Sean Coughlan from BBC News:
The King’s speech talked of the close friendship between the UK and Japan.
“Ours is a partnership with deep roots,” said the King, in areas of science, culture, defence and trade."
He also referenced some Japanese contributions to popular culture, including the Hello Kitty brand and mentioned the “Pokemon phrase ‘gotta catch ‘em all’”.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world...
Shimpei Kawakami from Nikkei:
European countries are sending more air and sea forces to Asia for defense exercises with Japan, bringing them closer to what remains a distant security challenge: China.
A destroyer from Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force held an exercise with a Turkish navy corvette on Sunday. Earlier this month, a Dutch frigate participated in the Netherlands' first joint exercise with an MSDF destroyer before heading to the upcoming U.S.-led international Rim of the Pacific exercise off Hawaii.
Regardless if anyone will say it out loud, but Japan is clearly a hub for a greater Pacific alliance of western nations against China, Russia, and North Korea. The real question is if Abe's dream of expanding the SDF into a military will become reality within this framework.