the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Oct. 28.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 6, 2025
Trump strategy demands more of Japan as U.S. unveils ‘burden-sharing network’
The strategy, the first of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, reflects his longstanding view that the American system of alliances is “one-sided” in favor of allies.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, in Moscow on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 3, 2025
China unleashes diplomatic campaign to isolate Japan amid Taiwan row
Meetings with top Russian, British and French officials are seen as part of an attempt by Beijing to rally support for its cause as it continues to heap pressure on Tokyo.
Japan has reportedly held informal talks with the Philippines on the possible export of a Type-03 Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile system to Manila.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 1, 2025
Japan defense firms saw sales boom in ’24 as Tokyo eyes end of more export curbs
Sales by Japan’s top defense firms rose 40% year-on-year in 2024, new research has shown, as Tokyo looks to further ease rules on the export of lethal defense gear.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, meet in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Nov 25, 2025
In talks with Xi and Takaichi, Trump looks to strike a delicate balance
U.S. President Donald Trump held talks with the leaders of China and Japan just hours apart, as the American leader sought to balance ties with his top rival and key ally.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers reporters' questions about her phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 25, 2025
Takaichi holds first talks with Trump since start of row with China
Sanae Takaichi told reporters that U.S. leader Donald Trump had “explained the current state of U.S.-China relations,” including details of his talks with Xi Jinping.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (second from left) stands for a group photo with leaders including Chinese Premier Li Qiang (second from right) at the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 24, 2025
Japan-China divide widens as fears of long-lasting chill in ties grow
The cavernous gap was on full display over the weekend as any contact between Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Chinese Premier Li Qiang failed to materialize at a G20 summit.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the Lanting Forum in Beijing on Oct. 27.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 23, 2025
Top Chinese diplomat weighs in on Takaichi’s ‘shocking’ Taiwan remarks
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi became the country’s highest-ranking official to weigh in on the row over comments that Japan could intervene in a Taiwan crisis.
A sign reading, "Suspend the sales of all fish products imported from Japan" is displayed in an area home to Japanese restaurants in Beijing in August 2023. China will reimpose a ban on imports of Japanese seafood, media reports in Tokyo said Wednesday, as a diplomatic spat between the two countries deepens.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 19, 2025
China to reimpose ban on Japanese seafood imports amid row over Taiwan, reports say
China ratcheted up the pressure on Tokyo as a prolonged dispute with Beijing over the Japanese leader’s remarks on Taiwan appeared inevitable.
A Chinese tour group in the Ginza shopping district of Tokyo on Sunday. China has advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan, following a diplomatic feud sparked by remarks from Tokyo's new prime minister about a hypothetical attack on Taiwan.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2025
Japan sends senior official to China to cool boiling tensions
Masaaki Kanai, a top Foreign Ministry official, will be looking to explain that there has been no change in Japan’s existing position on the Taiwan issue.
Two Chinese tourists wearing kimonos take a selfie as they visit Sensoji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 16, 2025
Fears rise of rupture in Japan-China ties in wake of Taiwan remarks
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi broke years of precedent by hinting that Japan could offer military support for Taiwan under certain “worst-case” scenarios such as a Chinese attack.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (left) and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby attend a meeting at the Pentagon in Washington on July 21.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 16, 2025
Pentagon No. 3 praises Seoul’s defense budget hike as eyes turn to Tokyo
South Korea has become the first U.S. treaty ally outside of NATO to hike defense spending to 3.5% of GDP — a move expected to impact Japan’s own spending plans.
Chinese tourists wear kimonos as they visit Sensoji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 15, 2025
China warns citizens not to visit Japan as row over Taiwan heats up
Beijing’s first retaliatory move against Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan could have a significant impact on tourism.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during an Upper House Budget Committee session on Wednesday in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 12, 2025
Takaichi sidesteps commitment to decades-old nonnuclear principles
The prime minister refrained from saying her government would maintain Japan’s Three Non-Nuclear Principles, leaving the door open for a revision.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responds to questions during a House of Representatives Budget Committee session in parliament on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 11, 2025
Takaichi doesn’t mince words on Taiwan, but dramatic policy shift unlikely
The prime minister’s remarks illustrate the gradual evolution of Japan’s relationship with Taiwan and its growing concern over China.
People watch a TV news report on North Korea firing ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast, at the main railway station in Seoul on Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2025
North Korea fires ballistic missile into waters outside Japan’s EEZ
In brief remarks to reporters, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that the missile had likely landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens as South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back speaks during a joint news conference following talks at the Defense Ministry in Seoul on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 4, 2025
Hegseth says ‘flexibility’ needed for U.S. forces in South Korea
The U.S. defense secretary hinted that U.S. troops stationed in South Korea could be used in the event of a “regional contingency.”
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday. Takaichi said she is prepared to “act boldly” to create a breakthrough and resolve the abductions issue with North Korea “without ruling out any options.”
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 3, 2025
Takaichi says she told North Korea of desire for summit with Kim
The new Japanese leader’s remarks echo those of her predecessors and come as time runs out for families of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang decades ago.
Pressed on his claims that Russia and China have been testing their nuclear weapons, U.S. President Donald Trump said that a global monitoring system that employs state-of-the-art technology had somehow failed to detect the tests.
WORLD / FOCUS
Nov 3, 2025
Trump claims that China and Russia secretly conduct nuke tests
The U.S. leader alleged that the nation’s rivals “test way underground, where people don’t know exactly what’s happening.”
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping talk after a meeting at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 3, 2025
Trump says China’s Xi aware of ‘consequences’ of attacking Taiwan
The U.S. president also again claimed that Chinese leader Xi Jinping would not invade democratic Taiwan as long as Trump remains in office.
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.
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
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.
Wakatakakage injury casts pall over July meet, but potential new stars loom
Nicholas Tarasenko trains at Minato stable in August 2024.
Osaka trumps Tokyo as both ranked among world’s top 10 most livable cities
Osaka’s infrastructure earned higher marks than Tokyo’s in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest Global Liveability Index.
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.
Japanese nail salons are tourists’ new obsession
Tourists in Japan have always been interested in quintessentially Japanese approaches to modern culture, and, increasingly, visits to nail salons have become the new hot thing.

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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