News, business, and culture from Japan.
The Defense Ministry is developing domestically built satellites that analyze surveillance data in orbit rather than beaming it down first, aiming to shrink the gap between spotting a target and authorizing a long range counterstrike.
Morning Sun Editorial ·
A 55.6 billion dollar spending request from Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi's ministry lays out plans for cheap mass produced attack drones, an AI command platform and submarine launched hypersonic missiles, all aimed at offsetting China's growing military footprint with fewer troops on hand to match it.
Morning Sun Editorial ·
A rule change taking effect next month lets companies push monthly overtime toward one hundred hours when labor and management agree, arriving just as years of work style reform had finally started to show up in shorter average hours.
Morning Sun Editorial ·
Japan's defense chief has traveled to Australia to deepen a partnership built on the biggest arms export in his country's postwar history. The visit is about far more than frigates. It is about two democracies binding themselves together as the security of the Indo-Pacific grows more uncertain.
Morning Sun Editorial ·
With a launch planned for the end of this year, Japan's MMX probe is being readied to fly to the Mars moon Phobos, scoop up a handful of soil and carry it home by 2031. If it works, Japan will hold the first material ever returned from the neighborhood of the red planet.
Morning Sun Editorial ·
Horse racing is shrinking across much of the world, yet in Japan the betting turnover keeps climbing past 3 trillion yen and a new generation of fans is pouring in. A smartphone-first betting culture and an unlikely anime hit have turned a centuries-old pastime into one of the country's quiet success stories.
Morning Sun Editorial ·
