Japan

A former commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington will be returning to Yokosuka as commander of Naval Forces Japan and Navy Region Japan, the Defense Department announced Wednesday in Washington.

Japan’s ruling party is considering for the first time a missile counterstrike capability that could complement U.S. efforts to deter North Korea, despite opposition concerns over the proposal’s legality under Japan’s pacifist constitution.

If the Pentagon named bilateral talks the way it did military operations, Jim Mattis’ first trip abroad as defense secretary might have been deemed Operation Allied Reassurance.

The defense policy debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton often glosses over differences between Europe and the Pacific, where Japan and South Korea already pay substantial sums to the U.S. to offset the cost of defending them.

A servicemember who drives drunk and injures someone in the United States would likely get prosecuted and possibly become the subject of a brief news story.

Mayors committed to U.S. military base realignment plans in Okinawa and Iwakuni each won re-election this past weekend, giving the Japanese government a political boost against those opposed to the moves.