"Economic Security" Articles (110)

Cyberattacks Are an Export Control Problem Too: Tech Leaks and Fake IT Workers

When drawings and technical documents are stolen in a cyberattack, it is not only an IT problem. Working from primary sources in Japan, including METI's guidance documents, government alerts on North Korean IT workers and the design policy for the new SCS supply chain security ratings, this article maps four routes technology leaves a company, ten checks to run in-house, and how to prepare when a customer asks for TICS or an SCS 4-star rating.

2026-10-04Ryuta Hamamoto

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UNGA 2026 General Debate: What World Leaders Said on Security

At the 81st UN General Assembly general debate (September 22-28, 2026), Japan's Prime Minister Takaichi, President Trump, China's Vice President Han Zheng and Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov set out their security positions. I sorted the original texts by topic, from Ukraine and Hormuz to the South China Sea, AI and sanctions, and note what it means for companies.

2026-10-04Ryuta Hamamoto

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China's Revised Defense Mobilization Law Takes Effect: What Applies to Companies in Peacetime

China's revised National Defense Mobilization Law (14 chapters, 82 articles) took effect on October 1, 2026. Most coverage has focused on the requisition of civilian resources, but several articles bind companies before any mobilization is declared, including a duty to supply data for mobilization-potential surveys. I walk through the text by article number and list what export control and subsidiary management teams should check.

2026-10-03Ryuta Hamamoto

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The Asahi Kasei Arrest: Which Law Was Broken, and Where Export Controls Fit

On September 17, 2026, Aichi police arrested a former Asahi Kasei employee on suspicion of disclosing trade secrets on a latent curing agent used in semiconductor packaging to a Chinese company. Working from Asahi Kasei's own statement and Japanese press reports, this article lays out the timeline, explains which part of Japan's Unfair Competition Prevention Act the arrest rests on, why the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act and the Economic Security Promotion Act do not appear, and what to check in your own company today.

2026-09-18Ryuta Hamamoto

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Takaichi's Cabinet Reshuffle and Economic Security | Who Stayed, Who Joined, What Changes

Japan's second Takaichi cabinet was reshuffled on September 17, 2026. Reading the official roster, the cabinet's basic policy, and the ministers' first press conferences, this article explains why the economic security, defense, foreign, and industry ministers all stayed, how the economic security portfolio was narrowed, who the ten new and returning ministers are, and what export control practitioners should watch over the next three to six months.

2026-09-18Ryuta Hamamoto

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Why Japan's Shipbuilding Revival Is a Defense Issue | The Numbers and the Policy

In September 2026 Japan's ruling LDP framed shipbuilding as a pillar of economic security and restated the goal of doubling output by 2035. Japan once built half the world's ships; its order share fell to 8 percent. This article reads the primary documents behind the designation of hulls as a critical good, the 311 billion yen in subsidies approved for eight shipbuilding groups, Japan's 99.5 percent reliance on sea transport, the Mogami-class export to Australia, and Japan-US shipbuilding cooperation, and explains why shipbuilding capacity is defense capacity.

2026-09-14Ryuta Hamamoto

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Building a Japan That Can Surge Drone and Ammunition Production

On 11 September 2026, Japan's Ministry of Defense was reported to be planning capital investment subsidies and a revision of the Defence Production Base Strengthening Act so that drones and ammunition can be surged in a contingency. This piece checks what is actually on the table in the FY2027 budget request and the Basic Policy 2026, looks at how Ukraine's four-million-drones-a-year war changed the nature of fighting, the dependence on Chinese-made drones that hold more than 70 percent of the world market, a Japan-China defence spending comparison using SIPRI and National People's Congress figures (roughly five to one), and the components and export control work that domestic surge capacity will require.

2026-09-12Ryuta Hamamoto

AI Security

Don't misread what the 70% means: Kokotajlo's interview, taken as a practical problem for people who use AI

Former OpenAI researcher Daniel Kokotajlo appeared on The Diary of a CEO and said there is a 70% chance things go horribly wrong. That figure is not the same as human extinction. Here is what it actually refers to, what AI 2027 and AI 2040 Plan A each claim, from primary sources, and what practically remains for companies that use AI.

2026-08-29Ryuta Hamamoto

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What Alayasiki actually is: reading Japan's domestic AI defense system through standards, data sovereignty and switch-off risk

On August 27, 2026, Skygate Technologies announced Alayasiki, a domestically developed AI defense system for Japan. It claims conformance with US MIL-STD and NATO APP/STANAG/ADatP, and operation in air-gapped environments. Here is what the system does, why standards conformance and data sovereignty are argued together, and what "switch-off risk" means — drawn from the press release and Japanese government materials.

2026-08-29Ryuta Hamamoto

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What the CIA Director's Moscow Trip Actually Signals

On 25 August 2026 the CIA director flew to Moscow unannounced. The reported purpose was a warning not to attack NATO. But what US intelligence is said to be worried about is not conventional war, and that distinction changes what companies should do about it.

2026-08-27Ryuta Hamamoto

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512 Days of Hormuz Transit Data | What a 91.6% Drop Looks Like

I aggregated 512 days of daily transit counts for the Strait of Hormuz. Before the closure, 84.8 vessels a day; after, 7.1. The collapse took three days. And the partial recovery that appeared in June had disappeared again by August.

2026-08-27Ryuta Hamamoto

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Every Unmanned Systems Contract Japan's Coast Guard Signed | ¥410m, Counted

I pulled every unmanned aircraft and unmanned vessel contract the Japan Coast Guard awarded between FY2023 and FY2026 from the bid result PDFs. Nine contracts, ¥410.8 million. The range between largest and smallest is 126x, and where one bidder showed up, the award ratio pinned to the ceiling.

2026-08-27Ryuta Hamamoto