Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae announced this week that her government will establish Japan’s first national security agency with an eye toward creating an external intelligence operation similar to the American CIA.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Japanese broadcaster NHK this week that the Chinese Communist Party’s refusal to support his country amid the ongoing invasion by Russia makes “a lot” of difference, even if China is only “a little” biased towards Russia, because of its outsized international influence.

The Kremlin on Tuesday refused a request from Japan to dismantle or modify a new World War 2 memorial in the city of Khabarovsk that some Japanese found offensive because it incorporates the 16-petal chrysanthemum crest from the Imperial Seal of Japan.

China’s state-run Global Times castigated Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae for refusing to kill a cockroach.

According to South Korean intelligence, North Korea responded to President Donald Trump’s peace overtures on Thursday by launching about a dozen short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) into the Sea of Japan just hours after Trump scaled back U.S.-South Korean military exercises and offered to talk with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

Southwestern Japan suffered an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 on Tuesday, causing at least 18 fatalities and 62 injuries.

A powerful earthquake registering at 6.8 magnitude — 7.0 in the most affected areas — devastated Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, on Tuesday, resulting in widespread fires, building damage, and, in one case, preceding an explosion tearing the facade off of a shopping mall.

USTR Jamieson Greer announced “tariffs on 60 economies for their failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition” on forced labor.

Japan’s national flag is now protected by the state and anyone who desecrates it can expect to feel the full force of the law, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced Friday as she pushes forward with her conservative agenda.

Super Typhoon Bavi intensified over the Pacific on Thursday and is bearing down on Taiwan and southern China, packing several feet of rain and winds of up to 124 miles per hour.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) reflected on America’s rise as a global superpower after World War II and said freedom, free market principles, and the people who defend them are central to what makes the nation great.

Several countries are celebrating what America means to the world on her highly anticipated 250th birthday.

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo held a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary on Friday evening local time, with Japanese Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro and Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko among the guests.

World Cup soccer matches have sparked armed clashes between fans in Lebanon, with at least six injuries reported on Monday evening.

A screaming Japan fan became an internet sensation on Monday when Brazil eliminated his country from the World Cup.

A Japanese World Cup fan visiting the United States struck a chord with Americans by appreciating something many citizens likely take for granted — complimentary baskets of chips and salsa served at Mexican restaurants in the U.S. “USA. A Mexican restaurant. We

Tamura Jotaro, CEO of Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), predicted that it will take “at least a couple of weeks, or if not a month” for shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to return to pre-war levels.

Japanese World Cup fans are earning high praise all around the world for staying after the game to help clean the stands.

Britain and Japan on Sunday sealed a sweeping economic and technological partnership, expected to generate over £18 billion ($24 billion) in investment, during a visit to London by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

A family vacation to Japan ended in tragedy Saturday when a volunteer search-and-rescue team found the body of an Auburn University student in a forested mountain region after he had gone missing for a week.

The Chinese Coast Guard said on Monday it is conducting “law enforcement” patrols east of Taiwan in response to Japan and the Philippines reaching an agreement on maritime boundaries.

China kept a low profile at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, sending only a group of academics instead of top military officials.

The foreign ministers of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a group commonly known as the Quad, joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday to announce new security and energy initiatives for the Indo-Pacific region to counter the growing influence of China.

President hailed shared “audacity” of the Anglo-Saxon people that drove the British to conquer the seas and Americans to conquer the moon.

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae on Monday inaugurated a panel to review Japan’s defense posture in a time of growing threats from China, North Korea, and Russia.

An earthquake hit Japan’s northeastern coast Monday and officials urged people to evacuate for higher ground amid tsunami warnings.

An American internet troll known as Johnny Somali has been sentenced to six months in a South Korean labor prison after a series of offensive stunts that included dancing on a memorial statue honoring World War II sex slaves.

Liberating the Strait of Hormuz is “unrealistic” because it would be time consuming and difficult, French President Emmanuel Macron said.

Japan’s first long-range missile was deployed at a southwestern army camp, officials said Tuesday.

The United States is in danger of becoming dependent on China for essential nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) gloves, prompting Blue Star NBR CEO Scott Maier to call on President Donald Trump to help give the critical industry a fighting chance to continue American production.

Restrictions on Japan’s coal-fired power plants were relaxed Friday as the Asian industrial giant seeks to ease an energy crunch caused by the Middle East war choking oil supplies.

Kai Smart, the son of Olympic skier John Smart, has died after being buried in an avalanche in Japan earlier this month.

British military officers are embedded with CENTCOM in preparation for a long-term Strait of Hormuz freedom of navigation mission.