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June 30, 2026
 

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Jesse Johnson
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a military parade to commemorate the conclusion of a rare ruling party congress in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 26, 2026
North Korea could ‘get on well’ with U.S., Kim says, while spurning South Korea
The North Korean leader’s remarks suggest he may be open to a return to talks with Washington as he called Seoul’s “appeasement attitude” a “clumsy deceptive farce.”
Iranians walk through Tehran's Grand Bazaar on Tuesday. Tokyo on Wednesday called for the release of a Japanese national who it says was detained in Tehran on Jan. 20.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2026
Tokyo ‘strongly demands’ release of Japanese national held in Iran since Jan. 20
Details were not immediately clear, but media reports named the person as Shinnosuke Kawashima, Japanese public broadcaster NHK’s Tehran bureau chief.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi talks with Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi during in the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Feb. 18.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2026
Japan takes step closer to easing rules on export of lethal weapons
A panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday approved a proposal calling on the government to ease rules limiting defense equipment transfers.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks during a regular news conference Tuesday at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2026
Japan to deploy missiles to Yonaguni Island by fiscal 2030, defense chief says
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the timing for the deployment of the weapons could change depending on the progress of future facility improvements.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un applauds as he attends a ruling Workers' Party of Korea congress, where he was re-elected as general-secretary in Pyongyang on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 23, 2026
North Korea’s ruling party reelects Kim as general-secretary at rare congress
The congress cited leader Kim Jong Un’s achievements, including the county’s “radically improved” nuclear forces.
A member of the Chinese People's Liberation Army stands as the strategic strike group displays DF-5C nuclear-capable missiles during a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Beijing last September.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2026
U.S. and Japan discuss China’s ‘destabilizing’ nuclear buildup and testing
The allies’ Extended Deterrence Dialogue came amid growing tensions with China over Beijing’s push to expand and modernize its nuclear arsenal — an issue broached at the talks.
Ghost Robotics Vision 60 takes part in an annual New Year's military drill by the Ground Self-Defense Force's 1st Airborne Brigade at Narashino exercise field in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, on Jan. 11.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 22, 2026
With fresh mandate, Japan’s Takaichi sets sights on divisive security goals
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s election victory has empowered her to push forward with security and defense goals that, just a decade ago, would have been all but unattainable.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during the opening of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea congress in Pyongyang on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 20, 2026
North Korea says five-year goals met as it kicks off rare ruling party congress
Kim Jong Un said the North “successfully” carried out its goals set at the last congress “in all realms such as politics, the economy, national defense, culture and diplomacy.”
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters onboard Air Force One while traveling from Palm Beach, Florida, to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Monday night.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 17, 2026
Trump claims he’s ‘talking’ about Taiwan arms sales with China’s Xi
Any talks could run counter to key U.S. policy principles intended to reassure Taipei and Congress that state Washington will not consult with China on weapons deals with Taiwan.
The government’s top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, told a news conference Monday that it is necessary to update the country's "Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy" to better respond to "the changing times.”
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 16, 2026
Japan to strengthen Indo-Pacific strategy amid ‘new challenges’
Updates to the FOIP strategy will include sections focused on bolstering economic security and working on emerging technologies with “like-minded” partners.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during the Munich Security Conference in Munich on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 15, 2026
China’s top diplomat warns Japan of ‘ghosts of militarism’ in rebuke of Takaichi
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi poured cold water on calls by Tokyo to return to dialogue in the wake of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s general election victory last week.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks at the Munich Security Conference in Munich on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 14, 2026
With eye on China, Koizumi stresses importance of rules-based order
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi also pledged not to “shut down any channels” of communication as ties with China remain in a deep freeze.
A soldier speaks to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in Hsinchu, Taiwan, last July.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 11, 2026
Taiwan says defense budget delay jeopardizes collective deterrence against China
Officials in Taipei say a failure to pass the government’s nearly $40 billion defense budget would “seriously weaken” the island’s defense buildup.
The resounding victory by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's general election has sent a strong signal that Takaichi is likely to be around for some time, giving her the bandwidth to adhere to her strategy of putting the onus on Chinese President Xi Jinping to reengage with Japan.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 10, 2026
Landslide election victory lets Takaichi confront China on her terms
Undeterred by Beijing’s economic retaliation for Sanae Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks, voters endorsed the prime minister’s unyielding stance on China.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a ruling party Central Committee Politburo meeting in Pyongyang on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 8, 2026
North Korea to hold key party congress at end of February
Leader Kim Jong Un is expected to unveil his regime’s military and foreign policy goals for the next five years at the rare gathering.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a bilateral meeting in Tokyo on Oct. 28.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2026
Trump endorses Takaichi in Sunday’s election and announces March 19 summit
U.S. President Donald Trump has again broken with tradition, offering his “total endorsement” of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her ruling bloc.
People sit in front of a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at the main rail station in Seoul on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 27, 2026
North Korea fires off two missiles as rare ruling party congress looms
Both weapons splashed down in waters just off North Korea’s northeastern coast, outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who serves concurrently as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, delivers her first campaign speech for the Lower House election in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 27, 2026
Takaichi says Japan-U.S. alliance would ‘collapse’ if Tokyo ignored Taiwan crisis
The prime minister hinted that an attack during a joint military action to rescue Japanese nationals from the democratic island would prompt a response.
Zhang Youxia (center), then newly elected vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, swears an oath as he is flanked by CMC members He Weidong (left) and Li Shangfu after their election during a session of the National People's Congress at Beijing's Great Hall of the People in March 2023. Both He and Li were later removed from their posts and purged from the Communist Party, while Zhang has been placed under investigation.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jan 26, 2026
Downfall of top Chinese military officer raises questions about Xi and Taiwan
The true reasons behind the probe of Gen. Zhang Youxia may never be known — but the move has prompted a closer look at Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s aims.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to the media on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 7.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 25, 2026
U.S. defense strategy downplays China threat and says it will limit support for allies
The document, which guides the Pentagon’s policies, is expected to rattle nervous U.S. allies in Asia, including Japan.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
LGBTQ+ families are building lives Japanese lawmakers still struggle to see
Haru Ono founded Nijiiro Kazoku in 2010 after forming a same-sex stepfamily. She said the impetus for founding the organization was that she couldn’t find much reliable information out there for families such as hers in Japan.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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