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

    Here’s Why a Strong Japan Is Key to Peace in East Asia

    At the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, all eyes were on the global powers. One of the headlines from the conference was a comment made by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Answering a question at the Munich Security Conference, the Chinese foreign minister warned Japan against what he called the ghosts of militarism. As…
    Matt Cookson
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    • Opinion

    A Japanese Lesson for Troubled Britain

    The contrast between America’s great island allies on opposite ends of the world couldn’t be more drastic. Japan has just given its commonsense conservative prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, a two-thirds supermajority in the national legislature’s Lower House; her Liberal Democratic Party took the highest proportion of seats of any party since World War II. It’s…
    Daniel McCarthy
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    • Opinion

    Japan’s Crash Is Our Canary in the Coal Mine

    On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stock index crashed 870 points, the biggest drop since October. The mainstream media predictably blamed President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs over Greenland, but they were wrong. Thanks to Bitcoin—which trades 24/7—we can actually go to the tape. It turns out Greenland barely made a dent. What caused…
    Peter St. Onge
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    • Opinion

    Beijing’s Aggressive Campaign Against Japan’s Iron Lady Backfires

    Communist China and Japan have been engaging in a serious diplomatic dispute over Taiwan for almost a month. While Japan strives to de-escalate tensions, China’s aggressive stance—particularly toward newly-elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi—only heightens concerns.  Takaichi made history as Japan’s first female prime minister in late October, drawing parallels to Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister. Both women emerged from working-class backgrounds to reach the zenith of political power. They are…
    Helen Raleigh
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    • News

    The New Japanese PM Gives US a Chance to Strengthen the Anti-China Alliance

    Last week, President Donald Trump concluded a trip to East Asia, meeting with several allies, including new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The Trump administration may have found a critical ally in the region. Policymakers in Washington, D.C., should welcome the ascension of Japan’s “Iron Lady” and assist her efforts to strengthen her country’s security….
    Matt Cookson
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    • News

    ‘Go Out and Buy Toyota’: Trump Announces Japan’s Major Investment in US Industry

    President Donald Trump announced that Toyota will invest billions to open auto plants across the country. “I was just told by the [Japanese] prime minister that Toyota is going to be putting auto plants all over the United States to the tune of $10 billion,” Trump said. “Go out and buy a Toyota.” Trump spoke…
    Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
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    • Opinion

    The US-Japan Trade Deal Provides Both Certainty and Clarification

    President Donald Trump announced last week that the U.S. has successfully negotiated a new trade deal with Japan, one of our greatest trading partners and allies.   This U.S.-Japan trade agreement promises to reshape the two countries’ economic relationship. It set the U.S. tariff on most Japanese imports at 15%, lower than the 25% that Trump…
    Helen Raleigh
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    • Opinion

    Japan Wisely Builds Up Military to Counter China, but It May Not Be Enough

    Japan is engaged in a significant military buildup by boosting domestic defense spending, refining its national security strategy, and strengthening multilateral security partnerships with its allies, chiefly the United States. The military buildup is designed to deter China’s increased aggression toward the Japanese mainland and islands. Japan is paying special attention to the defense of…
    Josef Milstein
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    • News

    Debt Colonization in Japan

    Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of the accompanying video from professor Peter St. Onge. Japan just fired its stunningly unpopular prime minister, Fumio Kishida, replacing him with a new guy who, in just a few short months, will be just as stunningly unpopular. Why? Because Japan has gone so far down the…
    Peter St. Onge
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    • Opinion

    Time to Forge Greater Private Sector Partnerships to Strengthen US-Japan-South Korea Cooperation

    The U.S. hosted a summit at Camp David with Japan and South Korea just over a year ago, so this is a timely opportunity to reflect on the strategic significance and imperative of making trilateral cooperation more pragmatic, especially in enhancing economic security and freedom partnerships. The summit on Aug. 18, 2023, paved a path…
    Anthony B. Kim
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    • Opinion

    Japan’s ‘Carry Trade’: Tokyo Breaks the World

    Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of the accompanying video from professor Peter St. Onge. Did Japan just break the world? The central bank clowns who make a living torturing Japan’s economy have spent three decades stepping on every banana peel in the zoo. It looks like they just hit a big one….
    Peter St. Onge
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    • Opinion

    Japan’s Population Implosion Is an Economic Time Bomb

    Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of the accompanying video from professor Peter St. Onge. Japan is running out of people. It will get worse—and we’re next. Last week, Japan’s government announced the country lost 861,000 people last year as the country’s fertility rate—the average number of babies a woman is expected to…
    Peter St. Onge
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    • Opinion

    Impending Japanese Sale of US Dollars Could Trigger Major US Economic Turmoil

    Editor’s note: The following is a lightly edited transcript of the accompanying video from professor Peter St. Onge. Japan is on the verge of a fire sale of hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. debt that could crash Treasury markets already teetering on the edge. Just another exciting day for de-dollarization as Japan’s collapse…
    Peter St. Onge
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    • News

    Biden Says Enhanced Military Alliance With Japan ‘Not Aimed’ at China

    Amid increasing suspicion of China’s aggression, the leaders of the United States and Japan are touting an “enhanced” security agreement.  “Our alliance we have with Japan is purely defensive in nature,” President Joe Biden said during a Rose Garden press conference Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. “It’s not aimed at any one nation…
    Fred Lucas
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    • Opinion

    Time for US, Japan to Make Case for Adding South Korea to Group of 7 Nations

    As the global economy faces growing, complex challenges on multiple fronts, the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations needs to be reinvigorated to remain credible and relevant. South Korea is a fitting pivot for the much-needed regeneration of the G-7. Recognizing that necessity, jointly advocating the expansion of the G-7 to the Group of Eight…
    Anthony B. Kim
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    • Opinion

    Killing of Former Prime Minister Shocks Japan, but Shinzo Abe’s Legacy Lives On

    Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot Friday at a campaign rally ahead of Japan’s elections Sunday for the upper house of its parliament. The event has shocked Japan, which has extremely tight gun control laws and one of the world’s lowest rates of gun violence. Abe, who was 67, was a towering…
    Bruce Klingner
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    • Opinion

    An Assassin Kills Japanese Leader Shinzo Abe. Here’s What You Need to Know.

    Shinzo Abe, a former prime minister of Japan, was slain Friday by an assassin at a campaign event. Abe, who was 67, served two stints as the Asian island nation’s leader, leaving office in 2020, and his legacy loomed large over Japan. The longest-serving Japanese leader’s killing sent shock waves throughout the country and across…
    Douglas Blair
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    • Opinion

    Japan Is Becoming Increasingly Valuable Partner in Resistance to China’s Authoritarian Advances

    As Communist China increases hostilities in the Indo-Pacific region, Japan is stepping up, not only with bold statements against China’s intimidation but with action—including military contingency planning with the U.S. and joint defense agreements with regional allies. Foreign policy successes aren’t always flashy. But several recent accomplishments in the Indo-Pacific region are collectively affirming a…
    Bruce Klingner
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    • Opinion

    3 Seas Initiative Gets Big Boost From Japan’s Strong Interest

    The Three Seas Initiative has scored another notable achievement in Tokyo, following the successful gathering of the sixth Three Seas Summit and Business Forum in Sofia, Bulgaria, earlier this month. During his visit to Japan last week for the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics, Polish President Andrzej Duda—one of the founding members of the…
    Anthony B. Kim
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    • Opinion

    G-7 Summit Cannot Overcome Strained South Korean-Japanese Relations

    The Biden administration’s efforts to use the G-7 summit meeting to soothe relations between South Korea and Japan were unsuccessful because of long-standing sensitive historic issues and sovereignty disputes between America’s Asian allies. Washington had encouraged a bilateral meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. South Korea’s foreign ministry…
    Bruce Klingner
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