Category: Japan

I have hiked the mountains outside of Yokota Airbase many times in the past and fortunately I have never even seen a bear though the bear warning signs are often posted at the trailheads:

A Russian man was mauled by a bear on a trail near the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo over the weekend, according to Japanese officials. The hiker was walking alone near Mount Minokido, 25 miles west of Yokota Air Base, when the animal attacked shortly before noon on Sunday, Okutama town announced in a news release that day. Officials have closed part of a trail and advised hikers to avoid the area, the release said. The bear bit the hiker on his left cheek and clawed his left shoulder, an official from the town’s tourism and industry division told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday. Police and hunters are patrolling the area and set up traps, but they have not captured the bear, the official said.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Everything seems to have gone well during the Lee-Takaichi summit. Hopefully the positive direction of Korea-Japan relations continues:

President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi agreed to strengthen cooperation on supply chains, including crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), during a bilateral summit in Lee’s hometown of Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday.

The agreement was reached as the two neighbors are deepening bilateral ties through continued summit diplomacy, amid heightened global energy security risks stemming from the U.S. war on Iran.

“We agreed that close bilateral cooperation is needed more than ever amid the instability in supply chains and energy markets arising from the recent situation in the Middle East,” Lee said in a joint press statement after the summit.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Hopefully this summit continues to the positive direction of ROK and Japanese relations:

Takaichi will be received at Daegu International Airport, near Andong, by South Korea’s Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina before heading to a hotel, where she will meet Lee for talks.

Honor guards in traditional costumes and gear will escort Takaichi as she is ushered into the hotel, where a 12-member color guard will welcome her at the entrance, according to presidential officials.

Lee and Takaichi will first hold a small-group meeting, followed by an expanded meeting, before making a joint press announcement on the results of their talks. 

Agenda items will likely include bilateral cooperation in response to the ongoing Middle East conflict, security in Northeast Asia and efforts to address disruptions in global supply chains.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Prime Minister Takaichi and President Lee have formed so far a strong relationship:

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is considering visiting Korea later this month for a summit with President Lee Jae Myung in his hometown of Andong, Japanese media outlets said Saturday, citing diplomatic sources.

Japan’s Kyodo News and other media outlets reported that Takaichi is expected to visit South Korea on May 19 for a two-day trip and hold talks with Lee in Andong, about 190 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on economic security cooperation, including energy and critical mineral supply chains amid the Middle East conflict.

Takaichi last visited South Korea in October, just nine days after she took office, and held talks with Lee on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in the southeastern city of Gyeongju.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

There may be only 300 JSDF personnel involved with this exercise, but the fact it is happening in the southern Ryukyus is sending a strategic message to China. The southern Ryukyus are the weak point to any Chinese blockade of Taiwan that the Japanese have been busy fortifying with both offensive and defensive fires over the past three years:

The Japanese army’s highest operational command will focus on remote southwestern islands near Taiwan for the first time in training that includes command-and-control drills with U.S. Marines. The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Ground Component Command will practice deploying troops and transporting supplies in the Nansei Islands from May 17 to 22, according to a Ministry of Defense news release April 24.

The Nansei chain, also called the Ryukyus, includes Okinawa and stretches from Kyushu to Taiwan. The exercise will primarily take place on Ishigaki, Yonaguni and Miyakojima. About 300 Japanese soldiers from all regional armies will participate, a Ground Staff spokesman said by phone Tuesday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.