https://www.scmp.com/rss/523472/feed The latest news and top stories on Yoichi Shimada. Known for his close association with the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Shimada is a prominent political scientist and professor of International Politics at Fukui Prefectural University. He is also a senior fellow at the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals, focusing on US politics and diplomacy. Recently elected to the far-right Conservative Party, he advocates for energy policies utilising nuclear and thermal power and has voiced... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Ahead of US President Donald Trump’s second term, conservative groups in Japan – from right-leaning media outlets to politicians – celebrated his return to the White House as a golden opportunity for Tokyo to deepen trade with the world’s largest economy and cement its role as Washington’s key security partner in Asia. Just over a year later, that optimism has faded. The same commentators who once predicted that Japan and the US would prosper together under Trump’s leadership, marching in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3340755/japans-conservatives-turn-sour-trump-fears-abandonment-deepen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3340755/japans-conservatives-turn-sour-trump-fears-abandonment-deepen?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2026 03:00:09 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall When Sanae Takaichi welcomed Donald Trump to Tokyo this week, she did so with a blend of deference and purpose that has divided opinion in Japan. While detractors derided her overzealous flattery of the US president and warned against pandering to power, many at home saw a Japanese prime minister deftly securing her nation’s interests amid Trump’s unpredictability. “Takaichi’s strategy was clear from the outset,” said Tsutomu Harada, a retired businessman from Tokyo. “It was to make use of the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330790/japans-pm-wooed-trump-charm-offensive-did-she-go-too-far?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330790/japans-pm-wooed-trump-charm-offensive-did-she-go-too-far?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:00:13 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Japan has launched a study into how foreign governments regulate the sale of land and property to non-citizens, with analysts suggesting that lax existing laws make it too easy for “bad actors” to obtain footholds that are detrimental to the domestic economy and national security. The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported on Monday that the Japanese government was studying how Canada, Germany, South Korea and Taiwan regulate property purchases or rentals by foreign nationals, with their laws... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3328832/japan-fears-over-foreign-owned-land-prompt-review-sales-deter-bad-actors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3328832/japan-fears-over-foreign-owned-land-prompt-review-sales-deter-bad-actors?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Oct 2025 01:30:10 +0000 Nancy Wang Nancy Wang A highly anticipated Chinese film that over 3 million users have marked as “want to see” on the Chinese ticket-selling platform Maoyan has sparked discussion on Weibo after its release was changed from July 31 to the more ambiguous “2025”. The film, 731, exposes the grievous biological and chemical experiments committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Kwantung Army in Northeast China during the Sino-Japanese war and World War II. Directed by filmmaker Zhao Linshan and starring well-known mainland... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3320268/chinese-netizens-riled-over-delay-731-film-about-horrific-japanese-human-experiments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3320268/chinese-netizens-riled-over-delay-731-film-about-horrific-japanese-human-experiments?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Jul 2025 09:15:08 +0000