https://sagire.online/topic/japan/ Rolling analysis and coverage of geopolitics, energy, security and supply chains. en Thu, 05 Nov 2026 03:40:00 -0300 https://sagire.online/wire/9644c227/https://sagire.online/wire/9644c227/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 22:21:00 -0300Japanese companies suffered 239 ransomware attacks from January to October, more than double the 2021 total, according to a survey by security firm Macnica. The count by Yokohama-based Macnica includes attacks without data encryption and already exceeds the 228 cases recorded in all of 2025, a new annual record. Among 100 Japanese firms surveyed by Proofpoint, the ransomware infection rate jumped to 73% in 2025 from 38% in the 2023 survey, the largest increase among 11 comparable countries — and about 40% of organizations that paid ransoms failed to recover data or regain access after a single payment, many facing additional demands.JapanCybersecurity https://sagire.online/wire/e7b0e1d9/https://sagire.online/wire/e7b0e1d9/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 18:23:00 -0300Japan’s Defense Ministry has estimated that its five-year defense plan beginning in fiscal 2027 will require about 80 trillion yen (about $507 billion), nearly twice the amount allocated under the current plan. The figure is preliminary: given funding constraints, the government is expected to review equipment procurement and other expenditures and adjust the total toward the upper end of the 70 trillion yen (about $443.5 billion) range. The new spending is likely to fund purchases such as large numbers of drones, according to a source familiar with the matter. The review is taking shape as a year-end deadline for revisions to three key security documents looms.JapanDefenseDronesEast Asia https://sagire.online/wire/3dab014d/https://sagire.online/wire/3dab014d/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 14:22:00 -0300Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Tuesday again called for discussions on reviewing the country’s Three Non-Nuclear Principles and expressed support for considering the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines, Kyodo News reported. Speaking at a seminar in Tokyo, Koizumi said an environment should be created in which necessary security policies can be discussed openly and frankly without prejudice, and that as Japan revises its three key security documents by the end of the year, society as a whole should develop a shared understanding of nuclear threats. The Three Non-Nuclear Principles stipulate that the country will not possess, produce or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons, and the current National Security Strategy explicitly states that the policy will remain unchanged. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament in October that her government would “deepen concrete and realistic considerations” regarding the potential introduction of nuclear-powered submarines for the Self-Defense Forces.JapanNuclearDefenseDeterrence https://sagire.online/wire/5f31c94a/https://sagire.online/wire/5f31c94a/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 11:22:00 -0300Ransomware attacks on Japanese companies have more than doubled in five years.JapanCybersecurity https://sagire.online/wire/43cf84e2/https://sagire.online/wire/43cf84e2/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 07:25:00 -0300Japan’s government is considering financial aid to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has been hit by sanctions, following a call from the court’s president, according to Kyodo News.JapanInternational Criminal CourtInternational justiceSanctions https://sagire.online/wire/4a222bbb/https://sagire.online/wire/4a222bbb/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 03:21:00 -0300Japan Investment Corp (JIC), a Japanese state-backed fund, plans to sell chipmaking materials maker JSR to Mitsui Chemicals in a deal that could exceed 1.3 trillion yen ($8.2 billion), after buying it for some 900 billion yen two years ago, taking advantage of higher chip-firm valuations on the artificial intelligence investment boom, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters, in a text republished by DealStreetAsia. Founded in 1957, JSR is a leading manufacturer of photoresists used to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, and Nikkei Asia notes that the sale would be the biggest deal in the history of Japan’s chemical sector.JapanSemiconductorsTechnologyEconomy https://sagire.online/wire/3aad23f7/https://sagire.online/wire/3aad23f7/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:22:00 -0300Asian stocks fell on Wednesday along with the dollar, as Democrats gained in the US midterm elections, gains analysts said could lead to gridlock on Capitol Hill. The Nikkei 225 fell 3.6% to 60,835.36, its lowest level since early May, with SoftBank Group down 8% and Kioxia Holdings down 10.8%. The Kospi fell 3.2% to 5,466.83, with SK Hynix down 3.2% and Samsung Electronics down 1.8%. The dollar fell to 158.06 yen from 158.75 on Tuesday, and the euro rose to US$1.1249. Investors see the Democratic wave bringing tighter regulatory scrutiny, particularly of artificial intelligence companies.JapanSouth KoreaUnited StatesEconomyElections https://sagire.online/wire/dbdfa992/https://sagire.online/wire/dbdfa992/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 10:23:00 -0300Japan’s defense minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, again called for an open and frank discussion on nuclear weapons in the country, at a symposium in Tokyo, according to the Russian state agency TASS, which cites Kyodo News. “We must create conditions in which the security measures necessary for Japan can be discussed openly and frankly,” he said. The statement comes amid the review of the national security strategy, which also touches on Japan’s three non-nuclear principles: not to possess, produce or introduce nuclear weapons into its territory. Koizumi also once again left the door open to potentially equipping the country’s navy with nuclear submarines.JapanNuclearDefense https://sagire.online/wire/8e9ad5dc/https://sagire.online/wire/8e9ad5dc/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 10:22:00 -0300Japan’s government and ruling coalition are weighing defense spending of 70 trillion to 80 trillion yen (US$457 billion to US$508 billion) over the five years from April 2027, about 1.8 times the 43 trillion yen in the current plan, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), which cites sources quoted by Reuters. Some of the money is expected to fund purchases such as large numbers of drones, and a weaker yen has pushed up the cost of procurement, one of the sources said.JapanDefenseDronesEast Asia https://sagire.online/wire/f1c83496/https://sagire.online/wire/f1c83496/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 06:23:00 -0300Japan launched a new national agency to boost its disaster response. Reconstruction Minister Goshi Hosono, newly named to serve concurrently as disaster management minister, spoke at a press conference at the National Disaster Management Agency in Tokyo on November 2, 2026.JapanEast AsiaPublic security https://sagire.online/wire/f0c7936e/https://sagire.online/wire/f0c7936e/Sun, 01 Nov 2026 22:21:00 -0300Japan has asked the US for thorough discipline enforcement after Marine Kalvin Montoya Cardona was arrested in Okinawa on suspicion of drunk driving during curfew hours — caught at around 12:25 a.m. on Saturday with twice the legal blood-alcohol limit, according to Kyodo News.JapanUnited StatesEast AsiaPublic security https://sagire.online/wire/31bf8fd3/https://sagire.online/wire/31bf8fd3/Sun, 01 Nov 2026 20:21:00 -0300Japanese group GMO Internet suspects that a North Korea-linked hacking group was behind a data leak. The company suspects that the attack targeting users of its foreign exchange service was the work of a North Korea-linked group and reported the case to authorities.North KoreaJapanCybersecurityTechnology https://sagire.online/quad-atlanta-g20-duas-mesas/https://sagire.online/quad-atlanta-g20-duas-mesas/Sun, 01 Nov 2026 17:30:00 -0300Four Quad ministers in Atlanta recorded grave concern about economic coercion, arbitrary export restrictions and non-market policies that generate overcapacity, and left the country those words describe unnamed. In the same city on the same weekend, the G20 ended without a common declaration and without an official photograph, because European officials refused to stand beside Sergei Lavrov.ChinaUnited StatesJapanAustraliaIndiaTradeDiplomacy https://sagire.online/wire/81e068c0/https://sagire.online/wire/81e068c0/Sun, 01 Nov 2026 13:21:00 -0300GMO Internet Group CEO Masatoshi Kumagai and other executives will hold a news conference in Tokyo on Monday to address a series of unauthorized access incidents, the company said Saturday, according to The Japan Times. The company will explain the circumstances surrounding a cyberattack on its Onamae.com Desktop Cloud service, which provides servers for automated foreign exchange margin trading.JapanCybersecurityTechnology https://sagire.online/wire/e62f2ca7/https://sagire.online/wire/e62f2ca7/Sun, 01 Nov 2026 02:23:00 -0300The foreign ministers of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) announced plans to provide more than $85 million in technical and financial support to improve access to trusted artificial intelligence across the Indo-Pacific, according to the joint statement from the Atlanta meeting. The text also records a US commitment of $10 million to develop facilities in India and in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries to recover critical minerals from waste, according to The Times of India. India’s external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, said the Quad must safeguard freedom of choice and secure supply chains and tackle non-market practices, without naming any country, and called for a “more contemporary” agenda for the group, with a practical approach.United StatesIndiaJapanAustraliaMulti-alignmentArtificial intelligenceCritical minerals