Given all that’s at stake, how would Japan respond in a scenario that could lead to the world’s first great power war since 1945?

In a conflict, Taipei’s fate would become quickly intertwined with the U.S.-Japan security alliance.

Japan is facing its most complex security environment in generations, pointing to Russia, China, North Korea and uncertainty in the Middle East as the key factors, defense leaders said on Thursday. They said Japan’s military will improve its capabilities and bolster cooperation with like-minded partners and allies,

Tensions are rising in Japan-China relations over Taiwan. It started with Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s statement to the Diet on November 7, 2025, in which she indicated that Japan could exercise its right of collective self-defense to mobilize the Self-Defense Forces if China used military force against Taiwan.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday lashed out at Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for "openly challenging" Chinese territorial sovereignty after the Japanese leader's remark on a Taiwan emergency heightened bilateral tensions.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a debate in the upper house of the Diet on Nov. 26, 2025 in Tokyo. Takaichi is under growing pressure from China following her remarks about Japan's position on Taiwan. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae ...

The move marks the first time in more than 13 years that a political stand-off has disrupted the annual mission to promote economic exchange.

Japan’s invasion of China in World War II began with the expansion of conflict after years of tension. Following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, Japanese forces launched a full-scale war, capturing cities like Beijing,

Zack Cooper, one of the report's authors, said a full-scale conflict would begin with amphibious landings by Chinese forces, accompanied by strikes on Taiwan's military as well as US forces based in Japan and Guam.

China opened an anti-dumping probe into dichlorosilane imports from Japan, according to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce. The case was triggered by an application filed by Tangshan Sanfu Electronic Materials Co.