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Japan, Nato and the East-West alliance
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a watershed moment for Japan and a spur towards closer ties between the Atlantic alliance and the so-called AP4 group of Pacific-based partners.
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Japanese PM Fumio Kishida with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez before their bilateral meeting at the Nato summit last month.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Tosh Minohara
Food and energy prices continue to rise, the economy is stagnant while real wages have barely budged. And yet the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) coalition expanded its majority in Sunday's Upper House election at the expense of the liberal opposition parties in Japan.
While sympathy votes following the killing of former prime minister Shinzo Abe might have slightly tilted the balance in some constituencies, the effect was not pronounced.
