In Brief. Japan’s alliance with the United States is under strain as Donald Trump’s embrace of a ‘might makes right’ worldview raises doubts about the credibility of the US security guarantees that have underpinned Japan’s postwar strategy. Despite increasing defence spending, Tokyo appears resigned to dependence on Washington, even as this risks leaving Japan caught between a weakened US commitment and a worsening relationship with China. Japan, alongside Australia, should respond by coordinating more active regional diplomacy through ASEAN and trade frameworks like the CPTPP to preserve cooperation and avoid…
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In Brief. Japan’s February 2026 snap election reflects a political system increasingly shaped by tactical dissolutions rather than policy performance. While Takaichi’s high approval ratings explain their timing, frequent elections have entrenched perpetual campaigning, weakened democratic accountability and encouraged populist spending. Agendas like Sanaenomics risk failing if institutional instability continues to prevent sustained reform and long-term policy implementation. Japan’s general election has been called for 8 February 2026, just months after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office in October 2025. While Takaichi’s remarkably high cabinet approval ratings provide the tactical…
Eve Air Mobility, an Embraer subsidiary that develops electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, announced the sale of two vehicles to the Japanese company AirX, which operates in air transport and currently uses helicopters. The contract may be expanded, as it includes an option to purchase up to 50 units. With deliveries scheduled for 2029 and operations planned in Tokyo and Osaka as last-mile vehicles for tourist routes, the sale marks the company’s first in the Asia-Pacific region. Embraer and Eve are participating in the Singapore Airshow, one of…
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – Japan and other “middle powers” must work together for a nuclear-free world based on the rule of law, in order to promote peace and prosperity in East Asia and on the global stage. This is a commitment shared with the Holy See, says Koji Abe, the new Ambassador of Japan to the Holy See, who began his service in December 2025.A career diplomat since 1987, Abe has served in Canada, the United States, France, and in Madagascar and the Comoros (2022–2025). Below is the text…
The Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management director updated lawmakers, and outlined a “significant cleanup mission” planned for this summer. Rep. Nellie Jimmie, a Democrat from Toksook Bay, broke down in tears recounting her experience there the night ex-Typhoon Halong made landfall on the west coast of Alaska in October. “We didn’t sleep the whole night, and this was the first time I’ve ever felt so helpless, where I knew I couldn’t protect my own daughter,” she told fellow lawmakers at a joint hearing with the House Tribal…
While the elections mark a policy shift, many see that as just another spectacle. While the rise of social media and the resulting surge of populism are global trends, in Japan, this phenomenon takes on a unique and troubling form, as populist politics is intertwined with a silent democratic crisis of political apathy. Japanese culture has long valued the aesthetic of silence. We are a society that prides itself on 空気を読む, directly translated as “reading the air” or reticence and reserve, which is a form of high-context communication that prioritizes…
The cocaine market exploded between 2014 and 2023. Production in Colombia increased more than sevenfold to nearly 2,700 tonnes, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Behind the scenes, drug traffickers find equally illicit ways to pay their suppliers and foot soldiers, or to spend the proceeds of their criminal trade. Their solution? Money laundering. It is estimated that 25% of the funds collected is laundered. Criminals generally launder money in three stages: firstly, they inject it into the financial system; secondly, they layer it with…
Japan is spending five weeks mining the seafloor. It is a technological milestone — and a stress test for how nations balance geopolitics, clean energy demand, and environmental risk. The year 2010 was a reckoning for Japan’s economic security. On September 7, the Chinese fishing trawler Minjinyu 5179 refused an order by Japan’s coast guard to leave disputed waters near the Senkaku Islands, which are known in China as Diaoyu. The vessel then rammed two patrol boats, escalating a decades-long territorial feud. apan responded by arresting the captain, Zhan Qixiong,…