On May 4 in Canberra, PM Takaichi and PM Albanese signed five joint documents including the Economic Security Joint Declaration. Six critical mineral projects backed by $1.2B. How Japan's approach differs from the US IRA and EU CRMA, and what it means for global supply chains.
Tourist numbers up from 5,000 to 120,000 a year, sea ice at record lows, emperor penguins now Endangered. What ATCM48 in Hiroshima settled, and what it left unresolved.
On May 1, Japan's METI met infrastructure operators from the power and gas sectors, and Economy Minister Akazawa asked electricity companies to run emergency system inspections and report within a month. The order covers 24 critical-infrastructure operators in the power sector. The trigger was Anthropic's Claude Mythos Preview, announced April 7, which surfaced a 27-year-old bug chain in OpenBSD's TCP SACK code among others. The UK's AISI reached a more measured verdict. How Japan's penalty-free approach compares with CISA's OT principles and the EU's NIS2.
Two months into the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Japan took its first Russian crude cargo since the blockade began. Taiyo Oil bought Sakhalin-2 barrels on a spot contract at the request of Japan's energy agency, and the tanker reached Imabari on May 4. How the "Sakhalin exception" to the G7 and EU price cap works, how Germany, South Korea and India have played the same shock differently, and what it all reveals about Japan's structural exposure.
On May 2, Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi met Vietnam's new PM Le Minh Hung in Hanoi. Amid Middle East instability, Japan agreed to underwrite crude purchases for the Nghi Son refinery through NEXI, the first project under the Power Asia framework, and to work with Hanoi on rare earths and other critical minerals. In a speech at Vietnam National University, Takaichi set out three pillars for an evolved Free and Open Indo-Pacific: supply chains, shared rules, and security. How it differs from US friendshoring and the EU's Global Gateway.
After 62 days stranded in the Persian Gulf, Japan's VLCC Idemitsu Maru passed through the Strait of Hormuz on April 28, without paying Iran's transit toll. The story echoes the 1953 Nissho Maru incident that forged a unique bond between Japan and Iran.
Japan's MAFF and U.S. Wheat Associates held the first meeting under their Memorandum of Cooperation on April 22 to stabilize wheat supply. With only 15% self-sufficiency and 40% of imports from the US, this article unpacks the food diplomacy at stake amid climate and logistics risks.
Japan's government blocked Korean PE firm MBK Partners' $1.7 billion takeover of Makino Milling Machine, the first-ever stop order under the revised FEFTA since 2017. Why did a non-classified machine tool maker trigger national security alarms? We break down both sides of the overreach-versus-reasonable debate.
Japan's gasoline has hit record highs, dialysis tubing is running out, and bathtubs can't be shipped. With 95% of crude oil coming from the Middle East, pivoting to the world's largest oil producer, America, seems like a perfect Win-Win. But refinery design, tanker size, the Panama Canal bottleneck, and an ironic naphtha yield problem all stand in the way. Here's why the obvious solution isn't simple.
JISDA (Japan Integrated Security Design Agency) has launched the Shiraha, a wooden fixed-wing drone costing just 70,000 yen (about 440 USD). Built on three years of field research within 20 km of Ukraine's front line, it targets Japan's training-attrition gap. How it differs from AirKamuy's cardboard drone and why Japan's defense mindset is finally shifting.
On April 21, 2026, Japan's Takaichi cabinet revised the Three Principles on Defense Equipment Transfer, officially allowing exports of lethal weapons including warships and missiles. A deep dive into what Japan's 'pacifist nation' turning point actually means.