Global Scans · Japan · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: The latest sign of weakness in Japan's economy will likely add to mounting skepticism about the prime minister's expansionary policies. His coalition government has just achieved the supermajority it needs to amend the constitution which many are worried that Japan is about to remove the mask of pacificism and convert its "Self-Defense Force" into the military threat it really is.

• [New] Japan is leveraging humanoid robots to address a projected shortfall of specialised caregivers, providing billions in subsidies, introducing robots into thousands of facilities, and integrating robotics into healthcare infrastructure. Persistence Market Research
• [New] Fastest-Growing Region: Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing region through 2033, fueled by the rapidly aging demographics in Japan and China, and a rising middle-class focus on preventive health. Persistence Market Research
• [New] Japan's Green Transformation framework includes a voluntary emissions trading system that will transition to a mandatory ETS starting in fiscal year 2026. ASUENE | The enterprise climate cloud platform | Carbon
• [New] The Nikkei index will reach 58,500 points by year-end and advises investors to focus on companies with high proportions of overseas revenue and strong dividend capacities. / Japan Tradingkey
• [New] Japan and South Korea pursue alternative strategies including strategic reserves and battery recycling investments to reduce import vulnerability. Discovery Alert
• [New] At any given level of AI capability, a society is going to be able to exploit it, and distribute its fruits to its population, effectively if it enjoys the governance quality of Japan or Switzerland. Technocracy News
• [New] DeepSeek prefers to own the hardware so that it can conduct hardware-specific optimizations, while Tencent is eager to keep up with advanced model capabilities and will leverage access to Blackwells at AI data centers such as the one operated by Datasection in Japan. American Affairs Journal
• [New] The International Energy Agency projects electricity demand from data centers worldwide to more than double by 2030 to around 945 terawatt-hours, slightly more than the entire electricity consumption of Japan today. Macquarie Group
• [New] Japan's $550 billion commitment was secured against the threat of 25% blanket tariffs; the actual rate was negotiated down to 15%. The Rio Times
• [New] China, South Korea, India, and Japan are expected to be the key markets during the forecast period. Transparency Market Research
• [New] Japan plans to allow exports of jointly made weapons to other countries. The Asia Cable
• [New] Japan's risk environment reflects both global disruption trends and structural domestic challenges, including demographic pressures and long-term talent shortages. Insurance Business
• [New] Cyberattacks and data breaches rank as the top current risk in Japan - consistent with global findings. Insurance Business
• [New] Japan starting to make big investments in U.S. ... Japan plans to invest $36 billion in U.S. oil, gas and critical mineral projects, the first tranche of its $550 billion commitment under the trade agreement it struck with President Trump. Pro Farmer
• [New] Many in Japan still consider the very existence of the SDF to be war potential and therefore unconstitutional. Yahoo News
• [New] Japan's AI Basic Plan illustrates a third governance model emerging alongside the EU's enforcement-heavy risk classification system and the U.S.'s procurement-driven oversight. AI Governance Today
• [New] Japanese bond yields have risen sharply of late and fiscal stimulus against a backdrop of already very high debt levels carries some risk of further potentially disruptive increases. Kingswood | Advice every step of the way
• [New] Given Tokyo's status as a significant global business hub, Japan considers supersonic air travel a transformative opportunity for premium business routes. Precedence Research
• [New] Researchers in Japan have developed titanium-selenium solar cells that could potentially make solar panels 1,000 times more powerful than current models. Yahoo News
• [New] Japan could become militarily involved in the event of an attempted Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The Guardian

Last updated: 28 February 2026