Sanae Takaichi is Japan’s New Prime Minister, and She’s a Heavy Metal Drummer
Sanae Takaichi, a fan of Iron Maiden, had an improbable rise to power. Like her mentor, Shinzo Abe, she is expected to lead Japan to the right.
Japan
Sanae Takaichi on course to become Japan’s first female PM after new coalition deal
Officials confirm reports that Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic party will join forces with rightwing Nippon IshinSanae Takaichi is on course to become Japan’s first female prime minister this week after her party agreed to form a new coalition with a min…
Sanae Takaichi Is Set to Be Japan’s First Female Prime Minister. But Will She Advance Women’s Rights?
Sanae Takaichi is poised to break Japan’s political glass ceiling. But some worry she will maintain policies that have held women back.
Weather tracker: Japanese islands struck by two successive typhoons
Typhoon Nakri sweeps through Izu Islands off Tokyo, a week after Halong, causing damage and disruptionThe Izu Islands in Japan have endured another powerful blow as Typhoon Nakri swept through on Monday, following in the footsteps of Typhoon Halong, wh…
Tomiichi Murayama, Japanese Leader Who Gave Landmark War Apology, Dies at 101
His televised address as prime minister, delivered 50 years to the day after Japan announced its surrender, set a marker for his country’s “deep remorse” over wartime atrocities.
US says wants Japan to stop buying Russian energy
Washington wants Japan to halt Russian energy imports, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has stated hours after President Donald Trump announced that India would stop purchasing oil from Moscow.
A Realist Shift in Western Military Space Posture
In late September 2025, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink made history when he suggested the US Space Force is going full “space control” mode. This is the 2025 equivalent of a Sputnik moment, and it ends decades of political correctness by the West. There is no more pretending that adversary weaponization of space […]
A Realist Shift in Western Military Space Posture was originally published on Global Security Review.
Two Dangerous Assumptions in U.S. Defense Planning and How to Fix Them
Decades of dominance leaves a mark: It shapes the beliefs and behaviors of a nation and its military. Extended periods of hegemony for a nation, like long-standing market dominance for a business, encourages blind spots for changing markets, technologi…
Japan’s imported baby boom spotlights a political and demographic timebomb
Rise in births to non-Japanese comes as politicians keep dodging the choice between economic decline and a more diverse populationThis week brought encouraging news for Japan’s long battle to defuse its demographic timebomb: in 2024, the number of babi…
Record number of babies born to foreign parents in Japan amid political row over migration
More than 20,000 children were born to non-Japanese couples, accounting for more than 3% of all newbornsThe number of babies born to foreign parents reached a record high in Japan in 2024, underlining rapid demographic changes that have propelled migra…