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Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
How a year of tremor and terror transformed Japan
WHO COULD have known that on an ordinary Monday morning in 1995 a commute in Tokyo would turn into a scene from hell? On March 20th five members of Aum Shinrikyo, a doomsday cult, boarded separate trains on the capital's subway carrying bags filled with sarin, a deadly nerve gas. The poison spread through the packed carriages; 14 people died and thousands were injured. 'I still wonder: am I dreaming? Did the attack really happen?" says Sakahara Atsushi, a film-maker caught in the attack who still has symptoms today. For a country as safe and orderly as Japan, the terrorist attack was an unimaginable shock. It came just two months after the Great Hanshin earthquake, a 6.9-magnitude disaster that killed more than 6,000 and left 45,000 homeless. The scale of the Kobe quake caught both residents and authorities off guard. It was the largest tremor to hit a big Japanese city since 1923. Today, Kobe has been completely rebuilt, and the Aum leaders were executed in 2018. But the trauma of these two disasters remains etched in the Japanese psyche. The disasters struck a Japan already reeling economically. After decades as a powerhouse, it suffered a terrific crash of stock and property prices in 1991-92 as its asset bubble burst. Many believed that the downturn would be short-lived—but 1995 shattered even that remaining confidence. The Kobe earthquake exposed a government that was suffocating in red tape. Swiss rescue dogs sent to find survivors were stuck in quarantine, and the Self-Defence Forces (SDF) arrived too late. The once-vaunted 'iron triangle" of bureaucrats, politicians and business that powered Japan's growth 'began to look rusty", says Jeff Kingston of Temple University in Japan. 'There was a marked change in the Japanese consciousness 'before' and 'after' these events," wrote Murakami Haruki, a renowned novelist, in 1997. These two 'nightmarish eruptions", he observed, triggered a 'critical inquiry into the very roots of the Japanese state". Just a couple of years earlier, foreign observers still feared Japanese dominance; 'Rising Sun", a 1993 Hollywood thriller, revolved around sinister Japanese businessmen. But Japan's mood turned gloomy after 1995. The media fixated on how Aum's recruits included elite-university graduates. Thirty years on, Japan still lives in the shadow of 1995. Roam around Tokyo, and you may notice something amiss: public bins are scarce, removed following the sarin attack. Even those born after the attack recoil at the name 'Aum". Recently, Banyan nervously attended a study session run by Hikari no Wa—a group that splintered from Aum Shinrikyo. The session seemed innocuous (to your correspondent's relief), focusing on breathing techniques, meditation and Buddhist teachings. But outside the building hung angry banners that read: 'We will never forget the sarin incident!!" 'Your group must be dissolved!" A policeman stood watch, too. Suspicion of marginal religious sects resurfaced in 2022 after Yamagami Tetsuya assassinated a former prime minister, Abe Shinzo, citing grievances against the Unification Church (also known as 'the Moonies"), a group with ties to the ruling party. The government has since moved to dissolve the group, and a court ordered it to do so this week—a rare step, taken in only a handful of cases, most notably against Aum Shinrikyo. Though the two groups are not remotely comparable, the backlash against the Moonies, including their dodgy recruitment tactics, carried echoes of the 1995 trauma. Political leaders now struggle to lift Japan out of its malaise that began with the bubble's collapse—what started as a 'lost decade" has stretched to over three decades of stagnation. When Ishiba Shigeru, the current prime minister, recently said he wanted to build a 'fun Japan", critics slammed him as tone-deaf, arguing he should focus on solving economic hardships instead. But 1995 also left a positive legacy. The earthquake inspired what came to be known as 'Year one of volunteering"—with over a million helpers flocking to the disaster zone. Civil society flourished. When the Tohoku earthquake struck in 2011, the SDF mobilised immediately. Since 1995, 'Japan has come to realise it needs to prepare for risk," says Fukuda Mitsuru at Nihon University in Tokyo. What emerged from that terrible year was a Japan that no longer believes it is invincible, but can face its vulnerabilities. Subscribers to The Economist can sign up to our Opinion newsletter, which brings together the best of our leaders, columns, guest essays and reader correspondence.
Express Tribune
20-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Japan passes 'Active cyber defense' taking effect from 2027
Japan has officially enacted the Active Cyber Defense Law, authorising preemptive offensive cyber operations in a major departure from its longstanding pacifist security framework. The legislation, passed by the House of Councillors on Friday following earlier approval by the House of Representatives, empowers Japanese government agencies to neutralise cyber threats before they materialise, including by infiltrating and disabling foreign servers suspected of launching attacks against Japan. The law allows Japan's Self-Defence Forces and police to proactively monitor, investigate and disrupt hostile cyber infrastructure, including international communications that transit through or terminate in Japan. However, domestic communications and the content of messages such as email bodies remain excluded from surveillance, in line with constitutional privacy protections. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the law is designed to allow Japan to 'identify and respond to cyberattacks more quickly and effectively,' and expressed the government's intention to elevate the country's cyber capabilities to match those of the United States and major European powers. The law, which will be fully operational by 2027, also introduces a robust oversight mechanism. An independent review panel will be responsible for authorising data acquisition and offensive cyber measures, while a new national cybersecurity office will coordinate responses among relevant agencies. The legislation comes in response to growing cyber threats targeting Japanese infrastructure and institutions. In April, Japan's Financial Services Agency warned of hundreds of millions of yen in unauthorised trades linked to compromised brokerage accounts. In March, a major breach at telecom firm NTT affected the data of nearly 18,000 corporate clients. In December, a cyberattack disrupted operations at Japan Airlines, temporarily halting ticket sales. While the ruling Liberal Democratic Party led the push for the bill, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party also backed it in the upper house, stressing the importance of safeguarding citizens' rights. Lawmakers introduced amendments to address public concerns, including penalties of up to 2 million yen or four years' imprisonment for any official found misusing surveillance powers. The law also mandates businesses to report cyberattacks and supports the creation of joint cyber defence bases staffed by both police and military personnel. The government emphasised that it would engage the public and private sectors in building cyber resilience and protecting national security in an increasingly hostile digital environment.
Time of India
15-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Japan starts emergency inspections on nearly 200 military training planes after crash
A member of Japan's Self-Defence Forces held debris from an Air Self-Defence Force trainer jet after they retrieved from a reservoir in Inuyama, central Japan, following the trainer jet crash Wednesday (Image: AP) Japan 's air force has begun emergency safety inspections on all of its nearly 200 military training aircraft after one of the planes crashed minutes after takeoff, officials said Thursday. The T-4 training aircraft, operated by the Japan Air Self-Defence Force, or JASDF, and carrying two service members, crashed into a reservoir Wednesday, minutes after taking off from Komaki Air Base in the central Japanese prefecture of Aichi. While the search operation for the missing aircraft and the two crew members continued Thursday, the military announced that it had started emergency inspections on all remaining 196 of the training planes deployed at JASDF bases across the country. Their operation has been suspended since the crash and they will remain grounded until the cause is identified and safety checks are completed, Hiroaki Uchikura, the air force chief of staff, told reporters on Wednesday. The crash is the latest in a series of defence aircraft accidents in recent years and comes at a time when Japan is accelerating a military buildup to deter China's influence in the region and double its defence spending, raising concern that funding for weapons may be prioritised over safety measures. The crashed plane was a 36-year-old T-4 operated out of Nyutabaru Air Base, in the southern prefecture of Miyazaki. It wasn't fitted with a voice recorder or a flight data recorder , a setback for the investigation. Defence minister Gen Nakatani on Thursday announced plans to promptly fit the training aircraft with voice and flight data recording equipment. The JASDF said Thursday the plane experienced trouble when it reached an altitude of 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) about one minute after takeoff. Kyodo News agency said that air traffic control didn't receive any contact from the T-4 aircraft about an emergency. The force said the plane was lost from radar two minutes after departure and crashed into a reservoir called the Iruka pond, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) northeast of the air base. Witnesses told the NHK national broadcaster that they heard a loud noise like thunder at the time of the crash. Debris believed to be of the aircraft, as well as lifesaving equipment and helmets of the crew were found near the reservoir.
The Star
06-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Japan and China accuse each other of airspace 'violation' near disputed islands
BEIJING/TOKYO/MANILA (AFP): Tokyo and Beijing exchanged diplomatic protests, each accusing the other of "violating" national airspace, after a Chinese helicopter and coast guard vessels faced off with a Japanese aircraft around disputed islands. The islands in the East China Sea -- known as the Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan -- are administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing and are a frequent hotspot in bilateral tensions. China's foreign ministry said in a statement Sunday it had lodged "solemn representations" with the Japanese embassy's chief minister after "a civilian aircraft intruded into the airspace of the Diaoyu Islands", calling it an "illegal infringement activity". A day earlier, the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement that its vice minister lodged "a strong protest" with the Chinese ambassador to Japan "over the intrusion of four China Coast Guard vessels into Japan's territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands". The vice minister also protested "the violation of Japan's territorial airspace by a helicopter launched from one of the China Coast Guard vessels, strongly urging (China) to ensure that similar acts do not recur". Japan's defence ministry said the helicopter flew within Japanese airspace for about 15 minutes on Saturday near the Senkaku islands. "The Self-Defence Forces responded by scrambling fighter jets," the ministry said. Public broadcaster NHK and other local media reported that this is the first time a Chinese government helicopter violated the Japanese airspace off the disputed islands. China's coast guard on Saturday announced it had used a helicopter to "expel" a Japanese aeroplane from airspace around the disputed islands. Liu Dejun, a spokesperson for China's coast guard, said a Japanese civilian aircraft "illegally entered" the airspace of the islands at 11:19 am (0219 GMT) and left five minutes later. Beijing frequently announces it has driven Japanese vessels and aircraft away from the islands, but Japanese officials have told AFP that Chinese authorities sometimes announce expulsions when none have occurred. Unnamed Japanese officials told local media that Beijing was possibly reacting to a small Japanese civilian aircraft flying near the islands. Chinese and Japanese patrol vessels in the East China Sea have routinely staged dangerous face-offs around disputed islands. Tensions between China and other claimants to parts of the East and South China Seas have driven Japan to deepen ties with the Philippines and the United States. - AFP
Straits Times
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Japan, China accuse each other of airspace 'violation' near disputed islands
The islands in the East China Sea are administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing and are a frequent hotspot in bilateral tensions. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM Japan, China accuse each other of airspace 'violation' near disputed islands Beijing - Tokyo and Beijing exchanged diplomatic protests, each accusing the other of 'violating' national airspace, after a Chinese helicopter and coast guard vessels faced off with a Japanese aircraft around disputed islands. The islands in the East China Sea – known as the Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan – are administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing and are a frequent hotspot in bilateral tensions. China's foreign ministry said in a statement on May 4 it had lodged 'solemn representations' with the Japanese embassy's chief minister after 'a civilian aircraft intruded into the airspace of the Diaoyu Islands', calling it an 'illegal infringement activity'. A day earlier, the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement that its vice-minister lodged 'a strong protest' with the Chinese ambassador to Japan 'over the intrusion of four China Coast Guard vessels into Japan's territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands'. The vice-minister also protested 'the violation of Japan's territorial airspace by a helicopter launched from one of the China Coast Guard vessels, strongly urging (China) to ensure that similar acts do not recur'. Japan's defence ministry said the helicopter flew within Japanese airspace for about 15 minutes on May 3 near the Senkaku islands. 'The Self-Defence Forces responded by scrambling fighter jets,' the ministry said. Public broadcaster NHK and other local media reported that this is the first time a Chinese government helicopter violated the Japanese airspace off the disputed islands. China's coast guard on May 3 announced it had used a helicopter to 'expel' a Japanese aeroplane from airspace around the disputed islands. Mr Liu Dejun, a spokesperson for China's coast guard, said a Japanese civilian aircraft 'illegally entered' the airspace of the islands at 11.19am and left five minutes later. Beijing frequently announces it has driven Japanese vessels and aircraft away from the islands, but Japanese officials have told AFP that Chinese authorities sometimes announce expulsions when none have occurred. Unnamed Japanese officials told local media that Beijing was possibly reacting to a small Japanese civilian aircraft flying near the islands. Chinese and Japanese patrol vessels in the East China Sea have routinely staged dangerous face-offs around disputed islands. Tensions between China and other claimants to parts of the East and South China Seas have driven Japan to deepen ties with the Philippines and the United States. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
