Category: Japan

It appears the Japanese government is seeing the economic benefits the ROK is receiving from their growing defense industry and wants to get their own piece of this growing market:

Japan’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it’s developing with Britain and Italy to other countries, in the latest move away from the country’s postwar pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project and part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to countries other than the partners.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see if Japan and the U.S. militaries created a combined forces command similar to what USFK currently operates with the ROK military with:

Japanese troops from 1st Amphibious Rapid Deployment Regiment secure a space for a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey to land during a combined exercise in Japan on March 15, 2022. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will reveal a plan to restructure the U.S. military command in Japan next month in light of concerns over China, The Financial Times reported Sunday. The aim is to boost military planning and drills involving the allies, according to the newspaper, which did not reveal its sources.

The two leaders will announce the plan during a meeting April 10 at the White House, the newspaper said. U.S. Forces Japan, headquartered at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, referred queries Monday to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. A spokesman for the office, John Supple, by email to Stars and Stripes declined to comment on the newspaper’s report.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The next time I am in Tokyo I have to check this place out:

Travel enthusiasts living in Japan can “visit” another country at First Airlines, a restaurant that uses virtual reality technology to transport customers to a variety of destinations. First Airlines, on the eighth floor of Parkheim West in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district, re-creates the experience of an international flight right down to walking the streets of a foreign city. The restaurant foyer simulates the waiting area at an airport gate, complete with a flight information display and a departure counter.

A person dressed as a gate agent greets guests and hands them a boarding pass and a make-believe Japanese passport stamped with the name of their destination. I booked a first-class “flight” to Rome. Other flights are available to Germany, Spain, New Zealand, Finland, France, Ukraine, Hawaii and New York City. The experience is two hours long with a three-course meal. Once customers are checked in, a “flight attendant” guides them to their seats; the restaurant is built to resemble an aircraft interior, with actual seats from Airbus 310 and 340 airliners.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The Joong Ang Ilbo has an article that takes an indepth look at the UNC’s rear bases in Japan and what their functions are:

The recent visit to the United Nations Command (UNC) rear base in Japan represents a continuation of the Korea Peace Foundation’s ongoing quest for peace in Northeast Asia since its establishment in 2015.   
  
Established in 1950 in the aftermath of the 1950-1953 Korean War, the UNC has been instrumental in preventing further conflict and upholding peace on the peninsula by maintaining the armistice and deterring North Korean aggression. 
  
The UNC extended its presence to Japan to uphold these objectives.   
  
The Peace Odyssey’s trip marked the first time the UNC granted foreign civilians access to its rear bases in Japan since the Covid-19 pandemic.   
  
There are seven UNC rear bases in Japan. The Peace Odyssey visited two — the Yokosuka Naval Base and the Yokota Air Base.   
  
While the UNC has made most base facilities accessible, a few remain off-limits. Amid the rapidly evolving international landscape characterized by increased cooperation between North Korea, China, and Russia, the UNC sought to provide accurate information about its role.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read the rest at the link, but as the article mentions the UNC rear bases in Japan serves a lot like what Kuwait has served for operations in the Middle East. Japan’s bases would be a critical logistics hub for bringing in material and troops to support any contingency on the Korean peninsula.

I prefer societies that hold people accountable for crimes even if its stealing about $3 of coffee:

And now we have the case of a 59-year-old man who was caught nipping a little extra coffee with his order and was detained by police for it. His cover was blown last December when he popped into a convenience store during his lunch break and ordered a Regular Coffee for 110 yen. However, while at the machine, a little devil on his shoulder convinced him to press the button for a Large Coffee valued at 180 yen which filled his Regular cup to the brim.

He then left the store but just as he was about to get into his car, the clerk called out to him and reported him to the police. While waiting for the authorities, the clerk interrogated the man and found that he had done this twice before at that store.

The man was then questioned by the police but no charges were pressed and the man was released. However, since he was the principal of a nearby junior high school, word of the incident got back to the Hyogo Prefectural Board of Education who questioned the man once again.

This time he admitted to having misappropriated coffee a total of seven times since June of last year for an approximate total of 490 yen worth of ill-gotten coffee. He explained that the first time he did it, it was an accident, but when he discovered that a Large Coffee fit into his Regular Coffee cup and the staff didn’t say anything, he decided to do it again, even knowing it was wrong.

As a result, on January 30, the Board of Education handed down a disciplinary dismissal for “gross misconduct unbecoming of an educational public servant.” They also apologized “from the bottom of [their] hearts” for allowing this to happen.

Japan Today

You can read more at the link, but 490 yen equal about $3.30 USD.

I think the Japanese response to crime is better than in the U.S. where for example drugs are decriminalized in Oregon or shoplifters can get away with stealing $950 or less of items in California. This is all madness that increases crimes. You don’t see this madness in Japan and other societies that are tough on crime because they hold people accountable for even small criminal offenses such as stealing about $3 of coffee.