Dick Samuels
@rjsamuels.bsky.social
Political Science prof @MIT practicing history w/o a license. Teach about Japan, Asian Security, wargaming. Wrote books on local gov't, energy policy, tech and nat'l security, leadership, Japanese grand strategy, 3.11, & Japan's intelligence community
Japan getting serious about "sectionalism" (縦割行政) in its intelligence community. Not a trivial matter anywhere, but long overdue in Japan's case. www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/...
Japan's LDP calls for strengthening national intelligence capability | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
Japan's main ruling Liberal Democratic Party has convened the first meeting of a newly established headquarters in charge of national intelligence strategy.
www3.nhk.or.jp
November 17, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Japan getting serious about "sectionalism" (縦割行政) in its intelligence community. Not a trivial matter anywhere, but long overdue in Japan's case. www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/...
My colleague, Eric Heginbotham, weighs in here about the USAF's slow approach to hardening bases in an age when fighters won't be fighting fighters in the air, but deploying missiles from great distance to eliminate adversary's planes on the ground. Worth a read: www.foxnews.com/politics/ski...
Skies at stake: Inside the US-China race for air dominance
China's missile strategy targets U.S. air bases while America bets on stealth technology. Pacific air dominance no longer guaranteed as military gap narrows rapidly.
www.foxnews.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:36 PM
My colleague, Eric Heginbotham, weighs in here about the USAF's slow approach to hardening bases in an age when fighters won't be fighting fighters in the air, but deploying missiles from great distance to eliminate adversary's planes on the ground. Worth a read: www.foxnews.com/politics/ski...
Reposted by Dick Samuels
I hope that late stage grad students in the social sciences working with Japanese language materials will consider applying for this award. The purpose is to draw attention to your scholarship and to give the field a boost: us-jf.org/en/news/usjf...
USJF Now Taking Nominations for Second Annual PhD Dissertation Award in Japanese Studies
USJF is accepting nominations for the 2026 Richard J. Samuels Dissertation Award in Japanese Studies, honoring excellence in social sciences research on Japan.
us-jf.org
November 10, 2025 at 6:33 PM
I hope that late stage grad students in the social sciences working with Japanese language materials will consider applying for this award. The purpose is to draw attention to your scholarship and to give the field a boost: us-jf.org/en/news/usjf...
I hope that late stage grad students in the social sciences working with Japanese language materials will consider applying for this award. The purpose is to draw attention to your scholarship and to give the field a boost: us-jf.org/en/news/usjf...
USJF Now Taking Nominations for Second Annual PhD Dissertation Award in Japanese Studies
USJF is accepting nominations for the 2026 Richard J. Samuels Dissertation Award in Japanese Studies, honoring excellence in social sciences research on Japan.
us-jf.org
November 10, 2025 at 6:33 PM
I hope that late stage grad students in the social sciences working with Japanese language materials will consider applying for this award. The purpose is to draw attention to your scholarship and to give the field a boost: us-jf.org/en/news/usjf...
Overview of Japanese Government defense budget request FY2026 here: news.usni.org/2025/11/06/o...
Overview of Japan's Defense Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2026 - USNI News
The following is an overview of Japan’s defense budget request for Fiscal Year 2026, issued by Japan’s Ministry of Defense. From the Report Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request Basic Concept In the FY2026 ...
news.usni.org
November 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Overview of Japanese Government defense budget request FY2026 here: news.usni.org/2025/11/06/o...
Reposted by Dick Samuels
The Economist takes stock of the Takaichi victory and what lies ahead for her, and for Japan.
www.economist.com/asia/2025/10...
www.economist.com/asia/2025/10...
Victory for Japan’s polarising Iron Lady, Takaichi Sanae
A hardline right-winger is set to become prime minister
www.economist.com
October 5, 2025 at 3:56 PM
The Economist takes stock of the Takaichi victory and what lies ahead for her, and for Japan.
www.economist.com/asia/2025/10...
www.economist.com/asia/2025/10...
Reposted by Dick Samuels
One wonders why GOJ is attracted to state-owned defense production-- the hoary "state arsenals." Are firms really so reluctant to get into the defense business at this point? www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/202...
「次世代の動力」潜水艦や国営工廠など提言…防衛力強化の有識者会議が防衛相に報告書
【読売新聞】 防衛省が設置した「防衛力の抜本的強化に関する有識者会議」は１９日、政策提言をまとめた報告書を中谷防衛相に提出した。ロシアのウクライナ侵略を教訓に「防衛産業戦略」を新たに策定し、装備品の国内生産や継戦能力の確保に官民一体
www.yomiuri.co.jp
September 19, 2025 at 4:43 PM
One wonders why GOJ is attracted to state-owned defense production-- the hoary "state arsenals." Are firms really so reluctant to get into the defense business at this point? www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/202...
Reposted by Dick Samuels
Just reviewed an interesting book by Stephen Mercado on the Imperial Japanese Army's secret weapons laboratory, Noborito. Access it here if interested: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ZT67U...
Japanese spy gear and special weapons: How Noborito’s scientists and technicians served in the Second World War and the Cold War
Published in Intelligence and National Security (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Just reviewed an interesting book by Stephen Mercado on the Imperial Japanese Army's secret weapons laboratory, Noborito. Access it here if interested: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ZT67U...
Impressive move by PM Ishiba-- especially at this moment: www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...
Ishiba seeks to restore redacted ‘anti-military’ speech from 1940 | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is trying to cement a legacy for his short leadership tenure by restoring the full transcript of a Japanese politician’s “anti-military speech” in 1940.
www.asahi.com
October 3, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Impressive move by PM Ishiba-- especially at this moment: www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...
Just reviewed an interesting book by Stephen Mercado on the Imperial Japanese Army's secret weapons laboratory, Noborito. Access it here if interested: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ZT67U...
Japanese spy gear and special weapons: How Noborito’s scientists and technicians served in the Second World War and the Cold War
Published in Intelligence and National Security (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Just reviewed an interesting book by Stephen Mercado on the Imperial Japanese Army's secret weapons laboratory, Noborito. Access it here if interested: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ZT67U...
Japanese spy gear and special weapons: How Noborito’s scientists and technicians served in the Second World War and the Cold War
Published in Intelligence and National Security (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Just reviewed an interesting book by Stephen Mercado on the Imperial Japanese Army's secret weapons laboratory, Noborito. Access it here if interested: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ZT67U...
One wonders why GOJ is attracted to state-owned defense production-- the hoary "state arsenals." Are firms really so reluctant to get into the defense business at this point? www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/202...
「次世代の動力」潜水艦や国営工廠など提言…防衛力強化の有識者会議が防衛相に報告書
【読売新聞】 防衛省が設置した「防衛力の抜本的強化に関する有識者会議」は１９日、政策提言をまとめた報告書を中谷防衛相に提出した。ロシアのウクライナ侵略を教訓に「防衛産業戦略」を新たに策定し、装備品の国内生産や継戦能力の確保に官民一体
www.yomiuri.co.jp
September 19, 2025 at 4:43 PM
One wonders why GOJ is attracted to state-owned defense production-- the hoary "state arsenals." Are firms really so reluctant to get into the defense business at this point? www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/202...
This shift in US security policy--should it come to pass-- is a nightmare to all but the most ambitious Japanese nationalists. And even they know they are not yet capable of deterring China alone (or with any existing combination of allies that excludes the US.) www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
Pentagon plan prioritizes homeland over China threat
This marks a major departure from the first Trump administration, which emphasized deterring Beijing.
www.politico.com
September 6, 2025 at 1:24 PM
This shift in US security policy--should it come to pass-- is a nightmare to all but the most ambitious Japanese nationalists. And even they know they are not yet capable of deterring China alone (or with any existing combination of allies that excludes the US.) www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
Reposted by Dick Samuels
Just out from Tuttle: by Debra Samuels and Mayumi Uejima-Carr, from the NGO, TABLE FOR TWO. Recipes were developed for more than 1,000 children who took TFT classes on how to cook Japanese food. Great gift. Profits go to TFT. #Japanesefood #Japaneseculture #cookbook
August 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Just out from Tuttle: by Debra Samuels and Mayumi Uejima-Carr, from the NGO, TABLE FOR TWO. Recipes were developed for more than 1,000 children who took TFT classes on how to cook Japanese food. Great gift. Profits go to TFT. #Japanesefood #Japaneseculture #cookbook
Sunset-- Deer Isle, Maine
August 27, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Sunset-- Deer Isle, Maine
Reposted by Dick Samuels
Japan and foreign workers... asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/ja...
Foreign workers in Japan more than quadruple in labor-starved areas
Farming, fishing and construction increasingly rely on immigrant employment
asia.nikkei.com
August 14, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Japan and foreign workers... asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/ja...
Just out from Tuttle: by Debra Samuels and Mayumi Uejima-Carr, from the NGO, TABLE FOR TWO. Recipes were developed for more than 1,000 children who took TFT classes on how to cook Japanese food. Great gift. Profits go to TFT. #Japanesefood #Japaneseculture #cookbook
August 9, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Just out from Tuttle: by Debra Samuels and Mayumi Uejima-Carr, from the NGO, TABLE FOR TWO. Recipes were developed for more than 1,000 children who took TFT classes on how to cook Japanese food. Great gift. Profits go to TFT. #Japanesefood #Japaneseculture #cookbook
August 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Just out from Tuttle: by Debra Samuels and Mayumi Uejima-Carr, from the NGO, TABLE FOR TWO. Recipes were developed for more than 1,000 children who took TFT classes on how to cook Japanese food. Great gift. Profits go to TFT. #Japanesefood #Japaneseculture #cookbook
Reposted by Dick Samuels
“Yet as Google does the Googling, humans no longer visit the websites from which the information is gleaned. Similarweb, which measures traffic to more than 100m web domains, estimates that worldwide search traffic … fell by about 15% in the year to June” www.economist.com/business/202...
July 19, 2025 at 2:26 PM
“Yet as Google does the Googling, humans no longer visit the websites from which the information is gleaned. Similarweb, which measures traffic to more than 100m web domains, estimates that worldwide search traffic … fell by about 15% in the year to June” www.economist.com/business/202...
Will be interesting to see how she fares in the HoC election on Sunday: www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...
Sanseito hopeful supports Japan entering nuclear arms race | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
An Upper House election candidate from the rising opposition party Sanseito is championing a nuclear-armed Japan, a provocative idea generally endorsed by the party leader.
www.asahi.com
July 19, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Will be interesting to see how she fares in the HoC election on Sunday: www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...
Will be interested to see how she fares on Sunday in the HoC election: www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...
Sanseito hopeful supports Japan entering nuclear arms race | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
An Upper House election candidate from the rising opposition party Sanseito is championing a nuclear-armed Japan, a provocative idea generally endorsed by the party leader.
www.asahi.com
July 19, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Will be interested to see how she fares on Sunday in the HoC election: www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...
Reposted by Dick Samuels
My piece on Sanseitō for Nikkei Asia. I've been working on this with @robfahey.net for a while now. I just presented on our working paper at IPSA in Seoul, and a peer-reviewed paper is coming out soon. There's also an exciting Japanese project on its way as well. asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Sans...
Sanseito brings far-right populism to Japan
Party's rise marks a shift toward conspiracist, anti-globalist rhetoric
asia.nikkei.com
July 16, 2025 at 8:09 AM
My piece on Sanseitō for Nikkei Asia. I've been working on this with @robfahey.net for a while now. I just presented on our working paper at IPSA in Seoul, and a peer-reviewed paper is coming out soon. There's also an exciting Japanese project on its way as well. asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Sans...