Born from the trauma of World War II, this bow-wearing cartoon icon became a powerful tool for diplomacy, reinvention, and cultural soft power.

The United States has taken the first step toward upgrading its military operation in Japan to a joint force headquarters, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Sunday in Tokyo.

But the official referred to the AIM-120 air-to-air missile system that the United States and Japan have agreed to accelerate co-producing during U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's visit to Tokyo on Sunday.

Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp may consider investing in the Alaska LNG project in the United States, Chief Executive Katsuya Nakanishi said on Thursday, adding that careful due diligence would be needed before any decision.

It could offer voluntary restraints on exports, or it could offer to buy more from the U.S. in order to reduce the trade surplus with that country.

Japan has been emphasizing the investment that its firms have made in the U.S. economy, in its bid to secure tariff exemptions. The Asian nation has been a promoter of free trade, salvaging negotiations on a trans-Pacific free trade deal from collapse after the United States withdrew during Trump's first term.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this week that Japan would be “on the front lines of any contingency we might face in the western Pacific.”

He punishes each country with "reciprocal measures," approximately half of what he calculates each partner or bloc charges the US in tariffs, subsidies, or bureaucratic and tax barriers. On April 2, 2025,

The United States, Japan and the Philippines have staged joint naval drills to boost crisis readiness off a disputed South China Sea shoal as a Chinese military ship kept watch from a distance.