Japans

Japan is setting up its first centralised intelligence agency since World War II to try to modernise its defence capabilities against spies, foreign interference and other attacks from foreign adversaries.

Legislation to establish the new agency passed the upper house of Japan’s National Diet in May, a month after it cleared the lower house.

After decades of relying on US intelligence support and after a pacifist stance was enshrined in the Japanese Constitution, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described this law as “a first step” towards strengthening the country’s espionage capabilities.

What is this new agency?

The legislation creates two bodies: a National Intelligence Council that will act as the government’s command centre for intelligence gathering and analysis and an agency for operations. The reform changes the existing Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office (CIRO) into a centralised National Intelligence Council and National Intelligence Bureau.

Takaichi isn’t exactly building the US Central Intelligence Agency, but The New York Times reported Western allies, including the United States, Germany and Australia, are advising the Japanese government on establishing the new spy agency.

Ken Kotani, professor at Nihon University, said he believes Japan’s new National Intelligence Council and national intelligence agency model will be original to Japan.

Sanshiro Hosaka, a research fellow at the Estonia-based International Centre for Defence and Security, said the reform is aimed at improving the Japanese government’s intelligence abilities “by strengthening coordination, reducing interagency barriers and ensuring that intelligence products better meet policymakers’ requirements”.

Why does Japan want it now?

Tokyo says it is facing threats from a number of nearby countries such as North Korea, Russia and China, and a national intelligence agency is needed to counter their efforts.

Kotani explained that Japan’s foreign and national security policy followed the US during the Cold War period. But he noted that “recently Japan has gradually pursued her own policy, especially in the Trump administration period.”

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused Washington’s allies of not spending enough on their own defence and on relying on American help. He has questioned US alliances and has been ambivalent about whether the world’s most powerful military would come to the defence of smaller nations.

That, Kotani said, is why “Japan needs to collect intelligence by herself.”

Japan currently lacks an antiespionage law that would make it relatively easy for foreign intelligence activities to go unpunished.

Hosaka explained that former Russian intelligence officers who operated in Japan, such as Stanislav Levchenko and Konstantin Preobrazhensky, described Japan as a paradise for spies: “During the Cold War, Soviet intelligence targeted Japanese technologies, industrial and commercial information as well as the US bases in Japan,” Hosaka explained. “As a major US ally in Asia and an advanced technological economy, Japan remains an important intelligence target for China, Russia, North Korea and others.”

Hosaka said what Japan needs “is a foreign-influence transparency law to increase the transparency of foreign actors’ lobbying activities as well as to deter illegal foreign interference. And an antiespionage law to conduct undercover operations and investigations using assumed identities.”

Why the current system isn’t working:

A major obstacle within Japan’s current decentralised structure, experts said, is that no one has the authority to force cooperation from other agencies or bodies or prevent intelligence data from being scattered.

Kotani explained that the political power of Japan’s current intelligence agency has been weak: “This was because the CIRO was not given any legal mandates on intelligence when it was established in 1952.”

Another difficulty is that under current Japanese laws, foreign representatives suspected of potential intelligence affiliations or interference are difficult to intercept because legal grounds are weak for Japanese authorities to intercept their communications or prosecute them.

The ambitions of PM Takaichi

Takaichi took office in October and has accelerated the expansion of Japan’s military and security ambitions through a number of measures, including establishing a central intelligence body.

In December, the cabinet approved its largest defence budget ever at $58bn as the Ministry of Defence said it needed to accelerate its “transformation” and would use more than $600m for building a so-called drone and laser shield to protect its southwestern region.

In April, Takaichi’s cabinet moved closer to abolishing a longstanding ban on the export of lethal weapons, such as tanks and warships.

The new direction led to antiwar protests in the streets of Japan in May. However, a Jiji opinion poll in April showed only 19 percent were opposed to the new bill to reform intelligence within the country. About 40 percent were indifferent, and the rest were in favour.

Kotani said he has noticed a lot of the old “taboo has gone” around this subject and it is no longer a topic of concern to many Japanese, He said: “Especially younger generations are not interested in such an old story.”

Why surveillance is controversial in Japan

Japan’s defeat in World War II left its citizens with distrust towards state surveillance as the wartime Special Higher Police, known as the Tokko, monitored, arrested and tortured citizens for their political beliefs.

Article 9 in its constitution, drafted in 1947 shortly after the end of the war, renounced war, and Japan has never had its own foreign intelligence service. Instead, it relied on the US.

The efforts for a new security agency have sparked some domestic criticism, but Hosaka said the latest reforms do not amount to a return to the kind of espionage apparatus that could be used against Japanese civilians.

“The legislation does not itself create significant new intelligence collection or counterintelligence powers,” Hosaka said.

Tokyo, Japan – While walking his toy poodle in the park near his home in Ikeda, Gifu Prefecture, Shin Ohta had an idea.

“My dog often stops walking during our strolls. I would carry him every time, but his weight of nearly 5kg [11lbs] started to become a real burden,” Ohta told Al Jazeera.

“I knew there had to be a better way.

Ohta works in sales for Japan’s oldest baby carrier manufacturer, Lucky Industries, which has produced more than 40 million baby carriers since its founding in 1934.

He has spent his career making baby carriers, but after that walk, he wondered if the same expertise could be applied to pets.

After consulting a veterinarian to ensure the design was viable for dogs, Ohta helped Lucky Industries launch its first line of dog hip carriers in 2022: Nu-i.

Earlier this year, the company joined dozens of other brands at Tokyo’s annual Interpets conference, a showcase of Japan’s rapidly growing pet care market.

During the first weekend of April, stalls lined the walls of the Big Sight convention centre, selling everything from walk-in pet dryers to the latest organic cat treats.

Few of the pet owners attending the event had their four-legged friend on a leash, instead ferrying them to and fro in well-decorated pet strollers, or the doggy equivalent of baby slings.

Many pets were decked out in colourful outfits, fur clips, and diapers.

Pets in Japan now outnumber children under 15 by more than 2 million.

According to market intelligence company Euromonitor, the country’s pet care market was worth 880 billion yen ($5.4bn) in 2025, up from 689.6 billion yen ($4.2bn) in 2020.

As Japan’s birthrate continues to fall and the population of children shrinks, companies that once built their businesses on babies, selling nappies, slings, and strollers, are increasingly turning their attention to pets.

Betting on pets at the Interpets conference, Unicharm’s expansive stall was lined with dog and cat nappies from its latest “Mannerware’” line.

The Tokyo-based company has been one of the great cross-market successes of the pet care boom.

After making its name selling feminine hygiene products and disposable diapers, Unicharm expanded into pet diapers in 2001.

Since then, pet care products have become one of the company’s main growth engines.

While the personal care market for people is larger, the pet care sector has higher profit margins.

According to Unicharm’s financial results for 2025, the company’s pet care division had a profit margin of 15.4 percent that year, compared with personal care’s margin of 10.7 percent.

Isshu Uehara, a Unicharm spokesperson, said that as of 2025, the pet care business accounted for 17 percent of the company’s total sales, with plans to increase that share to 20 percent by 2030.

“Japan’s birthrate is declining,” Uehara told Al Jazeera.

“Lifestyle changes, such as remaining single, marrying late, and the growth of childless, dual-income households, have led to a greater number of people seeking emotional connections through pets.

“As a result, we’re seeing the growth of ‘pet humanisation’, or treating pets like family members or children rather than just animals.

“Customers want to buy premium products to extend pets’ lifetimes, and share experiences with them, like dining together or going out to cafes and friends’ houses,” Uehara added.

Unicharm is not alone.

Across Japan, stroller brands like AirBuggy and clothing companies like Sweet Mommy have made similar leaps, applying expertise built around infants to a growing market of pet owners.

Lucky Industries CEO Hiroyuki Higuchi pointed to the company’s origins to explain the shift towards pets.

“When the company started, Japanese families had many children, and mothers needed carriers to be able to work around the house,” Higuchi told Al Jazeera.

But now, Japanese families are shrinking. While there has been a rise in single-person households and childless dual-income households, families with only one child have become more common as well.

A national survey of fertility trends found that between 2002 and 2021, the proportion of households with only one child increased from 10 percent to nearly 20 percent.

“With fewer babies around, it has been harder to come up with new ideas for baby products,” Ohta said.

“Now, my life is centred around my dogs, as are the lives of many of my friends. When we meet up, we talk about our pets.”

“Compared to the baby goods market, the pet sector is doing better,” said Higuchi.

“Companies see it as a reliable sector… In Japan, dogs are seen as babies, as part of the family. Just like many Japanese carry their babies in slings or carriers, so can dog owners,” Higuchi added.

Barbara Holthus, a sociologist and director of the German Institute of Japan Studies, said pet humanisation has been a growing trend in recent years.

“Before, a dog or cat might have just been an additional family member, but with fewer other family members and fewer children in the house, the focus becomes very concentrated on this animal,” Holthus told Al Jazeera.

“But it’s more diverse than just replacing children. Animals take on many different roles,” Holthus added. “A pet can also replace a partner. After a divorce, people sometimes get pets.

After someone gets widowed, they get a pet. Sometimes, a pet is seen as a play partner for an only child.”

Holthus sees Japan as a prime example of changing family structures, including the emergence of the “multi-species family”.

Holthus said decreasing birth rates, as well as factors such as loneliness and rising urbanisation, help explain why the trend of humanising pets has been particularly pronounced in Japan.

As for why infant brands are turning to pets, Holthus offered a simple explanation.

“It’s understandable,” she said.

“Of course, companies want to make money, and due to demographic change, their market is getting lost.”

July 10 (UPI) — South Korea’s HD Hyundai Marine Solution said Friday that the company has teamed up with Japan’s Weathernews to commercialize an AI-powered shipping route optimization solution.

The former is the marine after-sales and digital solutions unit of shipbuilding giant HD Hyundai Group, while the latter is a leading provider of specialized weather intelligence to businesses and other consumers.

Recent pilot projects in South Korea showed that the integrated AI solution incorporating Weathernews’ meteorological data can reduce fuel consumption by at least 3%, according to HD Hyundai Marine.

The corporation noted that the new solution can be immediately deployed on vessels already using either company’s existing services without requiring additional hardware or software.

The two partners plan to gradually roll out the AI-based solution to about 8,000 vessels currently using their services. In addition, they agreed to pursue a range of collaborative initiatives, including jointly marketing the solution to global clients.

“This agreement is significant because it transforms our collaboration into a viable commercial business model,” HD Hyundai Marine CEO Kim Sung-joon said in a statement.

“We will deliver the best solution available to help shipowners achieve two key objectives of reducing fuel costs and complying with increasingly stringent environmental regulations,” he added.

The share price of HD Hyundai Marine jumped 4.17% on the Seoul bourse on Friday while the benchmark KOSPI rose 2.52%. That of Weathernews fell 4.26% on the Japanese stock market.

Japan’s ispace is expanding its role in the commercial lunar economy after two unsuccessful moon landing attempts in 2023 and 2025. The company is developing its next-generation Ultra lunar landers, including a mission under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme, as competition intensifies in the race to build sustainable infrastructure for future lunar exploration.

Ispace partners with SpaceX for shared lunar transport

Japanese lunar transport company ispace said on Wednesday it would launch a new lower-cost lunar cargo business using SpaceX’s Starship rocket and lunar landing system, marking a significant expansion of its commercial Moon ambitions.

Tokyo-based ispace has purchased 500 kilograms (1,102 pounds) of payload capacity aboard a future Starship mission expected to land on the Moon as early as 2030. The agreement, valued at $50 million, will allow the company to transport customer payloads through a shared-ride service while developing a lunar surface vehicle capable of carrying cargo from multiple clients.

The company described the new offering as a “lunar access integrator” service, providing a cost-effective way for governments, research organisations and commercial customers to send equipment to the Moon without requiring dedicated spacecraft.

Shared rides aim to cut lunar mission costs

Hideari Kamiya, ispace’s executive vice president, said the service would complement the company’s ongoing development of dedicated lunar landers described as “taxis” by functioning more like a shared transportation “bus” for lunar cargo.

The partnership expands an existing relationship between the two companies. ispace previously relied on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets for its lunar missions in 2023 and 2025, although both attempts ended unsuccessfully before achieving a soft landing.

Ispace continues long-term Moon ambitions

Despite those setbacks, ispace continues to pursue its long-term lunar programme and plans to land three next-generation Ultra landers by 2030, including one mission under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.

Chief Executive Takeshi Hakamada said working with Starship would “exponentially” accelerate the company’s growth in the emerging lunar infrastructure market while allowing it to continue developing its own landing technology.

SpaceX expands commercial lunar partnerships

SpaceX welcomed the expanded partnership, saying Starship’s reusable design could significantly improve access to the Moon for commercial customers.

Stephanie Bednarek, SpaceX’s vice president of commercial sales, said ispace’s integration services would provide an important pathway for smaller payloads seeking affordable lunar transportation.

Although the agreement is not exclusive, NASA plans to use Starship for its first crewed lunar landing under the Artemis programme in 2028, while U.S.-based lunar rover developer Astrolab has also reserved space on future Starship missions.

Hakamada said SpaceX initially approached ispace with the idea of creating a shared lunar cargo integration business, adding that while competitors may eventually enter the market, few companies currently possess both the transportation expertise and the capability to continue supporting payloads after landing on the Moon.

Future outlook

The partnership reflects the rapid commercialisation of lunar exploration, with companies increasingly seeking lower-cost and more flexible ways to reach the Moon. If Starship enters operational lunar service on schedule, ispace could establish itself as a key provider of shared lunar logistics, expanding opportunities for governments, research institutions and private companies. However, the project’s success will depend on Starship meeting its development milestones and sustaining a reliable launch cadence, making the coming years critical for both companies’ ambitions in the emerging lunar economy.

With information from Reuters.

July 3 (Asia Today) — Japan has become an increasingly affordable destination for foreign visitors, but the weaker yen has sharply reduced the ability of Japanese households and businesses to buy goods and services from abroad.

The yen’s real effective exchange rate, a broad measure of its inflation-adjusted value against the currencies of Japan’s trading partners, fell to 65.93 in May, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported Friday.

That was less than half the 141.77 recorded in December 1986, when the nominal dollar-yen exchange rate was near levels recently seen in foreign-exchange markets.

The comparison indicates that even when the dollar-yen rate appears similar to its level 40 years ago, the yen’s actual external purchasing power is substantially weaker.

The real effective exchange rate is not based on the yen’s value against one currency, such as the U.S. dollar.

The index combines exchange rates with multiple trading partners, gives each currency a weight based largely on trade and adjusts for differences in inflation. The Bank for International Settlements and the Bank of Japan publish the data with 2020 set at 100.

A lower figure indicates that the yen has weakened after inflation and trade relationships are taken into account.

The Yomiuri illustrated the difference using the price of a pizza.

Even when the nominal exchange rate is similar to the rate in the 1980s, prices in the United States have risen much more than prices in Japan over the past four decades. A Japanese consumer carrying the same amount of yen can therefore buy far less in the United States today.

The distinction helps explain why the current period of yen weakness differs from the weak-yen environment of the 1980s.

Japan’s long period of low inflation contributed to the decline.

After the collapse of the country’s asset-price bubble, consumer prices and wages remained stagnant for much of the period beginning in the 1990s. Prices continued to increase in the United States, Europe and many other economies.

The Bank of Japan’s large-scale monetary easing, introduced in 2013 to end deflation, also placed downward pressure on the yen’s nominal value.

The combination of low domestic inflation and nominal depreciation accelerated the decline in the currency’s real effective value.

Cheap Japan, expensive world

The weak yen has made hotels, restaurants, clothing and consumer products in Japan appear less expensive to South Korean travelers and other foreign visitors.

For South Koreans, the effects of yen depreciation are often most visible through lower travel costs in Tokyo, Osaka and other Japanese destinations.

Foreign visitors’ spending has supported department stores, convenience stores, drugstores, restaurants and regional tourism businesses across Japan.

The same trend can create competition for South Korean tourism destinations and retailers as consumers choose between spending money domestically and traveling to Japan.

The weaker yen has the opposite effect on Japanese households.

Japan imports much of its energy, food and industrial raw materials. A weaker currency raises the yen-denominated cost of those imports, increasing pressure on household budgets and companies that cannot fully pass their higher costs on to customers.

The prolonged decline of the currency has become a policy concern as Japanese consumers face higher prices for fuel, food and other imported goods.

Japanese companies experience both advantages and disadvantages from the exchange rate.

Manufacturers must pay more for imported energy, raw materials and components. Exporters, however, can convert overseas earnings into more yen and may be able to offer more competitive prices abroad.

The price advantage can affect South Korean companies competing with Japanese manufacturers in automobiles, machinery, materials and components.

South Korean exporters doing business in Japan may face a different challenge.

As the purchasing power of Japanese consumers and businesses declines, Japanese buyers may become more sensitive to the prices of imported South Korean products and services.

Japanese importers could seek lower contract prices while consumers turn toward less expensive alternatives.

The Japanese market may therefore remain large in nominal terms while becoming increasingly price-sensitive for foreign suppliers.

The real effective exchange rate does not directly measure every household’s standard of living. It does, however, show how the yen’s value has changed after accounting for trade patterns and differences in inflation.

Its decline suggests that the effects of yen weakness extend beyond making Japan a less expensive place for tourists.

The trend is changing Japanese households’ consumption power, companies’ purchasing structures and the competitive environment facing businesses in South Korea and Japan.

For South Korea, the weak yen offers the immediate benefit of less expensive travel to Japan.

It can also contribute to an outflow of domestic consumer spending, stronger price competition from Japanese exporters and greater resistance to foreign product prices inside Japan.

Japan has become cheaper for South Korean visitors, but much of the world has become more expensive for Japanese consumers.

That widening gap is likely to remain an important factor shaping tourism, consumption and export competition between the two countries.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260703010001239

June 26 (Asia Today) — Former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday that North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs have made the pursuit of nuclear disarmament increasingly difficult, but Japan must not abandon its goal of a world without nuclear weapons.

Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo, Kishida said East Asia is facing its most severe security environment since the end of World War II.

“Japan must strengthen its defense capabilities and further reinforce the Japan-U.S. alliance,” Kishida said. “At the same time, we must not give up the ideal of pursuing a world without nuclear weapons.”

Kishida, a lawmaker whose constituency is in Hiroshima, made nuclear disarmament a major diplomatic priority during his tenure as prime minister.

He cited Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, instability in the Middle East and North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs as evidence that the international security situation surrounding nuclear weapons is “undeniably severe.”

Kishida said stronger national security and nuclear disarmament should not be viewed as mutually exclusive goals.

“Reality and ideals are not incompatible,” he said. “The issue is not choosing one or the other, but determining how to bring reality closer to the ideal.”

Kishida recalled becoming the first Japanese prime minister to attend a review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 2022.

At the conference, he presented the Hiroshima Action Plan, a series of practical steps intended to advance nuclear disarmament while acknowledging the international security environment.

The plan calls for maintaining the record of non-use of nuclear weapons, increasing transparency surrounding nuclear forces, continuing reductions in global nuclear stockpiles, strengthening nuclear nonproliferation and promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

“We must narrow the gap between reality and the ideal one step at a time,” Kishida said.

Ukraine warning for East Asia

Kishida linked the war in Ukraine to security concerns in East Asia.

He recalled his unannounced visit to Kyiv in March 2023, when he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and expressed Japan’s solidarity with Ukraine.

Kishida said he delivered the message that “Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow.”

Russia’s invasion demonstrated that security in Europe and the Atlantic cannot be separated from security in the Indo-Pacific, he said.

East Asia faces overlapping concerns including North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, China’s growing military power and tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

Kishida said Japan’s vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific seeks to improve regional connectivity, promote prosperity, reject coercion and intimidation and uphold freedom and the rule of law.

Kishida stresses U.S. alliance and international rules

Addressing U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump, Kishida said “America First” should be regarded as a structural trend rather than a temporary development.

He said countries such as Japan, which have limited natural resources and relatively constrained domestic markets, depend on international law, multilateralism, free trade and the rule of law.

Kishida emphasized the importance of maintaining the Japan-U.S. alliance while preserving an international system governed by widely accepted rules.

Dialogue with China remains necessary

Kishida also called for continued dialogue with China despite security concerns and political tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.

China is Japan’s largest trading partner, while Japan remains one of China’s major economic partners, he said.

“That is precisely why dialogue is important,” Kishida said.

He recalled meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping twice during international gatherings while serving as prime minister. Kishida also held talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang during meetings connected to Southeast Asian nations and a trilateral summit involving Japan, China and South Korea.

“It is regrettable that fewer people are now willing to engage in dialogue between Japan and China,” Kishida said.

He called for communication not only between governments but also through business, people-to-people exchanges, sports and culture.

Stable relations between Japan and China would serve both countries’ national interests and contribute to regional peace and stability, he said.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260626010009412

China officially objected through its Foreign Ministry to the Japanese draft resolution to increase armaments and abandon Japan’s post-World War II commitment not to rearm its military, as approved by the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan during its general council meeting. The draft resolution proposed amending three key security documents, which are the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, and the Medium-Range Defense Forces Enhancement Plan. It was to be submitted to the Japanese government and parliament for further discussion. Chinese authorities officially rejected and objected to the draft, deeming it a threat to their national security and their spheres of direct influence in Taiwan, the South China Sea, and the Indo-Pacific region. They considered it a radical escalation of Japan’s security strategy, detrimental to Chinese national security and to the global security initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Here, the revision of Japan’s three security documents, represented in the National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and Defense Force Enhancement Plan, represents a strategic shift away from its post-war pacifist constitution toward more proactive and independent military policies. The nature of this shift is evident in Tokyo’s easing of restrictions on lethal weapons exports and its reorientation of its armament toward counter-offensive capabilities and missile development. Under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan has adopted a proactive approach, reshaping Japanese industries and institutions to address the greatest strategic challenge posed by China. The updated National Security Strategy has already fundamentally altered the country’s pacifist military doctrine by disarming the Japanese military and preventing its rearmament since World War II, a move that has drawn staunch opposition from China, which seeks to protect its own national security. The most significant amendments to the three Japanese security documents included Japan’s acknowledgment of its ability to double and enhance its counter-strike capabilities. This was achieved by allowing Japan to possess long-range missiles capable of striking enemy targets before launch. Simultaneously, Japanese authorities approved doubling defense spending, raising the military budget to 2% of GDP.

China objected to the Japanese draft resolution, which aimed to increase Japanese armament and militarize the region and global supply chains, and threatened to escalate the situation. Beijing strongly condemned these trends, describing them as new militarism. A key point of contention for China was what Chinese intelligence and military circles perceived as a warning of Japanese and foreign interference in Taiwanese affairs, as China considers Taiwan an integral part of its territory. Beijing condemned the Japanese leadership’s statement that any emergency in Taiwan is an emergency for Japan, describing a potential Chinese military intervention in Taiwan as an act of aggression. Here, Beijing rejects Japan’s new military approach, characterized by advanced military deployment. China has officially protested and taken countermeasures against Japan’s plans to deploy defensive missiles on Yonaguni Island, located only about 110 kilometers from Taiwan. China has strongly accused Japan of violating its commitments, arguing that this new Japanese military expansion violates Tokyo’s international obligations and its pacifist constitution. China has warned Japan that it will pay a heavy price if it intervenes militarily in the Taiwan Strait.

Chinese intelligence, military, security, and defense circles link Japan’s armament activities in Taiwan to American interference in Chinese affairs through its network of allies in the Asian region, such as Japan, given its close alliance with Washington. Here, Japan defends its military rearmament against China, with several of its officials sending political and security warnings to China. They argue that, given the uncertainty in Japan stemming from US policies and the fluctuating stance in Washington, Japan seeks to bolster its own capabilities and build regional alliances (with the Philippines, Australia, and NATO) to expand deterrence against Beijing and maintain regional security from a Japanese perspective. Strategic circles in Tokyo view the potential fall of Taiwan to China as a direct and existential threat to Japanese national security and vital shipping lanes, making the protection of the Taiwan Strait a fundamental component of Japan’s updated defense doctrine.

For these reasons, China’s decisive response was seen as a challenge to its national security, especially given Japan’s de facto official classification of Beijing as the greatest and most unprecedented strategic challenge to its security. This classification was further reinforced by Japanese authorities’ approval of developing military production, strengthening domestic defense industries, and easing restrictions on arms exports. This is where the dimensions of China’s official rejection and objection lie, as it is considered a violation of the pacifist principle enshrined in the Japanese military doctrine, which was internationally and regionally agreed upon after World War II for Japan’s disarmament. Beijing believes that Tokyo is abandoning its pacifist constitution and returning to a militaristic path, while Japan exaggerates the narrative of a China threat. Beijing accuses Japan of fabricating flimsy pretexts to justify its military expansion and arsenal, which threatens China’s regional security. Therefore, China warned that these Japanese steps to increase armament undermine peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and jeopardize the principles of China’s global security initiative. China also registered its objection to Japan’s exclusionary approaches to its initiative based on shared and sustainable security. Furthermore, China linked this Japanese escalation in its confrontation with China in the region to the sensitive issue of Taiwan and the close alliance between the United States and Japan, while categorically rejecting Japanese interference in Taiwan’s affairs and considering the island’s security an integral part of China’s national security.

Benchmark Nikkei 225 tops 68,000 for first time as AI-driven buying frenzy shows no signs of slowing down.

Japan’s stock market has hit an all-time high as a global buying frenzy driven by AI shows no signs of slowing down.

The Nikkei 225 rose nearly 3 percent on Wednesday, lifting the benchmark index above 68,000 for the first time.

The latest surge continues a banner year for Japan’s stock market, which is up nearly 33 percent so far in 2026.

“Investor enthusiasm over the AI boom is helping drive Asian equity markets higher,” Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ, told Al Jazeera.

“While strong demand for high-end chips has seen the top semiconductor companies in Taiwan and South Korea rally strongly, this is also benefiting Japanese markets, which are also getting some tailwind from a weak yen.”

Japanese firms involved in the semiconductor business led the gains.

Tokyo Electron, Japan’s largest manufacturer of semiconductor equipment, soared as much as 14 percent in morning trading.

Advantest, which supplies testing equipment to the semiconductor industry, rose more than 5.5 percent.

Shin-Etsu Chemical, a supplier of silicon wafers used in integrated circuits, gained about 4 percent.

Softbank, which is heavily invested in AI models, chips and data centers, fell about 3 percent, after overtaking auto giant Toyota on Monday to become Japan’s biggest company by market capitalisation.

Ferocious demand for AI chips has been driving record-breaking rallies in stock markets across the globe, taking key indexes in the US, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan to record highs.

During the past month, three memory chip makers – South Korea’s SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, and US-based Micron – entered the elite club of firms with a market capitalistion of at least $1 trillion.

Only 17 companies have hit the milestone, all but five of which are based in the United States.

Despite concerns about the sustainability of the sky-high valuations in the sector among some investors, tech companies are continuing to commit huge sums to AI-related infrastructure.

US tech giants are expected to spend about $800bn on AI-related capital investment in 2026, according to Goldman Sachs.

Google parent company Alphabet on Monday became the latest Silicon Valley giant to outline its AI-related investment plans, announcing that it would sell $80bn worth of shares to help fund expected capital expenditures of $180-190bn in 2026.

Takaichi signs six agreements with Vietnam, including on technology, agriculture and space, during a trip to Hanoi.

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi says the country will boost ties with Vietnam, with a focus on energy and critical minerals.

Takaichi met her Vietnamese counterpart, Le Minh Hung, on Saturday in Hanoi, where they signed six agreements on issues ranging from infrastructure to agriculture to space cooperation.

“The two sides identified economic security as a new priority area for bilateral ‌cooperation,” Takaichi told reporters after the meeting.

“With regard to critical minerals … both sides agreed to strengthen close coordination to ensure stable supplies and reinforce supply chains,” she added.

Hung said the two leaders also “reaffirmed the importance of resolving disputes in the South China Sea through peaceful means based on international law”.

Japan and Vietnam share concerns about China’s territorial claims in the East and South China Seas, and both have sought to hedge against United States-driven trade disruptions by broadening economic and security ties.

Crude oil supplies

The push for deeper cooperation between the two states comes after ⁠new investment in Vietnam from Japan, one of its largest foreign investors, fell about 75 percent year-on-year to $233m in the first quarter, even as bilateral trade rose 12.3 percent to $13.7bn over the same ⁠period, according to Vietnamese government and customs data.

Vietnam ⁠has been seeking support from Japan and other countries ⁠for oil supplies as conflict in the Middle East drives prices higher and disrupts supply chains.

Under the $10bn Power Asia Initiative to support Asian countries’ energy self-reliance, Japan will assist in arranging crude oil supplies ⁠for Vietnam’s Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Complex, Hung said.

Takaichi was also set to meet President To Lam, who is also the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, on Saturday afternoon and deliver ⁠a keynote speech at Vietnam National University, marking a decade since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe introduced Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” strategy.

April 24 (Asia Today) — Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average briefly topped 60,000 for the first time Thursday, setting a record milestone as artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related shares led gains.

The index rose as high as 60,013 during morning trading, MarketWatch reported. But analysts said the rally was concentrated in a small group of high-priced technology shares, leaving the broader market less buoyant.

The Nikkei 225 is calculated as a price-weighted average of 225 stocks, meaning companies with higher share prices have a larger effect on the index. SoftBank Group, Advantest and Tokyo Electron were among the AI and semiconductor-related stocks that helped push the benchmark higher.

Foreign investors have focused on semiconductor-related companies because they are closely tied to the AI supply chain and offer clearer near-term earnings visibility, analysts said.

JPMorgan Chase reflected that optimism by raising its year-end Nikkei target to 70,000 from 61,000, citing the AI boom and a weaker yen, Reuters reported.

Still, the broader market has not risen at the same pace. The Topix index and the Yomiuri 333, an equal-weighted index, have not recovered to their late February highs. That suggests the latest rally is being driven more by large technology stocks than by broad-based market strength.

The Nikkei later gave up gains as investors took profits after the record intraday high. Some strategists said the rapid rise has raised concerns about overheating and could lead to a short-term correction.

Whether the rally can continue may depend on whether buying spreads beyond semiconductors to domestic demand, financial and manufacturing shares. If gains remain concentrated in a few high-priced stocks, the Nikkei could rise further while many investors and consumers feel little improvement in the broader economy.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260424010007785