Japan News

The Daily Signal provides Japan news with coverage and conservative analysis of the critical U.S.-Japan alliance, military base agreements, defense spending increases, economic trade, and Tokyo’s vital role in containing Chinese aggression and maintaining Indo-Pacific stability.
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    • Opinion

    Biden Summit With Japan’s Suga to Address Asian Regional Security Challenges

    In the past month, the United States and Japan held a whirlwind of senior meetings, including a virtual summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India, aka “the Quad”) and bilateral meetings among senior officials for defense, foreign affairs, and national security. But despite the plethora of policy coordination conferences, President…
    Bruce Klingner
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    • Opinion

    Japanese-South Korean Relations Need to Improve. The US Can Help.

    Japanese–South Korean relations suffer from centuries of built-up animosity due to sensitive historical issues and sovereignty disputes. Cyclical spikes in tensions are triggered by incidents that unleash nationalist furor in both countries. However, a recent development provides a means to improve strained relations. On the 102nd anniversary of South Korea’s independence protest against Japanese occupation,…
    Bruce Klingner
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    • Opinion

    Japan’s New Prime Minister Faces Daunting Challenges

    Yoshihide Suga, the chief Cabinet secretary und former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was recently elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan and has become the new prime minister of Japan. Suga takes office following the sudden resignation of Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, who recently had a recurrence of health issues. Suga likely…
    Riley Walters
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    • Opinion

    In Choosing a New Prime Minister, Japan Should Elect a Champion for US Alliance

    Washington strongly supported Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s national security and foreign policies. Now that Abe will be resigning before the end of his term next September, the U.S. should counsel the next prime minister to maintain Abe’s track record. The announcement of Abe’s retirement came on Aug. 28, following two recent trips to the…
    Bruce Klingner
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    • Opinion

    Japan Dodged a COVID-19 Bullet … Or Did It?

    There has been far less international focus on Japan’s low-key response to COVID-19 than on South Korea’s extensive testing program. The latter strategy is now extolled as an international model for bending the curve, but with few early cases in Japan, media reports questioned how the country had done so well with such little effort….
    Bruce Klingner
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    • Opinion

    Japan Augments Alliance Capabilities, but More Needs to Be Done

    Since returning as prime minister of Japan in 2012, Shinzo Abe has fulfilled long-standing promises to develop new military capabilities and expand its security role in the region and globally. Abe has enacted an impressive list of national security initiatives and has overseen a moderate increase in the country’s defense budget. Japan took a step…
    Bruce Klingner
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    • Opinion

    South Korea Made the Right Call Staying in Intelligence Sharing Agreement With Japan

    For a while, it looked as though South Korea might abandon a critical military information sharing agreement with Japan. Its last-minute decision to remain in the agreement is welcome news. Established in 2016, the General Security of Military Information Agreement enables both South Korea and Japan to share military intelligence in partnership with the United…
    Bruce Klingner
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    • Opinion

    US-Japan Trade Agreement Would Help American Farmers

    There was some good news Wednesday on the agricultural trade front. The Office of the United States Trade Representative just announced several key provisions of the new U.S.-Japan agreement that would benefit U.S. agricultural producers and American consumers. If the agreement goes into effect (the agreement is not yet final), American farmers and ranchers will…
    Daren Bakst
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    • Opinion

    Japanese Upper House Election Puts Abe in a Strong Position

    Japan held elections over the weekend for 124 of the 245 seats in the upper house of Japan’s legislature, the House of Councilors, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s political party, the Liberal Democratic Party, maintained its majority and how holds 113 seats. Upper house elections in Japan are held every three years, which means Abe,…
    Aidan Berger
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    • Opinion

    Japan’s New Emperor Marks a New Era

    May 1 marks an important day in Japan’s history. On Wednesday, Japanese Emperor Akihito will abdicate the throne and cede it to his son, Crown Prince Naruhito. While the event is largely symbolic, it will usher in a new era for Japan. Japan, like most other countries in the world, uses the same Gregorian calendar…
    Riley Walters
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    • Opinion

    What Japan’s Election Outcome Means for the US, East Asia

    From a distant American viewpoint, the Japanese election on Sunday was much ado about nothing. The country’s leader remained in place, the dominant party remained in control, and there will be no shifts in Japan’s policies. The electorate chose continuation of the status quo rather than risk upsetting a positive economic growth trend or putting…
    Bruce Klingner
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    • Opinion

    US Falling Behind on Trade, While Japan and EU Thrive

    European Union and Japanese leaders recently met in Brussels to further negotiations for a free trade agreement. As the EU and Japan work together to boost their economic, political, and security ties, sentiments in the United States seem to be turning away from free trade in favor of protectionism. President Donald Trump has fueled anti-trade…
    Kelly Cousoulis
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    • Opinion

    Japanese Prime Minister’s Pearl Harbor Visit Will Further Reconciliation

    Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced he would travel to Pearl Harbor later this month, the first Japanese leader to do so. Abe commented he would accompany President Barack Obama to “pay tribute [and] comfort the souls” of those who died from both countries during World War II. He emphasized his intent to “send messages…
    Bruce Klingner
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    • Opinion

    US Security Benefits When Japan, South Korea Share Intelligence

    South Korea recently announced it would restart negotiations with Japan for a military and intelligence sharing agreement. Washington should encourage this growing security cooperation. Moon Sang-gyun, spokesman for South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, said Sept. 27 that North Korea’s “nuclear and missile threats are escalating by the day, so our security situation is becoming…
    Bruce Klingner
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    • Opinion

    Bank of Japan May Further Increase Asset Purchases This Month

    For almost a year and a half the Bank of Japan has been purchasing assets at around 7 trillion Yen (roughly $64 billion) a month, mostly in the form of Japanese government bonds, in an attempt to boost inflation and the economy. The Bank of Japan now respectively owns assets equivalent to over 77 percent…
    Riley Walters
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    • Opinion

    South Korea and Japan Resolve ‘Comfort Women’ Issue

    South Korea and Japan reached a landmark agreement Monday to settle long-standing divisive issues resulting from Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula. The most emotional and complex topic was that of women forced into sexual slavery, euphemistically known as “comfort women.” Japan had asserted that the issue, included compensation, had been settled during the 1965…
    Bruce Klingner
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    • Opinion

    Energy and Security in Japan

    In October, a delegation of researchers from The Heritage Foundation had the opportunity to travel to Japan for a week. It is clear from their time there that Japan has a keen interest in increasing its energy diversity and making sure that experts are knowledgeable about the security changes and challenges in the region. Through…
    Riley Walters
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    • Opinion

    Prime Minister Abe Atones for Japan’s Past Actions

    Prime Minister Shinzo Abe commemorated the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II by releasing a highly anticipated statement to make amends to Japan’s neighbors. Abe went further than many would predicted even recently in acknowledging Japan’s wartime actions. Most notably, he included several key phrases from statements by his predecessors, including aggression,…
    Bruce Klingner
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    • News

    Japanese and South Korean Ambassadors Identify Strategies to Combat North Korea’s Growing Power

    Through its continuous work to build, deploy and sell nuclear weapons and its general belligerence toward the rest of the region, North Korea is putting pressure on nearby democracies. Those democracies should put the pressure right back on the hermit kingdom by opposing its missile development and sales and exposing its appalling human rights record….
    Diana Stancy
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    • Opinion

    Japanese Pension Fund Hacked

    Following a trilateral defense meeting Saturday of the U.S., Australia, and Japan, the Japan Pension Service (JPS) was hacked. The personal information of over 1.2 million Japanese people was apparently stolen from the pension management system. Ninety percent of the information that was stolen was names, birthdates, and the Japanese equivalent of Social Security numbers….
    Riley Walters
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