Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that "no single country can now protect its own peace and security alone."

Japan is to lift a postwar ban on weapons exports this week as it moves away from a pacifist stance that has defined defence policy since the end of the Second World War.

In a break from post-war pacifism, Japan has scrapped its ban on arms exports to make way for overseas sales of fighter aircraft, missiles, and warships. Facing an increasingly assertive China and an unreliable United States,

In the spring of 1945, the U.S. Navy quietly handed over 149 warships to the Soviet Union at a remote Alaskan outpost, training the crews for the upcoming invasion of Japan.

Japan will join the largest military exercises hosted by the Philippines and the United States for the first time as an active participant, deploying around 1,400 combat troops and introducing its Typ

By Leika Kihara TOKYO, April 7 (Reuters) - An index measuring the health of Japan's economy slid in February, government data showed on Tuesday, highlighting a soft spot in the economy even before it faced fallout from the Iran war.