Opinion

Urmas Teder, journalist. Kimi Onoda’s recent remarks claiming that permanent residency in Japan grants “no rights” would already have been controversial on their own. But placed alongside the recent case of Manish Kumar -and even the ongoing controversy surrounding rugby international Lomano Lemeki- the comments become far more revealing. Together, these episodes expose a deeper anxiety inside contemporary Japan: the growing insistence that foreigners, no matter how integrated, should never be considered entirely part of the national community. Kumar, an Indian national and long-term resident of Japan, became the target of public and political scrutiny after a series of controversies…

The message published this week by the Embassy of Iran in Japan is not merely another piece of diplomatic propaganda. It is also a reflection of the gradual transformation of the global geopolitical narrative. The Iranian statement portrays Tehran as a besieged power that, despite sanctions, wars, and Western pressure, continues to resist while repeatedly opting for diplomacy. The United States is depicted as the true destabilizing force in the Middle East: a power that imposes sanctions, sabotages negotiations, and routinely relies on military pressure as an instrument of foreign policy. This narrative is not new. What is new is…

Urmas Teder, journalist. Amidst swelling electoral rhetoric and a intensifying debate over the boundaries of Japan’s foreign population, Sohei Kamiya, leader of the ultra-conservative Sanseito party, has deployed one of those inflammatory questions designed to capture cheap headlines and win the applause of misinformed spectators: By what right do foreigners use Japan’s infrastructure? To suggest that international residents are mere "free riders" on a system built exclusively by and for the Japanese is not only technically false; it represents a display of supine stupidity and extreme malice. Foreigners in Japan do not live in a fiscal vacuum. They pay the…

For decades, Japan maintained a delicate balance between historical reconciliation and national interest. Successive governments expressed remorse for the legacy of the Second World War, while emperors such as Akihito and Naruhito cultivated an image of restraint and reconciliation across Asia. The controversy surrounding Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in 2026 is therefore not about whether Japan apologizes for its wartime past, but about how historical memory is increasingly being integrated into Tokyo’s strategic diplomacy. During recent visits to the United States and Australia, Takaichi’s gestures of remembrance have been solemn, highly visible and politically significant. Ceremonies at memorials in Canberra…

Urmas Teder, journalist. The 2026 Reporters Without Borders index confirms a broader and increasingly uncomfortable trend: press freedom is no longer a dividing line between democracies and authoritarian regimes, but a gradient that cuts across both. In this shifting landscape, Japan and Estonia stand out not because they are comparable, but precisely because they are not. One is a mature, established democracy with deep institutional continuity; the other a relatively young state that has turned digital innovation into a structural democratic asset. Japan remains positioned in the middle tier of the global ranking. Formally, it guarantees press freedom and maintains…

As Japan marks Midori no Hi this Monday, the usual calm of Golden Week feels somewhat out of sync with the pace of events beyond its borders. While millions of people travel or return to their hometowns, the government is moving in a very different direction, dispatching ministers, envoys and business delegations across Europe and the Global South. The message is unmistakable: Tokyo wants to be seen not just as a reliable partner, but as a central actor in an increasingly unstable international landscape. And yet, back in Japan, the mood is shifting in a more cautious direction. In recent…

Urmas Teder, journalist. The 2026 World Press Freedom Index has once again drawn a quiet but consequential line between two of the world’s most advanced digital democracies: Estonia and Japan. For policymakers and investors alike, this is not merely a question of civil liberties. It is a measure of institutional credibility—and, increasingly, of economic competitiveness. Estonia’s performance is not accidental. In Tallinn, transparency is treated as infrastructure. The state’s digital architecture is built on the assumption that information must circulate, be audited and, when necessary, challenged. This approach has yielded what might be called a “transparency dividend”: a reputational premium…

While the central government in Tokyo continues to navigate the political sensitivities of immigration with characteristic caution, a quiet revolution is taking place in Japan’s hinterlands. Faced with an existential demographic crisis, Japan’s prefectures are no longer waiting for a signal from Kasumigaseki. They have stepped into the vacuum, conducting their own brand of "labor diplomacy" to secure the human capital necessary for their economic survival. For decades, Japan’s approach to foreign labor has been centralized, rigid, and often reactive. However, the disconnect between national policy and regional reality has reached a breaking point. In the industrial hubs of Aichi…

Urmas Teder, journalist. In the corridors of the G7, the narrative is one of total decoupling from Russian hydrocarbons. Yet, in Tokyo, the administration of Sanae Takaichi is quietly practicing a far more nuanced—and controversial—brand of energy diplomacy. While Takaichi remains one of the most hawkish voices against global authoritarianism, her stance on Russian energy projects like Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 reveals a pragmatic streak that prioritizes national survival over absolute diplomatic alignment. To understand Takaichi’s position, one must look through the lens of Economic Security. For the Prime Minister, the security of the Japanese state is inextricably linked to the…

Japan stands at a crossroads where economic security appears to take precedence over international openness. Under the administration of Sanae Takaichi, Tokyo has constructed a legal architecture that, instead of attracting the talent necessary for strategic sectors, is complicating its integration. This trend toward "inward innovation" suggests an attempt to progress in fields such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence while effectively restricting the global circulation of knowledge. Economic Security Minister Kimi Onoda is leading this shift toward stricter controls. The new security clearance system requires companies to conduct exhaustive vetting of foreign professionals, including their family ties and backgrounds. This…