Category: Japan

The American tourist was a former Marine Captain visiting Okinawa who was out past curfew which the military police had no jurisdiction over. The civilian could have defused the situation by showing his ID as requested, but when he refused the MP should not have body slammed him. I wonder if an assault charge could be filed with the Japanese police?:

Two Okinawa government officials urged caution amid a review of street patrols by U.S. military police in nightlife districts following a viral video of a U.S. civilian’s violent arrest. Two videos totaling four minutes show what appears to be a U.S. military police officer body slamming a man in civilian clothes onto the sidewalk along Gate 2 Street in Okinawa city outside Kadena Air Base early on Nov. 23. A patrol consisting only of U.S. military police stopped the civilian outside a bar in Okinawa city, according to U.S. Forces Japan spokesman Air Force Col. John Severns by email Wednesday. The civilian was not connected with the U.S. military, he said.

USFJ commander Air Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost ordered unilateral patrols by the U.S. military paused while an investigation of the incident takes place, Severns said. In neighboring Chatan town, Mayor Masashi Toguchi told reporters Thursday that “mistaken detentions like this should never happen, and we strongly urge a careful response,” a town spokesman said by phone Friday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but what is even more concerning is that this MP was saying they can detain Japanese civilians if they wanted to. Clearly some retraining needs to happen. You would think simple things like who you can and cannot detain or body slam would have been clearly understood before sending these MPs out on patrol.

It looks like PM Takaichi plans to bring Japan’s corporate tendency to work extremely long hours to the government:

“I’ll abandon work-life balance.”

That was Japan’s new far-right Prime Minister’s victory speech vow.

Sanae Takaichi was talking about how she’d lead her own party. Not reform the nation’s notoriously long work weeks.

But the comments still let loose a pretty big backlash.

Sounds like overkill, right? Well, when you look at what followed in her first few weeks in office, probably not.

Weeks later, Takaichi summoned her team for a meeting. With a casual 3 a.m. calltime. She also urged her labor minister to relax the rules on overtime work.

So this is about more than just talking points. And there’s another reason it’s hitting a nerve.

Behind Japan’s legendary work ethic lurks a dark secret.

For decades, the country has been plagued by people driven to an early death by the stress of their never-ending jobs.

New York Post

You can read more at the link, but she held the cabinet meeting at 3:00 AM in preparation for a 9:00 AM address to Parliament.

This is literally internatonal political version of the bully running to the teacher that they are being bullied because someone decided to standup to them bullying their classmate:

China has taken its growing dispute with Japan to the United Nations, accusing Tokyo of threatening “an armed intervention” over Taiwan and vowing to defend itself in its strongest language yet in the two-week-old dispute.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi committed “a grave violation of international law” and diplomatic norms when she said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo, China’s U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong wrote in a letter on Friday to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Reuters

You can read more at the link.

This is actually smart of PM Takaichi to have a half American cabinet member lead the crackdown on illegal immigration and crime by foreigners so the usual suspects cannot claim racism:

Economic security minister Kimi Onoda, tapped to lead the government’s policies on foreign nationals, says she is committed to strictly enforcing regulations related to non-Japanese workers and land acquisitions by foreign nationals.

In a joint interview with media organizations including The Japan Times on Monday, Onoda, a first-time Cabinet member who has been named “minister in charge of a society of well-ordered and harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals,” stressed the importance of cracking down on foreign nationals who do not follow rules in order to alleviate public concerns.

“There shouldn’t be a situation where law-abiding foreign residents find it harder to live here,” she said, noting that she has foreign roots as well. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she has an American father and a Japanese mother.

Japan Times

You can read more at the link.

This is just another example of the growing arms race in Northeast Asia due to the rise and territorial expansionism of China:

The Pentagon’s No. 3 official has heaped praise on South Korea for being the first U.S. treaty ally outside of NATO to hike defense spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product — a move expected to impact Japan’s own spending plans.

“South Korea has now committed to spending 3.5% of its GDP on defense as soon as possible,” U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby wrote Friday on X. “It is America’s first non-NATO treaty ally to commit to the standard set by President (Donald) Trump at the Hague Summit.” (………)

Still, South Korea’s agreement to hike spending to the 3.5% level will reverberate in Tokyo.

At his first meeting with new Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi late last month, Hegseth said “there were never any demands” from Washington that Tokyo further hike its defense spending.

But media reports in June said Colby had asked Japan to raise its defense spending to 3.5% of GDP, a request that prompted Tokyo to call off annual “two-plus-two” security talks involving the allies’ top diplomats and defense chiefs.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has committed to have Tokyo shoulder more of the security burden in its alliance with Washington by emphasizing a plan to have Japan reach a defense spending target of 2% of GDP by the end of this fiscal year, effectively moving a planned hike ahead by two years.

Japan Times

You can read more at the link.

This will be a quick way for the Japanese government to raise money from tourists:

The government and the ruling coalition are considering a plan to raise the departure tax from the current ¥1,000 per person to ¥3,000 or more to fund measures against overtourism, informed sources said Thursday.

The specific size of the increase will be discussed during fiscal 2026 tax system reform talks at the end of the year.

Japan introduced the departure tax, formally called the international tourist tax, in 2019. It is levied uniformly on all travelers departing from Japan, including Japanese nationals traveling abroad for work or leisure.

Japan Times

You can read more at the link.

Japan’s new Prime Minister has made it very clear where her country stands in regards to a Chinese attack on Taiwan which the Chinese of course do not like:

Japan was involved in a war of words with China this week after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute “a survival-threatening situation” for Japan requiring the use of force. Takaichi, who was elected as the country’s first female prime minister last month, said Friday that Chinese use of force around Taiwan would qualify as “an existential threat.” Her comment sparked sharp criticisms from Beijing over the weekend. “We have no choice but cut off that dirty neck that has been lunged at us without hesitation.

Are you ready?” Chinese Consul General Xue Jian said in a message posted on X, which was later deleted. Xue also criticized past remarks made by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other Japanese lawmakers that of “Taiwan emergency is Japan emergency” as “blatant interference of Chinese internal affairs and violation of sovereignty” that require a retraction and apology.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.