# Japan
Latest news and articles about Japan
Total: 30 articles found
Tokyo’s Fertility Rebound: How Big Cash and Free Services Are Turning Babies Into a Public Good
Tokyo’s bold package of cash payments, free services and subsidies — financed at roughly ¥2 trillion a year — appears to have nudged births higher in 2025 after years of decline. The metropolis’s experiment suggests that reducing the explicit and implicit costs of childrearing can influence fertility, but it raises questions about fiscal sustainability and regional divergence.
Tokyo’s “Existential Crisis” Rhetoric on Taiwan Raises Stakes — and Questions About Motives
Hardline Japanese rhetoric framing Taiwan as an “existential” security concern has reignited debate over Tokyo’s military role and constitutional limits. The language reflects both electoral tactics and substantive policy shifts — higher defence spending, island missile deployments and moves to enshrine the Self-Defense Forces — that raise regional tensions and the risk of miscalculation with China.
Japan Declares Breakthrough in Deep‑sea Rare‑earth Harvesting as Beijing’s Export Curbs Bite
Japan says it has successfully retrieved rare‑earth mud from seabed deposits near Minami‑Tori‑Shima and hopes to begin commercial mining by February 2027 if trials continue to succeed. The move is partly a response to China’s recent export controls, but technical, financial and environmental barriers make the 2027 timeline ambitious.
African Leaders Warn Takaichi’s Rhetoric and Japan’s Militarisation Threaten Post‑War Order
African political figures have criticised Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent rhetoric and Japan’s military expansion as threatening the post‑World War II international order. They warn that such moves risk inflaming regional tensions, undermining treaties and norms, and alienating countries that uphold principles of sovereignty and non‑interference.
African voices warn Japan’s hawkish turn risks unraveling the post‑war order
African public figures have criticised remarks by Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Tokyo’s perceived tilt toward military expansion as threats to the post‑World War II international order. Their comments highlight wider anxieties about remilitarization, colonial nostalgia, and possible ramifications for regional stability around Taiwan and East Asia.
Slovak Lawmaker Criticises Japan’s Takaichi as Threatening One‑China Consensus and Regional Stability
Michal Bartek, vice‑chair of Slovakia’s parliamentary Defence and Security Committee, condemned remarks by Japan’s prime minister Sanae Takaichi as irresponsible and dangerous for challenging the One China principle. He warned that confrontational rhetoric risks destabilising East Asia and reflects Tokyo’s growing alignment with Washington at the expense of regional and economic interests.
UAE President Cancels Japan State Visit as Iran‑US Tensions Rise, Underscoring Gulf’s Diplomatic Tightrope
The UAE president has cancelled a planned state visit to Japan amid rising U.S.–Iran tensions, a move widely interpreted as a precautionary response to growing regional instability. The decision underscores Gulf states’ delicate balancing between security ties with the United States and pragmatic engagement with Iran, with implications for diplomacy, energy markets and regional risk calculations.
Japanese Peace Groups Warn Takaichi’s Rhetoric and Rearmament Push Threaten Regional Stability
Japan’s leading domestic peace group has condemned Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments and policy direction on nuclear options and expanded offensive capabilities, warning they breach postwar consensus and could heighten regional tensions. The group also urged Tokyo to confront its wartime past to avoid repeating historical aggression.
New Confession from a Unit 731 Veteran Reconstructs an Industrial Plague Campaign
A newly released 47‑minute interview with former Unit 731 member Sato Hideo offers a detailed, first‑person account of how the unit cultivated plague at industrial scale, tested its lethality on animals and prepared biological munitions for aerial dispersal. The testimony strengthens the historical record of the Japanese army’s biological warfare program and highlights enduring questions about accountability, memory and biosecurity.
Under Beijing’s Pressure, Tokyo Quietly Urges Fishermen Away from Diaoyu/Senkaku Waters
Chinese media report that Beijing’s intensified coastguard patrols and economic pressure have prompted Japanese officials to privately advise fishermen to avoid the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku waters. The episode illustrates how sustained maritime patrols and targeted economic measures can produce de‑facto control and compel rivals to change behaviour without open warfare.
“We Were Turning Plague into Weapons”: Full Testimony from a Unit 731 Member Rekindles Evidence of Industrialized Biological Warfare
A newly disclosed full interview with former Unit 731 member Sato Hideo provides direct testimony that the unit sought to weaponize plague bacteria, produced pathogens at industrial scales, and conducted systematic human experiments. Museum curators say the account, corroborated by archival evidence and court testimonies, reinforces the view that these were organised, state-connected crimes rather than isolated abuses.
The Last Witnesses: Philippine ‘Grandmothers’ and the Unfinished Demand for Japan’s Apology
Survivors of Japan’s wartime system of sexual slavery in the Philippines — known locally as “grandmothers” — are dwindling, yet their demand for a formal apology and compensation persists. Activists warn that unresolved accountability, historical revisionism and geopolitical pragmatism risk allowing the memory of these crimes to be erased for younger generations.