# Japan
Latest news and articles about Japan
Total: 123 articles found
Middle East Escalation Sparks Asian Market Rout — Korea Triggers Circuit Breaker as Hedge Funds Rush to Reprice Risk
Asian markets plunged after drone attacks on U.S. diplomatic sites in the Middle East prompted fears of wider conflict and a U.S. military response. South Korea’s market experienced an abrupt sell-off that triggered circuit-breakers amid heavy foreign selling and rapid hedge-fund deleveraging, while Japan’s Nikkei also fell sharply.
Japan’s Quiet Pivot: LDP Move to Allow Lethal Arms Exports Raises Regional Alarm
Japan’s ruling party has approved a draft to broaden defence equipment exports to include combat-capable systems, a step that would revise decades of post‑war restraint. The change has provoked domestic protests and regional concern, and it could alter security dynamics in East Asia while raising questions about oversight and end‑use controls.
Beijing Urges World to Resist a 'New Japanese Militarism' as Tokyo Signals Security Overhaul
China’s defence ministry has criticised Japan’s moves to revise security doctrines and arms-export rules, calling them a resumption of dangerous nationalism and urging the world to resist a “new Japanese militarism.” Beijing framed its own actions as defensive while warning that Tokyo’s political shift could erode the post‑war order and raise regional tensions.
Beijing’s Calculated Response: Export Controls Target Japanese Defence Firms to Curb ‘Re‑militarisation’
China has placed 20 Japanese entities on an export‑control watchlist, citing concerns over Tokyo’s alleged re‑militarisation and potential nuclear ambitions. Beijing frames the move as a lawful, narrowly targeted effort to cut off dual‑use technologies that might enable offensive military capabilities, a step that could reverberate through regional security dynamics and supply chains.
Japan’s Push to Remilitarise Sparks Cross‑Society Alarm and Fears of Regional Escalation
Prominent Japanese figures convened in Tokyo to denounce Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s proposals to loosen arms‑export controls, revisit the Three Non‑Nuclear Principles and expand southwest deployments. Critics warn these policies could heighten regional tensions, damage Japan’s moral standing on wartime history, and impose domestic economic costs.
Takaichi’s Rebuff of Parliamentary Oversight Fuels Backlash Over Japan’s Push to Loosen Arms-Export Rules
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told a parliamentary committee that weapon export decisions do not require prior Diet approval, triggering domestic criticism as the ruling party moves to relax arms-export rules. The proposals would remove several export limits and let the government approve transfers in “special circumstances,” a shift that raises questions about democratic oversight, reputational risk and Japan’s postwar restraint. The dispute highlights a deeper tension between Tokyo’s desire for strategic flexibility and civil-society demands for transparent, parliamentary control over decisions with potential human and geopolitical costs.
Sweden Signals Interest in Japan–UK–Italy Next‑Gen Fighter, Weighs Domestic Path Versus Partnership by 2027
Sweden has expressed openness to joining the Japan–UK–Italy Global Combat Air Programme but will decide by 2027 whether to cooperate or develop a national fighter. The choice balances industrial survival and export opportunities for Saab against sovereign control, cost and political constraints tied to alliance integration.
Beijing Tightens the Screws: China Adds Dozens of Japanese Firms to Export-Control Lists to Curb Remilitarisation
Beijing has added 20 Japanese firms to an export-control list and placed 20 more on a watch list, targeting dual-use technologies it says would accelerate Japan's remilitarisation. The measures are presented as narrowly focused yet significant: they threaten to slow critical supply chains, raise compliance costs and deepen strategic contestation between China, Japan and their allies.
China Unveils Watchlist in Export Controls, Escalating Pressure on Japanese Military-Linked Firms
China has for the first time used a formal ‘watchlist’ to tighten export controls on 40 Japanese entities, combining outright bans for some firms with enhanced scrutiny for others. The measures, rooted in recent export‑control laws, target dual‑use items and aim to prevent technology transfers Beijing says could bolster Japanese military capabilities.
Takaichi’s Bold Start: Japan’s Lurch Right Risks Debt, Inflation and Social Strain
Sanae Takaichi’s elevation to prime minister follows a decisive LDP electoral victory and ushers in a policy mix of aggressive, debt‑funded fiscal expansion targeted at defence and high‑tech industries. Critics warn this approach risks worsening Japan’s already massive public debt burden, accelerating yen depreciation and stoking inflation and social division, while political scandals and intra‑party factionalism threaten the government’s stability.
New Year Tensions: Philippines’ Spratly Provocation Tests China as Washington and Tokyo Hold Back
Over Lunar New Year’s Eve the Philippines staged a high-profile maritime exercise near the Spratly Islands that China treated as a provocation, prompting a measured but forceful Chinese deployment and documentation of the incident. Washington and Tokyo remained conspicuously restrained, reflecting a cautious approach to balancing alliance reassurance with the risks of direct confrontation with Beijing.
After LDP Landslide, Singapore Issues Stark Warning on a Resurgent Japanese Militarism
Singapore has publicly criticized what it sees as the risk of a resurgent Japanese militarism after a commanding LDP election win, invoking wartime memories of the 1942 occupation. The response blends historical grievance with contemporary defence preparedness and sends a wider diplomatic signal about regional stability and the preservation of the postwar order.