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July 24, 2026
 

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Robert D. Eldridge
Chinese warships and fighter jets take part in a military display in the South China Sea in April 2018.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 26, 2026
The world should reject China¡¯s latest maritime power grab
The U.S. and international community must immediately reject that claim. Otherwise, Beijing will interpret the silence as tacit acceptance.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivers a policy speech before the country's parliament in Tokyo in February. The Japanese leader recently argued that requiring candidates to disclose prior citizenship would violate equality before the law.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 8, 2026
In trust¡¯s name, disclose candidates¡¯ prior citizenship
The issue is whether voters have the right to know the backgrounds of the people seeking to govern them. In any healthy democracy, the answer is yes.
Then-Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a policy speech during an ordinary session at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo in January. Sanae Takaichi¡¯s victory may result in fewer proportional seats in parliament, a shift that could hurt smaller parties.?Bloomberg
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 21, 2025
How the LDP-JIP coalition could hurt smaller parties
If the JIP¡¯s proposal goes through unchanged, it would mean a reduction of 46 seats from the proportional representation districts.
A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey aircraft flies over the island of Okinawa in March 2018.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 14, 2025
Precautionary Osprey landings signal safety, not alarm
Two precautionary V-22 Osprey landings in northern Honshu demonstrated the aircraft¡¯s safety and its role in enhancing Japan¡¯s rapid-deployment and island-defense capabilities.
Japan, despite facing multiple territorial disputes, lacks a dedicated university program on the issue, unlike Western countries, and would benefit from an interdisciplinary academic initiative to foster expertise.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 17, 2025
Japan needs academic programs focused on territorial issues
While many countries have territorial disputes with their neighbors ¡ª in fact, there are at least 150 active disputes worldwide ¡ª Japan faces issues with nearly all its neighbors.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira share a laugh ahead of talks in Tokyo in June 1979.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2024
Jimmy Carter¡¯s surprising connection to Japan: his Christian faith
The former U.S. president, who died Sunday, bonded with his counterpart, Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira, over their shared faith.
The U.S. decision to suspend the use of a firing range in the Senkakus has had lasting consequences, undermining Japan's claims to the islets and sending mixed signals about U.S. support for Japanese sovereignty over the area.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 10, 2024
A restart of Senkaku firing ranges is long overdue
The suspension also had strategic consequences, depriving both U.S. and Japanese forces of vital military training ranges.
The Osprey provides vertical takeoff and landing like a helicopter but is also capable of flying at high speeds over long distances when operating as a conventional plane.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 3, 2024
The Japan-U.S. alliance needs the versatile Osprey
In Japan, there has been an outsized and lingering concern about the aircraft¡¯s safety. That concern is, frankly, misplaced,
Self-Defense Force soldiers search for survivors after a landslide swept through a residential area in Asaminami Ward, in the city of Hiroshima, in August 2014. Despite the nation¡¯s numerous natural disasters, the government needs better contingency planning.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 28, 2024
Is Japan ready for the worst-case scenario?
Is the nation ready for massive disasters? Based on my studies of Japan¡¯s crisis management system, I say ¡°no¡± and unfortunately not.
Taiwanese soldiers train at a base in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Tuesday. The island has decided to extend compulsory military service for young males from four months to one year amid increasing threats from China.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 7, 2024
Taiwan extends military conscription, a system Japan might want to consider
As Japan struggles to fill its military ranks, compulsory national service might be its only solution.
U.S. President Richard Nixon in the Oval Office of the White House in June 1972
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 19, 2023
Nixon¡¯s 1953 trip to Okinawa and its lasting impact
Nixon¡¯s trip to Okinawa 70 years ago this month planted seeds for his agreeing to its reversion when he became the U.S. president.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 21, 2023
Memorializing those lost in the GSDF helicopter crash
All 10 SDF members on board a helicopter that crashed in the Miyako Island group are believed to have died in the crash.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2023
Disasters can be deadly, but the aftermaths can be deadlier
Largely forgotten, more people died in the days, weeks and months after the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes due to illness and depression than in the quakes themselves.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2023
The global community should recognize Taiwan ¡ª or else
Diplomatic acceptance by the global community of the self-ruled island of Taiwan may be the only way to deter Chinese aggression.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2022
Soviet air incursions and the birth of the ASDF
In light of the impact of military aerial incursions, it would not be an exaggeration to describe the Soviet Union as the father of the ASDF.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 20, 2022
Lessons for the LDP from Okinawa¡¯s gubernatorial election
The LDP had better get its house in order if it wants to even begin to reverse the trend of opposition-supported candidates winning office in Okinawa.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 15, 2022
Behind the Japanese government¡¯s purchase of the Senkaku Islands
Tokyo¡¯s attempts to not aggravate Beijing further over the Senkakus raises questions over how far it will go to defend its own territory.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 18, 2022
Pacific War hostilities didn¡¯t exactly end on Aug. 15, 1945
The Soviet Union, and thus Russia, permanently damaged Japan¡¯s trust with its actions in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 19, 2022
Fix structural problems now or face SOFA revision later
The bottom line, however, is that without transparency, accountability and trust, the U.S.-Japan alliance will not enjoy the full support of the public.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2021
Not everyone is sold on the new U.S. ambassador to Japan
Emanuel¡¯s appointment is worrisome for Japan, which desires the ambassadors sent to Tokyo to have influence and support in their home governments, something he does not seem to enjoy.
Japan scientists identify clusters of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer¡¯s disease
A team of researchers said they found a ¡°seed¡± that accelerates the amyloid beta accumulation process in the brain, naming it ¡°Peak 1 amyloid beta,¡± as seen in a mouse's brain.
Indian brothers make manga debut in Japan
Two Indian brothers made their manga debut in Japan with "Kung Fu Kung Fool" ¡ª an action-comedy series that follows the adventures of a notorious thief and a young boy.
Low-income families in Japan cut food and air conditioning during summer break
Yumiko Watanabe, the chairperson of nonprofit Kidsdoor, explains the results of a survey in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on July 1.
Iran strikes on CIA facilities prompt questions about possible Russian role
Iranian drones are displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on Jan. 13, 2025.U.S. officials have acknowledged that Russia has ?provided targeting ?and other support for Iran in its drone strikes on U.S. targets in the Persian Gulf region.
Intervention is the word after yen moves beyond ?163 and sits there
The government could prop up the yen at any moment, though its signaling is hard to read.
Can Japanese comedy get laughs in English? Yoshimoto Kogyo lets the jokes rip
Wes-P has millions of followers and his viral clips made him recognizable out of Japan.
The 180-day locals: Life on Japan¡¯s digital nomad visa
Christopher Flinn works remotely from Tokyo earlier this month. Japan issued 646 digital nomad visas in 2025, but tourism officials are hoping to increase that figure in the coming years, with Japan's relatively cheap cost of living and the weak yen seen as potential draws for young professionals.
Japan reveals hint of new defense spending target in fiscal blueprint
The Self-Defense Forces' Type 16 mobile combat vehicle fires during a joint live-fire drill with U.S. Marines as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercises in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on June 28.
Summer has arrived in Japan and so have hot sleepless nights
Amid the heat and humidity in Japan, a good night¡¯s sleep is growing increasingly elusive without the heavy use of air conditioning.
Maya Ongaku¡¯s DIY dream is getting bigger
The members of Maya Ongaku ¡ª (from left) Tsutomu Sonoda, Shoei Ikeda and Ryota Takano ¡ª grew up on the Shonan Coast south of Tokyo and have been friends since their school days.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

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