Free Republic

The Defense Ministry is set to start research aimed at domestically manufacturing early-warning aircraft for the first time, with the aim of increasing surveillance on possible incursions into the nation’s territorial airspace, according to ministry sources. The move is part of an effort to boost the ministry’s preparedness to deal with the increasingly severe security environment in areas surrounding this nation, largely due to China’s increasing military spending in recent years. The ministry will seek to build the country’s first domestically produced early-warning plane by the mid-2020s, hoping to see it replace the aging U.S.-made aircraft model currently used by...

A HIGH IQ is a hindrance for women wanting to get married, while it is an asset for men, according to a study by four British universities. The study found the likelihood of marriage increased by 35 per cent for males for each 16-point increase in IQ. But for females, there was a 40 per cent drop for each 16-point rise. The findings, by the universities of Aberdeen, Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow, were published in Britain's Sunday Times newspaper. The study was based on the IQs of 900 males and females between their 10th and 40th birthdays. Paul Brown, a...

The United States charged seven Japanese executives with price-fixing Thursday in a long-running probe into illegal practices in the auto parts industry. Three executives from Mitsubishi Electric Corp were accused by a federal grand jury of conspiring to set the prices of starter motors, alternators and ignition coils sold to top US manufacturers, and U.S.-based Japanese manufacturers, from at least 2000 through 2010. Another four executives from Hitachi Automotive Systems were similarly charged over price-fixing involving a number of parts sold to US automakers including starter motors, fuel injection systems, and ignition coils. Both groups of executives were alleged to...

It's unusual for the United States - by far the biggest defense spender in the world - to seek scrapped military equipment from other nations. Typically, those roles are reversed. But for the past several years, according to internal emails obtained by The Virginian-Pilot, the U.S. Navy has been negotiating to acquire Japan's retired fleet of MH-53E Sea Dragons. The Navy wants to harvest the old helicopters for parts to help keep its own Sea Dragons flying until 2025. "It's telling when we are put in a position where we need to buy scrapped aircraft to keep ours going," said...

Japan is known by many to be a difficult mission field. But for those who know missions in Japan well, the phrase “hard mission field” is merely a euphemism for a grimmer expression that was previously used about Africa, one that has been recently applied to Japan: “the missionary’s graveyard.” One would expect such a bleak designation to be used in reference to a land known for physical hardship or violent persecution, and there have been martyrs in Japan’s Christian history. That is not the case today, however. Religious worker visas are readily available, and the Japanese often politely thank...

Japan’s nuclear watchdog has given the green light for two reactors to restart but the operator still has to persuade local communities they are safe. sendai-plant Widespread anti-nuclear sentiment has simmered in Japan ever since an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 caused meltdowns at the Fukushima power plant, sparking the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl. The country’s nuclear reactors were switched off after the catastrophe. Two reactors were briefly restarted last year but all of Japan’s nuclear plants are currently offline. The go-ahead from the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) for two reactors at the Sendai plant (pictured) in southern...

More types of aircraft are still needed for Beijing to establish its first carrier air wing on China's first aircraft carrier the Liaoning, according to Wendell Minnick, in an article written on Sept. 7 in Washington-based Defense News. 24 J-15 Flying Shark fighters, six Z-18F anti-submarine warfare helicopters, four Z-18J airborne early warning helicopters and two Z-9C rescue helicopters will together form the first carrier air wing of the People's Liberation Army Navy according to an article in Chinese-language newspaper Shanghai Morning Post published Aug. 28, citing an interview with Cao Dongwei, a senior colonel and researcher at the PLA...

(Reuters) - Japan and the United States are exploring the possibility of Tokyo acquiring offensive weapons that would allow Japan to project power far beyond its borders, Japanese officials said, a move that would likely infuriate China. While Japan's intensifying rivalry with China dominates the headlines, Tokyo's focus would be the ability to take out North Korean missile bases, said three Japanese officials involved in the process. They said Tokyo was holding the informal, previously undisclosed talks with Washington about capabilities that would mark an enhancement of military might for a country that has not fired a shot in anger...

BUILDING a new fleet of submarines in Australia would be too risky and too expensive, the Abbott government has concluded. Instead, the government is considering buying “off-the-shelf” options from Japan and Germany, with Japan’s Soryu- class boat the frontrunner. As well as the risk and cost of building the submarines on home soil, such a project would require big infrastructure spending, whereas Japan has an established production line. Defence sources have told The Australian it would cost between $50 billion and $80bn to design and build the submarines in Australia. This compares with previous estimates that the submarines were likely...

The smug self-confidence of financial analysts and writers who predicted that Japan's monstrous sales tax increase would have no long-term effect on its economy should be severely shaken. An Associated Press report tonight by business writer Elaine Kurtenbach tells readers that the Land of the Rising Sun's economy "contracted at a larger than earlier estimated annual rate of 7.1 percent in April-June, as companies and households slashed spending following a tax hike." This means that the "experts" who assured everyone that the second-quarter contraction would be smaller than or merely offset the brisk first-quarter expansion of 6 percent were horribly wrong. The...

CANBERRA, Australia—Australia is close to buying up to 10 submarines from Japan for as much as 20 billion Australian dollars (US$18.7 billion) in a move that would turn the north Asian country into a weapons exporter for the first time since World War II. The deal, which senior defense officials said they expect to be signed this year, risks stoking regional tensions since it positions Tokyo as a major guarantor of Australia's security at a time when relations between China and some of its neighbors, including Japan, are strained. A purchase of Japanese submarines also sits uncomfortably next to the...

Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has signalled a rare attempt to mend fences with China when he appointed two MPs considered friendly towards Beijing to two senior posts in his governing Liberal Democratic party (LDP). […] In his first cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, Abe also increased the number of female ministers to five—equaling a record set by his LDP predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, in 2001—as part of his program to increase the number of women in the workforce, a key part of his long-term growth strategy. His decision to appoint Sadakazu Tanigaki as LDP’s secretary general, and veteran MP Toshihiro Nikai...

After a satellite image revealed that Shenyang Aircraft Corporation has already produced eight J-16 multirole fighters, drawing complaints from the Russian aviation industry that its aircraft have been copied without permission, according to the Kanwa Defense Review published by Andrei Chang, a Canadian military analyst also known as Pinkov. As the eight J-16 fighters in the image were all painted in yellow markings, the article said it remains unknown whether the aircraft will be turned over to the PLA Air Force or Navy. However, it is certain that J-16 multirole fighters will replace J-11B fighters designed for aerial combat. China...

With the Soryu-class submarine, Japan can compete with the best the global submarine market has to offer. As Clint Richards noted earlier, it now appears likely that Japan will sell advanced Soryu-class submarines to Australia. In addition to strengthening the relationship between Australia and Japan, and making Australia’s submarine force considerably more lethal, this represents a major move by Japan into the global submarine market. Germany, France, and Russia have long dominated the existing market for diesel-electric submarines. The German Type 209 submarine serves in over a dozen navies, with more than 60 boats currently in service. While the design...

A commemoration marking the 69th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, is held at the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Aganist Japanese Aggression, in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 3, 2014. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) A commemoration marking the 69th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, is held at the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Aganist Japanese Aggression, in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 3, 2014. China marked the 69th anniversary of Victory Day in the Anti-Japanese War for the...

MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) -- A message Japan began delivering Monday is a bit unusual, but true enough: Don't wait until it's too late to think about toilet paper. The government and paper companies kicked off a "Let's stockpile toilet paper!" campaign to mark Disaster Prevention Day, warning of a possible crisis because nearly half of the supply comes from one of Japan's most earthquake-prone areas. Officials said people immediately think of food and water as emergency supplies, but easily forget toilet paper, and get desperate when it's too late. "After running out of toilet paper, people start...

A message Japan began delivering Monday is a bit unusual, but true enough: Don’t wait until it’s too late to think about toilet paper. The government and paper companies kicked off a “Let’s stockpile toilet paper!” campaign to mark Disaster Prevention Day, warning of a possible crisis because nearly half of the supply comes from one of Japan’s most earthquake-prone areas. Officials said people immediately think of food and water as emergency supplies, but easily forget toilet paper, and get desperate when it’s too late. …

Heavy equipment falls into Fukushima reactor pool →National Aug. 30, 2014 - 06:55AM JST ( 28 ) TOKYO — A 400-kilogram machine part fell into a nuclear fuel pool at Japan’s crippled Fukushima plant Friday, the operator said. Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), said it had not detected any significant changes in radiation readings or in the level of pool water at the No. 3 reactor. A massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 ravaged Japan’s northeastern coast and wrecked the plant, sparking meltdowns at three of its six reactors.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi starts a five-day visit to Japan on Saturday, looking to deepen defense and commercial ties between the two Asian countries as they grapple with an increasingly assertive China. Mr. Modi is to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other officials for what are expected to be wide-ranging discussions about regional security as well as a possible deal on civil nuclear cooperation. […] “It is a watershed meeting,” said Brahma Chellaney, a strategic affairs analyst at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi. “It is crucial to preventing the rise of a Sino-centric Asia.”...

Fujitsu Ltd. has acquired GlobeRanger Corp., a Texas-based defense technology company, in the electronics maker’s foray into the U.S. defense and national security market. […] Fujitsu bought the company to eventually expand into the global defense market after the government’s easing of restrictions on Japan’s exports of weapons and related technologies in April. …