On April 9 and 23 of this year, that is, in two rounds, elections were held in Japan, which in the general electoral process of the country can be called “intermediate-local”. While the “main” element of it is the general parliamentary elections. These latter may be held at a certain interval or extraordinary. Because the Prime Minister of the country has the right to dissolve the lower house of parliament ahead of time and set a date for the election of a new parliament. As a matter of fact, the question of whether acting Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will exercise this right was perhaps the main intrigue of the just held elections. Usually, the head of the Japanese Cabinet resorts to such an opportunity…

This year Japan is hosting the annual meetings of the G7 group, which includes four leading Western European nations (Germany, the UK, France and Italy) plus the USA, Canada and Japan. This group, (sometimes incorrectly referred to as an “organization”) has been in place since the mid-1970s, and provides a forum in which the seven main nations of the so-called “collective West” (itself an increasingly meaningless term) attempt to develop a unified strategy in the face of current international challenges. For the USA, as the leader of the “collective West”…

Fumio Kishida, the current , was at the heart of a number of significant events that occurred over the course of a very brief (one-week) period in March of this year and had a significant impact on the Indo-Pacific region as a whole. Furthermore, the sheer fact that these events are happening makes it increasingly obvious that Japan’s…

The leaders of the "generalized West" have recently demonstrated their cavalier behavior, even with their own key allies. It is sufficient to refer to everything that surrounds one of the most significant terrorist attacks of this century, which occurred in the Baltic Sea. Against this backdrop, US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel...

In the period from February 8 to 12 this year, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of one of the country’s most prominent politicians of the second half of the last century (and also President) Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was on an official visit to Japan. What was the third event of regional significance in just one month to focus on the Philippines...

During Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's keynote speech on January 23, at the winter session of Japan's parliament, among the key internal and external problems confronting the country's government was the country's continuous birth rate decline (over the past few years), mentioned practically for the first time. However...

The NEO has already drawn attention to the increased activity on the international stage displayed on various occasions by members of the current Japanese cabinet, especially Prime Minister Fumio Kishida himself. This activity was reaffirmed by his week-long overseas trip, which began on January 9 of this year and included Italy, France, the United Kingdom...

On December 16, 2022, Japan’s Cabinet approved amendments to three key national security and defense documents. First, an increase in the military budget is envisaged.  The Japanese government has previously announced plans to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2027 (it is currently 1% of GDP). If Japan does so, its defense...

On December 16, Japan unveiled its new defence strategy aimed at giving a massive boost to the country’s defence and offence capability. This is arguably the largest defence upgrade that Japan has unveiled since the Second World War when it became a ‘pacifist’ state. As the new documents show, Japan is now shunning its ‘pacifism’ in favour of a more...

As previously reported in the NEO, a joint meeting of the leaders of the ruling parliamentary coalition (90% of which are members of the Liberal Democratic Party) on December 12 approved new draft versions of three documents concerning national security and military development in Japan. Of these, the basic document will be Japan’s second postwar National Security Strategy...

On December 12, Japan’s ruling party coalition, composed of 90% Liberal Democratic Party MPs plus 10% Komeito Party MPs, agreed on changes to the national security strategy that will form the basis of three government documents. Two of them, on general security issues as well as defense aspects, will be valid for the next 10 years...

A report published in late October (citing a certain “government source”) by one of Japan’s leading newspapers, Yomiuri Shimbun, that the country’s leadership had sent an inquiry to its counterparts in the United States regarding the possibility of purchasing Tomahawk cruise missiles from Raytheon, deserves attention and comment. Because in this case, it is not...