"Classification" Articles (8)

Where Export Control Violations Actually Get Caught | Six Years of METI Data

Japan's METI publishes an annual analysis of export control violations, one PDF per year, with nobody stitching them together. I pulled all six and counted. The share found by customs audits roughly tripled in three years, and the leading cause was not what I expected.

2026-08-27Ryuta Hamamoto

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Felt on the Sole and the Argument That X-Men Are Not Human: Designing Classification to Lower Duty, and Where It Stops Working

Turn over a pair of Converse All Stars and you will find a patch of felt on the sole. Thin cloth that wears through and disappears within days of wearing them.

2026-08-02Ryuta Hamamoto

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What Is an SDS (Safety Data Sheet)? Differences from MSDS, How to Check It Across the Supply Chain, and How to Use It in Export Control

If you handle chemicals, or products that contain chemicals, you will inevitably run into the moment when a business partner says, please send us the SDS.

2026-07-27Ryuta Hamamoto

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AI Transformation for Trading Companies | Reload a Melting Information Advantage Onto Compliance

When I talk with the owners of trading companies, I meet a peculiar crisis sense you don't find in other industries.

2026-07-20Ryuta Hamamoto

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The Ohkawara Kakohki Case: A Wrongful Prosecution Born from Export-Control 'Classification'

If you work in export control, you will hear the name of this case sooner or later. The Ohkawara Kakohki case.

2026-07-11Ryuta Hamamoto

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A Beginner's Dictionary of Japanese Export Control Jargon: "Betsu-ichi," "Toku-ippan," "White Country," and 30 Other Terms Your Colleagues Keep Using [2026 Edition]

"Betsu-ichi," "toku-ippan," "white country," "catch-all." The shorthand that fills Japanese export control meetings appears nowhere in the statutes in that form.

2026-07-07Ryuta Hamamoto

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Export Compliance in Practice: Getting Classification and Customer Screening Right with AI

How do you bring the grand story of semiconductors and economic security down to your own day-to-day operations?

2026-06-21Ryuta Hamamoto

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When the AI You Rely On Suddenly Goes Dark: Preparing for the Era of "Access Classification"

In June 2026, a US export control directive abruptly cut off access to Anthropic's latest AI models for every foreign national.

2026-06-15Yoshiki Ando