Nipponica

Palau is appealing to Japan for help monitoring Chinese maritime activity within its exclusive economic zone. Analysts say Tokyo has assisted other nations with similar challenges in the past and may be willing to do so again to counter Beijing’s growing influence in the region.

The Pacific island nation’s national security coordinator, Jennifer Anson, described the “challenges” it has faced in recent years in an interview with Japanese national broadcaster NHK on Monday. Chinese research vessels have repeatedly been spotted operating not only within Palau’s EEZ, but also “hovering” dangerously close to the crucial underwater fibre optic cables that connect the remote territory to the rest of the world, she said.

Pesek said that the Japanese government had been “pretty certain that Biden had this well in hand.” However, following the recent turmoil in Biden’s party, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is now reappraising the odds of a “Trump 2.0 presidency.”

“I think the issue with Trump, he’s very transactional, he’s not very predictable. He’s not very loyal in terms of relationships anywhere. Never mind Asia. If you’re Japan, they’re looking at the future and wondering, ‘this could be a fascinating few years for for us.’” Pesek said.

Carrying on from yesterday, a contrasting view on a second Trump reign from the Japanese perspective. The variable of his unpredictability alone makes this a more realistic scenario for Japan.

Craftspeople have now started laying tiles, which are made from mudstone and red clay sourced from the prefecture.

Carpenters plan to cover the roof with about 60,000 tiles by the end of this year. The reconstruction of the main hall is scheduled to be completed by autumn of 2026.

Great that the castle restoration is progressing. I was lucky to visit it before the fire and I hope that the restoration is just as majestic.

It aims to build a system that distributes information via the Michibiki satellites about natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunami that is issued by the countries’ governments to local residents.

The Japanese government expects that people in the island nations will utilize the information for evacuation from tsunami and other prevention measures, as local people can get accurate information even if ground-based telecommunications systems are cut off.