Japan
A new high: India–Japan defence links
An unexpected partnership was forged last week at India’s defence exhibition, DefExpo 2018, in Chennai.
For some time, India has been in negotiations with Japan to purchase more…
Japan, South Korea and the West’s tension with Russia
In the wake of the attempt on the life of Sergei Skripal, the ex-Russian spy, and his daughter Yulia in Britain, practically all Western countries joined to expel select Russian…
What next for the anti-whale hunters?
Japan’s whale hunters are expected home any day, carrying up to 300 minke whales killed in the Southern Ocean. A harpoon ship, Yushin Maru No. 2, quietly slipped into Shiogama…
Moritomo Gakuen: Shinzo Abe’s scandal that just won’t go away
Sunday 11 March marked the seventh anniversary of the Tohoku triple disaster, when a powerful earthquake off Japan’s Pacific coast and the subsequent tsunami devastated…
Moon versus Abe and the contest for America’s ear
A battle is underway between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in over their differing approaches to North Korea. They are competing to shape…
Asia’s escalating missile race
If the Cold War was one long arms race, the modern era could be accurately described as an arms jog. Countries are defined less by how many nuclear warheads they have,…
Australia–Japan defence deal: noteworthy, not newsworthy
Pity the news subeditor in summertime Australia. It’s January, the days are languid, and even the Trump administration can’t fill the entire World News section. Unsurprisingly,…
Japan: Shinzo Abe faces challenges across the board
As news outlets in Japan summed up the year that was and the year ahead, Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s most widely read (and notably pro-government) newspaper featured its top 10…
Japan: Shinzo Abe wrestles with constitutional change
Wednesday 29 November in Tokyo, and the morning's breaking news was not Kim Jong-Un firing another missile but that sumo grand champion Haruma Fuji had announced his…
The symbolic politics of the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute
In recent years, maritime disputes have become highly visible microcosms of broader contests in the Indo-Pacific region. While much attention has been paid to disputes in the…