Ukraine war triggers debate on Japan’s nuclear option

In a new and volatile strategic environment, a decades-old commitment on non-proliferation is up for discussion.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has rejected the idea of hosting US nuclear weapons facilities (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Pool/Getty Images)

PURNENDRA JAIN
THE INTERPRETER
Published 14 Mar 2022  

In the wake of the Ukraine conflict, Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former prime minister and now head of the largest faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has suggested that Japan consider hosting US nuclear weapons facilities on Japanese soil, similar to some European nations, such as Germany, which have nuclear sharing arrangements with the United States.

Abe’s suggestion was made in the context of Ukraine having renounced nuclear weapons in 1994, leaving itself vulnerable today. The announcement also comes on top of deepening concerns about China’s growing military assertiveness around Japan’s maritime space and beyond, and the dangerous situation on the Korean peninsula with threats from the nuclear-capable rocket-launching North Korea.

Debates over whether Japan should host nuclear weapons or even go fully nuclear are not new. In the mid-1970s, a book-length study by John Endicott considered the nuclear option. In the early 2000s, then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe (both of whom later served as prime minister) again raised this prospect. It was quickly put to rest by Japan’s security analysts. Discussion has since continued among political and scholarly communities as to whether Japan should go nuclear, opt for a nuclear sharing arrangement with the United States by hosting nuclear weapons, or maintain its current non-nuclear weapons status.

Some smaller conservative opposition parties want to include nuclear options in policy discussions while considering Japan’s strategic objectives.

This latest eruption though is in a different context. This time, chairman of the General Council of the LDP Tatsuo Fukuda, who like his father Yasuo Fukuda before him holds an influential ruling party post and is touted as a future prime minister, has suggested that “we must not shy away from any debate whatsoever”. Last year’s LDP party presidential candidate and current LDP policy chief Sanae Takaichi also favours a debate. Some smaller conservative opposition parties want to include nuclear options in policy discussions while considering Japan’s strategic objectives. The main opposition parties have, however, strongly resisted any such prospects, arguing in favour of Japan’s non-nuclear status.

Abe’s suggestion was promptly and solidly rejected by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, as well as by the leader of the Komeito, the junior coalition partner of the ruling LDP. Even Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi, Abe’s younger brother, adopted into the Kishi family, also dismissed the idea of hosting nuclear weapons on Japanese shores. Kishi may have expressed this view in order to align with his boss, Prime Minister Kishida, rather than reflecting his true thinking on the matter, given his political pedigree

.

There is significant public opposition to raising Japan’s defence spending to two per cent of GDP 

(Alan Wilson/Flickr)

Kishida quickly confirmed that Japan firmly adheres to the three non-nuclear principles adopted in 1967, to not possess, produce or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan’s territory. These principles remain sacrosanct, even though Japan has made substantial departures in defence and security matters in the past decade.

Abe’s comments can be understood in this context, which emanates from a rapidly evolving strategic environment, regionally as well as globally. As prime minister, Abe had introduced several policy initiatives that were unthinkable in previous decades, such as removing bans on defence-related exports, allowing Japan to work with allies and partners in collective self-defence, establishing Japan’s first National Security Council (NSC), and issuing the first-ever National Security Strategy (NSS).

Not only has the Kishida government announced an intended update to the NSS, first issued in 2013, it has also promised to revise the National Defence Program Guidelines and Mid-Term Defence Program issued in 2013 and 2018. All these updates and revisions are undertaken in view of a rapid transformation in the strategic environment.

The long-time self-imposed constraints on Japan’s defence spending, keeping it to less than one per cent of GDP, are also likely to be breached soon.

The Kishida government is likely to go even further and consider acquiring strike capabilities to ensure Japan’s territorial integrity and the safety of its people as well as protect US military assets in Japan, including some 50,000 US defence personnel.

The long-time self-imposed constraints on Japan’s defence spending, keeping it to less than one per cent of GDP, are also likely to be breached soon. The LDP under Kishida’s leadership has promoted for the first time the idea of spending two per cent of GDP in its policy documents just before the last general election in October 2021. Although such a change seems unlikely any time soon due to Japan’s poor fiscal health and significant public opposition, defence spending will definitely increase, as it has over the past decade.

Japan, along with Germany, has often been recognised as an example of a “civilian state”. Germany currently hosts US nuclear weapons facilities and, in view of the Ukraine conflict, has announced a significant increase to its defence budget. Calls are now being made to urge Japan to follow suit.

The postwar US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security has ensured that Japan has lived happily under US extended deterrence, including the nuclear umbrella. This arrangement is unlikely to change, barring an existential threat to Japan’s territory and sovereignty. But what seemed to be taboo in terms of Japan’s strategic policy – that is, breaching one per cent of GDP on defence spending and developing strike capabilities – is now being discussed seriously. No policy in international relations is eternal, it must change as a nation’s interests change.

GAIA LIVES

New island that emerged from the ocean off Japan is now visible from space

Hannah Osborne
Fri, November 10, 2023

The new island that emerged after an underwater volcanic eruption off Japan's Iwo Jima seen from space

A newborn island that recently emerged from the Pacific Ocean after an underwater volcanic eruption is now visible from space, images from the European Space Agency (ESA) reveal. The satellite images show the new landmass sitting around 0.6 mile (1 kilometer) off the coast off Japan's Iwo Jima island.

The submerged volcano began erupting on Oct. 21, with activity ramping up over the next 10 days. By Oct. 30, explosions were taking place every few minutes, according to a translated statement. The eruption threw large lumps of rock into the air, and shot a jet of gas and ash over 160 feet (50 meters) almost vertically above the water's surface.

Related: Scientists discover ancient, underwater volcano is still active — and covered in up to a million giant eggs

Since the volcano started erupting, "volcanic ash and rocks have piled up to form the new island, which is now also visible from space," a statement from the ESA said. The latest image was captured with the Landsat 9 satellite on Nov. 3. It shows Iwo Jima — which sits around 750 miles (1,200 km) south of Tokyo — before and after the latest eruption.

A close up of the new island that formed after a volcanic eruption.

Along with the new island, the volcano also produced a sea of floating pumice — an extremely porous type of rock that forms during explosive eruptions. New analysis of this pumice found its chemical composition differed from that of ejecta from other volcanoes in this chain, according to a different translated statement. The pumice likely came from an eruption along the back-arc rift zone — the area behind a volcanic arc, the statement noted.

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The latest eruption is in almost the exact same spot as one that took place in July 2022, suggesting magma activity is resuming at Iwo Jima. The eruption has now subsided, Yuji Usui, an analyst with the Japan Meteorological Agency, told the AP.

The new island was approximately 330 feet (100 m) wide and up to 66 feet (20 m) high, but it appears to be shrinking as the waves erode the "crumbly" rock, Usui said. Whether the new island will survive is unclear and depends on what it is made of: If it is lava, it could remain for longer. "We just have to see the development," he told the AP.

A volcanic eruption gave birth to a new island, and a NASA satellite saw it from space (photo)

Robert Lea
Fri, November 10, 2023 

A split-screen image of an island formed from a volcano eruption.

A NASA satellite has spotted a newly formed island off the coast of Japan that experienced a fiery birth at the end of October.

The joint NASA/U.S. Geological Survey satellite Landsat-9 saw the island rise from the sea off the coast of Iwo Jima island, part of the Volcano Islands archipelago in south Japan, on Nov. 3.

The island was born 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) south of Tokyo between 12:20 and 12:35 local time on Oct. 30 when blisteringly hot magma fell into the ocean and exploded, creating chunks of rock several feet long more than 160 feet (50 meters) into the air, according to the University of Tokyo.

"According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the eruption appears to have started on October 21, 2023," University of Tokyo researchers wrote. "The location of this eruption is almost the same as the 2022 eruption location and is thought to indicate the resumption of magma activity on Iwo Jima."

The underwater eruptions broke the ocean's surface at two locations in the form of explosions at the southern tip of Iwo Jima, and rocks gathered to the north of these explosions. This growing rubble pile eventually formed a 330-foot (100-meter) wide island, around half a mile (1 kilometer) from Iwo Jima, sat in discolored water littered with very porous rock called pumice.

An extremely light rock, pumice is created when lava with a very high content of water and gases is discharged from a volcano. As gas bubbles escape this lava, it becomes "frothy," cooling and hardening into a bubble-filled rock.

Landsat-9 saw the island from its position 438 miles (705 kilometers) above Earth on Nov. 3, and this image was compared to observations of the region collected by the same satellite on Oct. 18 in which the island was not present.

The birth of the island was witnessed by a craft much closer to home when an aircraft owned by Mainichi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, was the initial stages of an underwater eruption in the southern part of the Izu-Ogasawara arc — an oceanic trench in the western Pacific Ocean.

The site of the new island has been a hotbed of underwater eruptions of steam and lava over recent years, University of Toyko researchers said, adding that this is one of the fastest-rising caldera volcanoes — a large depression formed when a volcano erupts and collapses — in the world.

Watch: New island appears off Japan coast – but it might not last long
Danielle Demetriou
Fri, November 10, 2023 

Earth and sand are sent into the air above a new islet off the coast of Iwoto island in Ogasawara, Tokyo, Japan - The Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images


A small new island has appeared unexpectedly off the coast of Japan following the eruption of an undersea volcano, although experts warn it may be washed away before long.

The land mass emerged from the Pacific Ocean after the volcano began a series of underwater eruptions late last month near the Ogasawara island chain.

It sits around 745 miles south of Tokyo and half a mile off Iwo Jima.

Eruptions led to volcanic ash and rocks accumulating on a shallow seabed and within 10 days, the tip of the unnamed island eventually emerged above the water.

The newly formed land mass then continued to grow, expanding to dimensions of around 330 feet in diameter, with a highest point of some 66 feet above sea level, by early November.

But volcanic activity at the site has since subsided and the island has now begun to shrink because its “crumbly” formation is easily washed away by waves, according to Yuji Usui, an analyst in the Japan Meteorological Agency’s volcanic division.

“We just have to see the development,” he said. “But the island may not last very long.”

The new landmass has risen from waters about half a mile off the coast of Iwoto – a volcanic island previously known as Iwo Jima, which was the scene of intense fighting during the Second World War.

In this aerial photo, plume billows out from the water off the Ioto island, following an eruption in Ogasawara, southern Tokyo, Japan - Kyodo News via AP

Fukashi Maeno, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute, discussed the creation of the island after flying over the site late last month.

Magma and seawater reportedly interacted to cause plumes of smoke to rise as high as 160 feet into the air every few minutes during eruptions, with large rocks also spewed from the waters, Mr Maeno told local media.

The intensity of the eruptions also caused the seawater to change colour, while pumice stones were spotted floating around the new island, he added.

The emergence of a new island is the latest in a long history of intense volcanic activity for Japan, one of the most seismically sensitive countries in the world, with more than 100 active volcanoes.

Undersea volcanoes and seismic activities have formed new islands in the past.

In 2013, an eruption at Nishinoshima in the Pacific Ocean south of Tokyo led to the formation of a new island, which kept growing during a decade long eruption of the volcano.

Located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Japanese archipelago spans the convergence of several major tectonic plates, resulting in centuries of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Experts are currently monitoring the region surrounding the new island to determine whether it will become a permanent fixture on Japan’s map or disappear.

The new island could survive longer if it is made of lava, or something more durable than volcanic rocks such as pumice.

An official at the Japan Meteorological Agency told local media: “If only a cinder eruption, as it is now, it will be eroded by waves and is unlikely to remain for a long time, but if it turns into an eruption with lava, it may remain for quite a while.”

New island forms in Japan after undersea volcano erupts but experts warn it may not last long

Joanna Adhem
Fri, November 10, 2023

In a remarkable event that unfolded three weeks ago, the eruption of an undersea volcano off the southern coast of Iwo Jima has created a new island.

Despite the awe-inspiring nature of this phenomenon, experts caution that the newfound landmass may not last long.

The unnamed undersea volcano, located roughly 1 kilometre off the coast of Iwo Jima - known as Ioto in Japan - and 1,200 kilometres south of Tokyo, erupted on October 21.

In just 10 days, volcanic ash and rocks built up on the shallow seabed, forming an island that emerged from below the water's surface.

By early November it was approximately 100 meters in diameter and had reached a height of 20 meters above sea level, according to Yuji Usui from the Japan Meteorological Agency's volcanic division.

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How long do experts think the island will last?

Two similar undersea eruptions have been documented in recent years, but the emergence of a distinct landmass is a rare occurrence.

The fragile nature of its composition, described as "crumbly" by Usui, makes it susceptible to erosion by ocean waves. Ongoing analysis by experts includes an examination of the deposits to determine exactly what it is made of.

It is still possible that the island could survive for a more extended period if it is composed of more durable materials such as lava, as opposed to the easily weathered volcanic rocks like pumice.

Japan has 111 of the roughly 1,500 active volcanoes in the world, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. It sits on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire” - a 40,000-kilometre-long chain of volcanos and seismically active sites which is home to much of the world’s volcanic and earthquake activity.

Watch the video above to learn more about Japan's newest volcanic island.

Volcano creates a new island off Japan, but it may not last

The Associated Press
Fri, November 10, 2023 



TOKYO (AP) — An undersea volcano erupted off Japan three weeks ago, providing a rare view of the birth of a tiny new island, but experts say it may not last very long.

The unnamed undersea volcano, located about 1 kilometer (half a mile) off the southern coast of Iwo Jima, which Japan calls Ioto, started its latest series of eruptions on Oct. 21.

Within 10 days, volcanic ash and rocks piled up on the shallow seabed, its tip rising above the sea surface. By early November, it became a new island about 100 meters (328 feet) in diameter and as high as 20 meters (66 feet) above the sea, according to Yuji Usui, an analyst in the Japan Meteorological Agency’s volcanic division.

This aerial photo shows steam billowing from the waters off Iwoto Island, Ogasawara town in the Pacific Ocean, southern Tokyo, on Oct. 30, 2023. A new island, 100 meters in diameter, formed by erupted rock, is seen near the steam, according to Kyodo News. (Kyodo News via AP)More


In this photo provided by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, steam billows from the waters off Ioto island, Ogasawara town in the Pacific Ocean, southern Tokyo, on Nov. 1, 2023. An unnamed undersea volcano, located about 1 kilometer (half a mile) off the southern coast of Iwo Jima, which Japan calls Ioto, started its latest series of eruptions on Oct. 21. (Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force via AP)More


In this aerial photo, plume billows from the water off the Ioto island, following an eruption in Ogasawara, southern Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 30, 2023. An unnamed undersea volcano, located about 1 kilometer (half a mile) off the southern coast of Iwo Jima, which Japan calls Ioto, started its latest series of eruptions on Oct. 21. (Kyodo News via AP)More


In this aerial photo, plume billows out from the water off the Ioto island, following an eruption in Ogasawara, southern Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 30, 2023. An unnamed undersea volcano, located about 1 kilometer (half a mile) off the southern coast of Iwo Jima, which Japan calls Ioto, started its latest series of eruptions on Oct. 21. (Kyodo News via AP)More


In this aerial photo, plume billows from the water off the Ioto island, seen rear, following an eruption in Ogasawara, southern Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 30, 2023. An unnamed undersea volcano, located about 1 kilometer (half a mile) off the southern coast of Iwo Jima, which Japan calls Ioto, started its latest series of eruptions on Oct. 21. (Kyodo News via AP)More


This aerial photo shows steam billowing from the waters off Iwoto Island, Ogasawara town in the Pacific Ocean, southern Tokyo, on Oct. 30, 2023. A new island, 100 meters in diameter, formed by erupted rock, is seen near the steam, according to Kyodo News. (Kyodo News via AP)More


This aerial photo shows steam billowing from the waters off Iwoto Island, Ogasawara town in the Pacific Ocean, southern Tokyo, on Oct. 30, 2023. A new island, 100 meters in diameter, formed by erupted rock, is seen near the steam, according to Kyodo News. (Kyodo News via AP)More


In this aerial photo, smoke billows from the water off the Ioto island, following an eruption in Ogasawara, southern Tokyo, Japan on Oct. 30, 2023. An unnamed undersea volcano, located about 1 kilometer (half a mile) off the southern coast of Iwo Jima, which Japan calls Ioto, started its latest series of eruptions on Oct. 21. (Kyodo News via AP)More


In this aerial photo, plume billows from the water off the Ioto island, following an eruption in Ogasawara, southern Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 30, 2023. An unnamed undersea volcano, located about 1 kilometer (half a mile) off the southern coast of Iwo Jima, which Japan calls Ioto, started its latest series of eruptions on Oct. 21. (Kyodo News via AP)More

Volcanic activity has increased near Iwo Jima and similar undersea eruptions have occurred in recent years, but the formation of a new island is a significant development, Usui said.

Volcanic activity at the site has since subsided, and the newly formed island has somewhat shrunk because its “crumbly” formation is easily washed away by waves, Usui said.

He said experts are still analyzing the development, including details of the deposits. The new island could survive longer if it is made of lava or something more durable than volcanic rocks such as pumice.

“We just have to see the development,” he said. “But the island may not last very long.”

Undersea volcanoes and seismic activities have formed new islands in the past.

In 2013, an eruption at Nishinoshima in the Pacific Ocean south of Tokyo led to the formation of a new island, which kept growing during a decadelong eruption of the volcano.

Also in 2013, a small island surfaced from the seabed after a massive 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan. In 2015, a new island was formed as a result of a monthlong eruption of a submarine volcano off the coast of Tonga.

Of about 1,500 active volcanoes in the world, 111 are in Japan, which sits on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Iwo Jima was the site of some of the fiercest fighting of World War II, and the photograph taken by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal of a flag-raising atop the island’s Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945, came to symbolize the Pacific War and the valor of the U.S. Marines.

World’s newest island forms off the coast of Japan thanks to undersea volcano

Rebecca Olds
Fri, November 10, 2023

In this photo provided by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, steam billows from the waters off Ioto island, Ogasawara town in the Pacific Ocean, southern Tokyo, on Nov. 1, 2023. An unnamed undersea volcano, located about half a mile off the southern coast of Iwo Jima, which Japan calls Ioto, started its latest series of eruptions on Oct. 21. 

| Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force 


A new island formed a week ago off the coast of the Japanese island Iwo Jima thanks to the work of an undersea volcano.

The unnamed volcano first began erupting on Oct. 21 and has spewed enough volcanic ash and rocks to start the formation of a new island, reported The Associated Press. The island is about 328 feet across and 66 feet above sea level.

One expert, Yuji Usui from the Japan Meteorological Agency’s volcanic division, told the AP that the island’s “crumbly” formation could be washed away by waves.

“We just have to see the development,” Usui said. “But the island may not last very long.”

For now, the volcano continues to eject a mixture of large gray particles and magma. No injuries have been reported from the event, reported The New York Times.
How can islands be created?

Islands can be created in a variety of ways, but the new island off the coast of Japan is attributed to the build-up of enough material from the underwater volcano that the pile has reached the surface, per The Associated Press.
Did Japan find 7,000 new islands?

The new island adds to the thousands discovered earlier this year in the region.

The Guardian reported that it was previously thought that the Japanese archipelago had around 6,000 smaller islands with four main ones. Then, digital mapping discovered that there were actually more than twice that many.

More than 7,000 new islands were discovered in early 2023.

Japan recounts its number of islands, discovering more than 7,000

How many islands make up Japan in 2023?

With the discovery earlier this year, Japanese geographers believe there are a total of 14,152 islands in the region.

And it’s possible that more, smaller islands will continue to pop up since the area is part of the “Ring of Fire” region, known for volcanoes, per The Associated Press. Currently, 111 out of the world’s 1,500 active volcanos are in Japan.
What type of volcano is found on the islands of Japan?

The main type of volcano found in Japan is the stratovolcano, or composite volcano, per the National Parks of Japan. These volcanoes are created by layer after layer of ash and rock, especially pumice. There are also cinder cones and lava dome volcanoes in the country.
Are there any active volcanoes in Japan?

Most of the volcanos in Japan are considered “active” because they’ve erupted in the past 10,000 years, including the most famous Mount Fuji volcano, which hasn’t erupted since 1707, per the National Parks of Japan.

Sakurajima is considered the most active in the country because it experiences small eruptions almost daily, per the travel website Japan Guide.

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UPDATED

Japan earthquake: Fires hit quake zone as rescuers race to reach survivors

3 January 2024 Share on Linked In

Emergency services are in a "race against time" to rescue survivors. 

Photo: STR / Yomiuri Shimbun / AFP

Rescue efforts continue in Japan after at least 62 people were killed in a powerful earthquake that hit the country on New Year's Day.

Homes collapsed, buildings caught fire and roads were extensively damaged, hindering the work of rescue services.

The epicentre of the 7.6 quake was the Noto peninsula, in central Japan.

The Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, said emergency services were locked in a "race against time" to rescue survivors.

On Tuesday, Mr Kishida also said some 3000 rescuers were trying to reach parts of the Noto peninsula. Helicopter surveys showed many fires and widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure. The city of Wajima, on the northern tip of Noto, has been cut off from land routes.

In the coastal city of Suzu in Ishikawa prefecture, some 90 percent of homes in the city had been "completely or nearly completely destroyed", mayor Masushiro Izumiya told news outlet Kyodo.

The Japanese military has been handing out supplies including food, water and blankets for those who have had to vacate their homes. The country's government has said that 57,360 people had to be evacuated.

Tens of thousands of meals are being delivered across the affected region.

The epicentre of the 7.6 quake was the Noto peninsula, in central Japan. 

Photo: AFP

Aftershocks continued throughout Monday and Tuesday. Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi warned people to "be alert" for more earthquakes "of an intensity of up to 7" in the coming week.

Ishikawa, 155km (96.3 miles) south of the Noto peninsula, experienced a 4.9 quake on Tuesday afternoon.

The major tsunami warnings put out by the Japanese government on Monday were later downgraded. By Tuesday, all tsunami advisories were lifted along the Sea of Japan, meaning there was no longer a risk of such an event.

Residents of the affected area of Japan have been sharing their experiences of the quake, which lasted several minutes.

An 82-year-old resident of Nanao, Toshio Iwahama, told the BBC that his wooden home had partially collapsed. He said that despite living through multiple earthquakes, he had never experienced tremors of this magnitude.

Many also said the quake reminded them of the devastating 2011 earthquake.

 Photo: AFP / MASANORI INAGAKI

Briton Emma Ward, 41, who was on a skiing holiday in the resort village of Hakuba, said the quake had hit "without warning", prompting her group to take shelter under a table in a café. She told the BBC that the intensity of the tremors caused people to flee the building entirely, she said. "The worst part during the earthquake was not knowing how intense it was going to become. It's a very frightening experience," Ward said.

Many also said the quake reminded them of the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed 18,000 people and triggered an accident at a nuclear plant in Fukushima.

In an incident unrelated to the earthquake, a Japan Airlines plane caught fire on Tuesday as it collided with a coastguard aircraft on its way to provide earthquake relief at Tokyo's Haneda airport.

Five people on board the coastguard plane are known to have died, but the Japan Airlines plane's 379 passengers and crew managed to escape.

Japan is one of the most seismically active nations on Earth, owing to its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire.

Japan quake toll rises to 57, more tremors likely

Hiro Komae and Yuri Kageyama
Jan 03, 2024

A series of powerful earthquakes that hit western Japan left at least 57 people dead and damaged thousands of buildings, vehicles and boats as officials warned more quakes could lie ahead.

Aftershocks continued to shake Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas a day after a magnitude 7.6 temblor slammed the area on New Year’s Day.

The damage was so great that it could not immediately be assessed. Japanese media reports said tens of thousands of homes were destroyed.

Water, power and cell phone services were still down in some areas.

Two of the latest reported deaths came from Suzu, where the death toll grew to 22, according to city officials. In nearby Wajima city 24 people died.

Although casualty numbers continued to climb gradually, the prompt public warnings, relayed on broadcasts and phones, and the quick response from the general public and officials appeared to have limited some of the damage.

Toshitaka Katada, a University of Tokyo professor specialising in disasters, said people were prepared because the area had been hit by quakes in recent years. They had evacuation plans and stocks of emergency supplies.

“There are probably no people on earth who are as disaster-ready as the Japanese,” he told The Associated Press.

Japan is frequently hit by earthquakes because of its location along the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

Katada warned the situation remained precarious and unpredictable. A March 2011 quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan had been preceded by other quakes.

“This is far from over,” Katada said.

Japanese media’s aerial footage showed widespread damage in the hardest-hit spots, with landslides burying roads, boats tossed in the waters and a fire that had turned an entire section of Wajima city to ashes.

Japan’s military dispatched 1000 soldiers to the disaster zones to join rescue efforts, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday.

“Saving lives is our priority and we are fighting a battle against time,” he said. “It is critical that people trapped in homes get rescued immediately.”

A quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 shook the Ishikawa area as he was speaking. Quakes continued to rock the area, reaching more than 100 aftershocks over the past day.

Nuclear regulators said several nuclear plants in the region were operating normally.

On Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a major tsunami warning for Ishikawa and lower-level tsunami warnings or advisories for the rest of the western coast of Japan’s main island of Honshu, as well as for the northern island of Hokkaido.

The warning was downgraded several hours later, and all tsunami warnings were lifted as of early Tuesday. Waves measuring more than one metre hit some places.

Still, half-sunken ships floated in bays where tsunami waves had rolled in, leaving a muddied coastline.

People who were evacuated from their houses huddled in auditoriums, schools and community centres. Bullet trains in the region were halted, but services was mostly restored by Tuesday afternoon. Sections of highways were closed.

Weather forecasters predicted rain, setting off worries about crumbling buildings and infrastructure.

The region includes tourist spots famous for lacquerware and other traditional crafts, along with designated cultural heritage sites.

US President Joe Biden said in a statement that his administration was “ready to provide any necessary assistance for the Japanese people.”

-AAP

Japan: Land Shifts To West By 1.3 Meters After Series Of Earthquakes, Says Authority

The phenomenon of land sifting following the series of 155 earthquakes has been put forward by Japan's Geospatial Information Authority, known as GSI, after meticulous analysis of GPS data following the 7.6 magnitude quake

Visual from Japan's earthquake-hit Ishikawa Prefecture AP

Outlook Web Desk
UPDATED: 02 JAN 2024

As a crucial geological development amidst the catastrophic series of earthquakes in the island country of Japan, the land in the Noto region near the epicenter has shifted to the west by 1.3 meters. 155 powerful earthquakes rocked the Ishikawa Prefecture on Monday.
About the land shifting

The phenomenon of land sifting has been put forward by Japan's Geospatial Information Authority, known as GSI, after meticulous analysis of GPS data following the 7.6 magnitude quake. According to the geological watchdog, preliminary figures indicated that an observation point in Wajima City in Ishikawa Prefecture experienced the biggest shift, moving horizontally about 1.3 meters to the west.

Moreover, the data analysis also points to a westward shift of about 1 meter in Anamizu Town and 80 centimeters in Suzu City while an observation point in Nanao City's Notojima has been displaced by 60 centimeters northwest toward the Sea of Japan coast.

Land appears to have shifted about 20 centimeters to the northwest in the prefectures and Niigata. Several centimeters of land shifts were also observed in the Kanto-Koshin elsewhere.

Japan Earthquake: Death Toll Reaches 64, Major Aftershock Possible Over Next 7 Days

Japan Earthquake LIVE Updates: At least 62 people have died in quake-hit Japan, with the toll expected to go higher as many are said to be still stuck under collapsed houses

A series of powerful earthquakes that hit western Japan have damaged thousands of buildings, vehicle AP

Outlook Web Desk
UPDATED: 03 JAN 2024 

The death toll in Japan earthquakes has reached 64, with aftershocks still shaking parts of the country amid a warning that more quakes could lie ahead. The country has been hit by more than 155 earthquakes since Monday.

The Japan Meteorological Agency reported earthquakes hitting western Japan's Ishikawa and nearby prefectures shortly after 4 pm (local time) on Monday, with one of them measuring a preliminary magnitude of 7.4-7.6. A tsunami alert was issued for Ishikawa and nearby prefectures of the Japan sea side and huge waves began hitting the coast shortly.

Scary visuals of damaged houses, cracked open roads, and shaking buildings have emerged since then, suggesting that the death toll is expected to go higher. Japanese media reports said tens of thousands of homes were destroyed.

Water, power and cell phone service are also reportedly still down in some areas.

Japan Earthquake-Tsunami Latest Updates:

-64 Killed in Japan: Rescue operations are underway in earthquake-hit Japan, where officials say 64 people are confirmed dead and many still feared trapped under collapsed houses. Japan's Ishikawa prefecture, where majority of the earthquakes, including the one that measured 7.6, is the worst hit.

In Ishikawa prefecture's Wajima city, 25 houses are said to have collapsed while quake-triggered fires have also destroyed about 200 houses, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. In nearby Suzu City, officials confirmed more than 50 houses have been levelled.

ALSO READ | 155 Earthquakes Trigger Massive Tsunami Waves in Ishikawa

Japanese media's aerial footage showed widespread damage in the hardest-hit spots, with landslides burying roads, boats tossed in the waters and a fire that had turned an entire section of Wajima city to ashes.

-Thousands Without Electricity: Tens of thousands remain without electricity in Japan, while scores in affected prefectures are also sheltering at evacuation centres. Water supplies in some areas have been cut off, leaving residents to line up to receive drinking water, NHK reported.The quake also triggered mudslides that shut several roads

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This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a damaged neighborhood in Wajima, Japan, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024.AP

Major Aftershock Warning Issued: While casualty numbers continue to climb gradually, officials have warned people over for possible earthquakes with an intensity of seven on the Japanese scale over the next week. The Japanese scale runs from zero to seven, with seven being the strongest. The prompt public warnings relayed on broadcasts and phones, and the quick response from the general public and officials appeared to have limited some of the damage.

The highest-level tsunami alert, which was issued in Japan on Monday, has been lowered but residents of coastal areas have been asked not to return to their homes as deadly waves could still come.

ALSO READ: 'A Race Against Time To Save People': Scenes Of Devastation Strike Japan On New Year

-1,000 Soldiers Deployed: Japan's military has deployed 1,000 soldiers to the disaster zones to join rescue efforts, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday. "Saving lives is our priority and we are fighting a battle against time... It is critical that people trapped in homes get rescued immediately," news agency AP quoted Kishida as saying.

A quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 shook the Ishikawa area as PM Kishida was speaking.

Nuclear Plants Operating Normally: Nuclear regulators have said several nuclear plants in Ishikawa region were operating normally. The massive earthquake and tsunami of 2011 had caused three reactors to melt and release large amounts of radiation at a nuclear plant in northeastern Japan.

The price of peace: Why Japan scrapped a $4.2bn US missile system

Washington and Tokyo have been allies for 60 years. Both agree they're spending too much

IEKO MIKI, Nikkei staff writer AUGUST 5, 2020 

Costly, often delayed armaments were part of the price Tokyo paid for its U.S. alliance -- a relationship which has also helped support decades of pacifism and low defense expenditures. © Reuters

TOKYO -- Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono was seething after a June 3 briefing in his office. "Why didn't you figure that out sooner?" he snapped.

Officials had just learned of a critical flaw in a U.S.-made missile defense system that would derail a multibillion-dollar defense deal.

Three years previously, Japan had decided to buy the $4.2 billion system, known as Aegis Ashore, amid a fusillade of missile launches by North Korea -- not to mention veiled threats by U.S. President Donald Trump that its allies should spend more on their defenses, and buy American.


But now the Department of Defense was saying it would cost 200 billion yen ($1.89 billion) and take 12 years to fix a problem with the Aegis booster rocket, the one that Japanese officials had just discovered.

It turned out these boosters could fall in a much wider arc than previous estimates suggested, potentially hitting nearby residential areas in Yamaguchi and Akita prefectures where the system was to be based. Defense Ministry officials had only learned of the defect before informing Kono, who was furious.

In a previous era, canceling the project would have been off the table. Costly, often delayed armaments were part of the price Tokyo paid for its U.S. alliance, which dates from a 1960 treaty signed by current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's grandfather. Japan's reliance on Washington to ensure security has undergirded decades of Japanese pacifism and low defense expenditures.

But it has become clear that times have changed. The day after he was briefed, Kono went to Prime Minister Abe's office and told him, "We've just learned the system has a critical flaw. We cannot proceed with this plan."

Japan decided to buy the controversial Aegis Ashore missile defense system in 2017, in an overture of support towards the Trump administration. © Getty Images

Abe was surprised, but, persuaded by Kono's certainty, made the unusual decision to cancel the system.

Weeks later, the consequences of the decision continue to reverberate. Washington is puzzled, analysts say, seeing the booster debate as a mere pretext for a political decision the Americans do not fully understand.

Meanwhile, Japan is in the midst of an urgent debate over how to address the hole this leaves in the country's defenses. Some right-wing politicians see a long-awaited opportunity to rethink Japan's postwar stance and allow something previously unheard of: preemptive strikes against adversaries.

Amid this political tempest sits Kono, reckoned to be in contention as a future prime minister. He has seen his approval ratings steadily rise as the controversy focused attention on him, and in most recent polls he is among the top three candidates to succeed Abe, whose term ends in September 2021. Kono's rapid political ascent on the back of the Aegis decision indicates the amount of frustration seeping into the U.S.-Japan security partnership, increasingly seen by both sides as unfair.

A costly friendship

Even before his decision to cancel the program, Kono was widely considered a reformer. He has long criticized wasteful government spending. Eccentric by Japanese establishment standards, he has a penchant for wearing suspenders and carrying a small beige and violet case. He has never revealed what is inside, but aides joke that it is Japan's (nonexistent) "nuclear briefcase."

Other things set him apart from Japan's mainstream political class: his fluent English, the product of a Georgetown education and Capitol Hill internship, and his 1.6 million Twitter followers. And while he loves taking on the establishment, he himself is its embodiment in many ways, the scion of one of Japan's most formidable political dynasties.

His father was a foreign minister and president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and his grandfather was a deputy prime minister. But he has established himself as something of a maverick who has opposed traditional LDP positions on issues like nuclear power generation.

Kono has pursued what he sees as wasteful military spending with a passion. Soon after assuming the post of defense minister in 2019, he directed a broad review of purchasing U.S. hardware through special agreements known as foreign military sales, which symbolized what many Japanese see as a one-sided relationship.

Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono, flanked by aides and reporters at the 2019 G-20 Summit in Osaka. © Getty Images

FMS agreements require the buyer to accept all conditions put forward by the U.S. Buyers are not allowed to negotiate price. Defense ministry officials complain that delivery dates are "estimates," and delays, which incur no penalties, are common. All equipment required after the initial deal is an option to be paid separately, and cost overruns are endemic."

In January 2020, Kono broke what is almost an official taboo on criticizing the FMS: "Japan and the United States should speed up efforts to resolve the issue of undelivered and unsettled arms purchases." Aegis Ashore may have come into his crosshairs as part of this review, a project symbolic of the growing amount of FMS purchases in recent years. Kono asked officials to study potential outcomes if Japan were to cancel contracts for "equipment whose price has skyrocketed since its introduction was decided."

A Pentagon spokesperson said of the litany of Japanese complaints that they are "aware of concerns expressed by the Government of Japan about the FMS process" and that "The United States remains committed to addressing these and other issues, and maintaining our important and steadfast security cooperation partnership with Japan."

"We are continuously reforming the FMS process to make it more agile and effective," said Lt. Col. Uriah Orland, a Department of Defense spokesperson.

'Gold-star ally'

The decision to buy the $4.2 billion weapons system in 2017 had originally symbolized the lengths Tokyo would go to -- not just to protect itself from an unhinged Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, or an expansionist China, but from the rise of isolationism in the U.S. under the erratic presidency of Donald Trump.

Trump had campaigned for office by taking aim at Washington's world-spanning -- and expensive -- postwar alliance system. "We are spending a fortune on military in order to lose $800 billion [the U.S. trade deficit]. That doesn't sound like it's smart to me," he told The New York Times in 2016. He promised to make America's allies pay more for their own defense and stop them free-riding on the U.S.

After Trump's victory, Prime Minister Abe swung into action, portraying Japan as a model U.S. ally. He raced to be the first foreign leader to meet Trump after his election. Then, in November 2017, when Trump pressed Abe during a summit in Tokyo to purchase more U.S. defense equipment, Abe saw a chance to do his counterpart a favor. The next month, the Japanese cabinet approved a plan to deploy two units of Aegis Ashore. Japan's spending on U.S. military hardware jumped under the Trump administration, hitting a record high of 701.3 billion yen in fiscal 2019.


"The purchase of the Aegis Ashore system was part of Abe's push, in the early days of the Trump administration, to really be a gold-star U.S. ally," said Mira Rapp-Hooper of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, author of "Shields of the Republic: The Triumph and Peril of America's Alliances." "Of course, he was worried about winding up in Trump's crosshairs for Japan's relatively low defense spending."

Two years later, however, Japan's effort to be Washington's best friend in Asia has been seen to go sharply into reverse. The decision to cancel Aegis Ashore came without warning. Kono announced at a June 15 news conference that the government was ending its plans for deployment, and the National Security Council formalized the decision on June 24.

Kono's explanation left U.S. officials puzzled: If intercontinental ballistic missiles were headed to Japan, who cares if a booster rocket falls on a farmer's house? The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees the FMS contracts, declined to comment on the cancellation, describing it as an "internal government decision," Lt. Col. Orland said.

Even Japanese political insiders were confused. Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the LDP, and parliamentarians tied to the defense industry were caught by surprise. At a June 17 news conference, Nikai expressed his frustration, saying, "It is hard to describe [my feelings] about the decision, which was unilaterally released without any consultation."
Band of bothers: Abe and Trump, pictured at a November 2017 summit in Tokyo (EPA/Jiji)

But Abe's decision was also an attempt to strike a political balance. In fact, officials close to Abe insist domestic politics was his primary concern. The premier, who has stayed in office thanks to high approval ratings, has started to see his support plummet because of scandals and a botched response to the coronavirus pandemic. If Abe kept pushing forward with the deployment, even after it was clear that boosters could fall in residential areas, the administration would face even more criticism, one of Abe's aides pointed out. It would also appear weak if it accepted the additional cost of 200 billion yen.

Known flaws

But there is another reason mooted by experts about the collapse of the Aegis purchase: It simply would not work.

Northeast Asia is an increasingly dangerous neighborhood, with both a nuclear-armed North Korea and an expansionist China. According to a defense white paper released by the Japanese government in July, North Korea has tested 33 missiles since May 2019. These tests have included a simulated "saturation attack" where multiple missiles swarm a target, and it has also tested a lofted-trajectory missile, a type particularly difficult to shoot down.

Meanwhile, Chinese government ships sailed into the waters surrounding the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands for the 111th straight day on Sunday, having spent weeks testing boundaries in the East China and South China seas.

China 's defense spending has increased at double digits annually for much of the past three decades, while Japan's has only increased gradually over the same period. A new generation of Chinese weapons, particularly its ballistic missiles, could almost certainly defeat Japan's defenses. Overwhelming an expensive antimissile system is fairly straightforward, given that anti-ballistic missile interceptors are many times more expensive than their targets.

"When the government said Japan needed Aegis Ashore, we already knew that missile defense was not effective in all situations," Heigo Sato at Takushoku University said. "It would eventually take nearly a decade to deploy Aegis Ashore. In the meantime, our adversaries would be developing more effective weapons aimed at weakening missile defense."


A former Japanese defense minister, who asked not to be identified, said: "I can't believe the boosters are the reason why they abandoned the deployment this far along in the process. There have been doubts about whether Aegis Ashore could handle North Korea's newest missiles for a while now. That's also likely one reason for the cancellation."

Experts point out there is a much simpler and more cost-effective defense against missile threats, however. And that would involve a new military doctrine, one that legalizes retaliatory and even preemptive strikes against an adversary. But Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan, established after World War II, renounces "war as a sovereign right of the nation." In line with this principle, Japan has stuck to a unique, strictly defensive security policy, known as senshu boei.

If an adversary launches a missile attack against Japan, Tokyo's current doctrine allows it to try to prevent the missiles from hitting its territory. But it is open to debate whether Japan is allowed to strike enemy missile sites that are believed to be about to launch attacks against Japan.

In a June 18 news conference, Abe crossed into what is largely uncharted political territory in Japan when he said, "We need to think through the question of what is deterrence." The sensitivity of the subject is clear in the difficulty Japanese officials have in even talking about it. The word "preemptive strikes" is off-limits. Instead, officials speak of "self-defense counterattack capability," "enemy-base counterattack capability" and "standoff defense." On July 31, LDP lawmakers mooted another: "The ability to head off missiles in enemy territory." On Tuesday Abe said that the government would start a formal discussion of the LDP's proposal.

China 's defense spending has increased at double digits annually for much of the past three decades, while Japan's has only increased gradually. © Getty Images

However, Abe and his conservative supporters have long sought to revise the constitution, including Article 9, with the aim of increasing Japan's international presence and responding to the security environment surrounding Japan. Following the government's move to abandon Aegis Ashore, the doctrine debate has grown louder within the LDP, and proponents of some strike capability seem to outnumber opponents. Despite no hope of altering the constitution before Abe's terms as LDP president and prime minister are due to end, Japanese conservatives appear determined to push on with the lengthy process -- even though public opinion still weighs firmly against it.

"The cancellation [of Aegis Ashore] was significant because it provoked a debate in Japan about obtaining limited offensive capabilities," said Yuka Koshino, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "It could lead to a significant change in Japan's security policy to obtain a 'spear' for the first time."

Following the cancellation of Aegis Ashore, the debate on "enemy base attack capability" has seemed so coordinated that some observers feel the whole episode has been stage-managed.

"The cancellation of Aegis Ashore only makes sense as a stalking horse for opening the debate on Article 9," said Jack Midgley, a consultant and former academic who is an expert on Japanese security issues.

While the debate has been couched in terms of a missile threat, there is another reason it is being aired: doubts about America's reliability as an ally, sown by Trump. He has variously described NATO as "obsolete" and the U.S. as "schmucks" for guaranteeing allies' security.

"It is a problem that neighboring countries see Japan-U.S. security cooperation as stagnant and the U.S. commitment as weakening," Takushoku University's Sato said.

On July 29, Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider, the highest-ranking U.S. military officer in Japan, sought to calm fears that the U.S. would leave Japan in the lurch. "The United States is 100% absolutely steadfast in its commitment to help the government of Japan with the situation. ... That's 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he told an online news conference.


Uncomfortably for proponents of the alliance, politicians in both countries seem to be finding resonance with voters in questioning the status quo. Trump in July announced plans to withdraw 12,000 troops from Germany and has ordered South Korea to quintuple the amount it pays for the basing of U.S. troops, casually threatening to withdraw forces there too if this demand is not met. The latter exercise appears to be aimed at intimidating Japan.

"Probably the demands made to the South Koreans were intended to have a demonstration effect on the Japanese," Rapp-Hooper said. "But the Japanese do not traditionally spend more than 1% of [gross domestic product] on defense."

"If Trump tries to drive as hard a bargain with Japan as he has with the South Koreans, and if he is still in office, then this will be a negotiation set up to fail. And he could, in fact, be using it as a pretext to draw down troops from Japan."

Japanese officials are eager to point out that the burden-sharing math is on their side -- there are 78 U.S. military facilities for which Japan paid $3.67 billion in fiscal 2019. Japan covered 86.4% of the cost of hosting U.S. troops in fiscal 2015, according to the Defense Ministry's most recent estimate. That means the U.S. took on slightly over 10% of the burden.
Japan has persevered with weapons purchases apart from the Aegis, such as Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth fighter, another controversial piece of equipment. © Reuters

Meanwhile, Japan is going forward with other large weapons purchases, such as paying $23 billion for 105 F-35 state-of-the-art stealth fighters. It is also possible Japan will buy the SPY-7 radars for the Aegis system, meaning they would not cancel the entire purchase, according to Tom Karako of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Today, what is needed is not just protection against ballistic missiles but Integrated Air and Missile Defense, which protects from ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and other aerial threats," Karako said. "So, from a capability standpoint I think Japan had very good reasons to rethink its plans."

But Japan has also mirrored the debate in Washington, almost symmetrically discussing whether it needs to learn get along without the U.S. The discussion of preemptive strikes is often couched in terms of greater autonomy. "Now is the time for Japan to rethink its excessive dependence on the U.S. for its defense and help itself," said Yuichi Hosoya, a professor of international politics at Keio University who has served on key government defense panels, in an interview with Nikkei in July. "It should have the ability to strike enemy missile bases itself when an attack is imminent, within constitutional limits."

Year of change

In July, the defense ministry announced Japan would lead the development of its next-generation fighter, which raises the question of whether Japan plans to develop its own capabilities as a hedge against a failure of will on the part of the U.S.

This could lead to changes in the alliance, though experts point out that the U.S. might actually welcome Tokyo taking on more offensive capabilities. "While the Aegis Ashore decision involves some reassertion of Japanese defense autonomy, I don't think it should be viewed as a deep alliance crisis," Rapp-Hooper said. "Instead, if properly handled by both Washington and Tokyo, this could be an opportunity to move in a different and more constructive direction, emphasizing strike capabilities that, frankly, could be very much in the interest of both parties."

The rest of the year is packed with chances to highlight military reforms. Japan will revise its National Defense Program Guidelines and the Midterm Defense Program, review the National Security Strategy for the first time, choose a partner for the Air Self-Defense Force's next-generation fighter and negotiate spending arrangements for U.S. troops in Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe surveys forces at the 2018 Self-Defense Forces Day. (Photo by Kei Higuchi)

With the end of Abe's term in power next year, Fumio Kishida and Shigeru Ishiba, former ministers and front-runners to replace Abe, are positioning themselves to take over, but neither has a decisive lead. But following the cancellation of Aegis Ashore, Kono has vaulted into contention, portrayed as a decisive politician on difficult political issues, political experts say. They add he is not challenging the fundamental structure of the Japan-US alliance but has become the first defense minister to try to change the way US weapons contracts are handled.

He also continues to be a gadfly with his efforts to reform military procurement. In July, he highlighted the need to cut the cost of increasing military spending by holding the first public "auction" of unnecessary, and nonlethal, military equipment.

Kono is thought to want to stay on as defense minister through a cabinet shuffle set for this fall. If he keeps his position, he may aim to further distinguish himself as a "post-Abe" candidate and make more decisions that break with past convention. He does not hide his ambitions. "As a politician, it's natural for me to aim to be prime minister," he has said.

While Japan began the Trump presidency seeking to ingratiate itself with Washington, the Aegis Ashore decision symbolizes a more transactional approach to the alliance. Kono's success is quietly being noticed throughout Japan's political establishment and may encourage more political challenges to the status quo. In this way, it has launched a debate about Japan's security that mirrors the one in the U.S. regarding the price of peace and whether allies are worth the effort.

Additional reporting by Yuri Momoi in Tokyo and Ken Moriyasu in New York.

Survivor of forced labor in Japan seeks true apology

A 15-year-old Korean girl was duped into moving to Japan in 1944 with the promise of a better education, only to end up working in a munitions factory.


Yang Geum-deok, now 92, wants Japan to say it is sorry for what happened to her there as a young girl

South Korean courts have judged that Japanese companies must pay compensation to people who were used as forced laborers during World War II.

Japanese leaders insist that the issues have already been dealt with under previous agreements and argue that Japan has expressed adequate remorse.

But those agreements did not cover the case of 92-year-old Yang Geum-deok, who told DW that she is still waiting for a sincere apology from Japan.

In 1944, the 15-year-old Yang was lured into moving to Japan with the promise of a better education. Instead, she worked — unpaid — in a munitions factory as World War II drew to a close.
From promise to nightmare

Yang had been a class leader at her school, excelling in athletics and academics. Her accomplishments did not go unnoticed by Japanese administrators, who offered her a chance for the future her humble family couldn't afford.

"The Japanese principal said I could go to junior high school if I went to Japan. My father said he was lying and would not allow it, but I snuck away. Once in Japan, I never even saw the school door but was taken straight to Mitsubishi Industries, where I was worked nearly to death. I had wanted to be a teacher.

Watch video 03:19  

Survivor of forced labor in Japan still waits for apology

Between 1937 and 1945, Japan employed millions of forced laborers throughout their occupied territories in Asia, and in mainland Japan as well. Yang worked at the Mitsubishi plant in Nagoya, from June 1944 to October 1945. Estimates suggest more than 500,000 South Koreans were forced laborers in Japan during the war.

In her recent autobiography, Yang describes her experience.

"A bell woke us at 6 a.m., and we went to the camp to work, 8 or 10 hours. They made me paint airplanes. They didn't have a ladder for us, so I used wide planks, climbed up and painted. The pail of paint was too heavy for me, and so to this day one shoulder still hurts."

According to Yale historian R.J. Rummel, 60,000 Koreans died while serving as forced laborers in Japan. Malnutrition was a leading cause.

"We had lunch at noon. They gave us each a ball of rice, but after five bites, it was gone, and then we went back to work. I was always hungry," Yang said, adding that some of her school friends died in Nagoya.

As a forced laborer, Yang also experienced the US firebombing of Japanese cities.

"Sometimes we couldn't sleep because of the bombing. We had to spend all night in the air raid shelter, and even when we came out, we could still hear the sounds of bombs over and over. And then, in the morning, we had to go back to work."


The issue surrounding 'comfort women' has been intense on the Korean Peninsula

Return to Korea

After the war ended, Yang returned to South Korea. She was initially the subject of discrimination, accused of being a sex slave and earning money by selling her body to Japanese soldiers. Today Korea's so-called comfort women are by themselves successfully pursuing compensation from Japan in South Korean courts.

Eventually Yang forged a life in South Korea. She married, had three children, divorced, and ran her own business selling dried fish at the village market. But her experience in Japan always gnawed at her.
Japan's apologies and compensation

In 1965, South Korea's military dictatorship accepted an apology and compensation from Japan for its wartime atrocities. The government spent that money on national infrastructure and economic development. It established Pohang Steel and other South Korean industrial giants that enabled the country's remarkable rise as an Asian economic tiger.

But the real victims of Japan's colonial and war crimes received no direct compensation.

Yang and others have refused to let go, campaigning for a sincere apology and direct restitution. South Korea's Supreme Court in 2018 ordered Mitsubishi to pay her and four others nearly $90,000 (€74,800) each. But so far, no money has changed hands, and now Mitsubishi assets in South Korea have been targeted.

For the Japanese leadership, South Korea's dredging up of the past causes considerable consternation

History weighs on South Korea-Japan relations

Japan has long said it has dealt with these issues adequately in the past. The first case was the 1965 normalization treaty, which included $500 million. Japan has since stated that all claims were settled "completely and finally." At various times, Japanese political leaders have apologized.

But the political use of patriotism continues to weigh on South Korea-Japan relations.

In the early 2000s, Japan's then prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, repeatedly visited the Yasukuni war shrine, where 14 class A war criminals are buried, drawing fury in South Korea.

And later, Shinzo Abe, when he was prime minister between 2012 and 2020, questioned the validity of a previous apology, suggesting that the comfort women were not coerced, inflaming anti-Japan sentiment in South Korea.

In the early 2000s, Japan's then prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, repeatedly visited the Yasukuni war shrine

For the Japanese leadership, South Korea's dredging up of the past causes considerable consternation.

"All the demands from the South Korean side were irreversibly solved, period," Tomohiko Taniguchi, Keio University Graduate School economics and history professor, told DW.

"You cannot open the door once finally shut. But South Korea continues to try to open the door once every five, 10, 15 years. It's almost a national pastime," said the former foreign policy speechwriter for Prime Minister Abe.
Japan faces more lawsuits, Yang waits

Since the 2018 judgment in Yang's case, dozens more South Korean forced labor victims and their families have launched lawsuits against Japanese companies. For them, the agreements made between states and their political leaders don't seem to mean much.

For Yang Geum-deok, who has already won her suit, the financial compensation she still awaits is not really the point.

"Money isn't important anymore. It's the insult, the humiliation. They didn't see Koreans as human beings. Even though they said they would pay us back our wages, I don't want it. I am too old now. I only want to hear their apology before I die."