Asia - South China Morning Post

Japan and Australia said on Saturday they have finalised contracts to jointly deliver the first three of 11 ships for the Australian navy based on the upgraded Japanese Mogami-class frigate, as the two countries deepen their defence cooperation amid China’s growing assertiveness.

The deal, announced by Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his Australian counterpart Richard Marles in Melbourne, comes ahead of Japan’s planned easing of its rules on defence equipment exports, which place...

East Asia’s “economic miracle” in the post-World War II period was predicated upon a number of factors, such as the region’s export-led growth model, but critically it also depended on an assured supply of capital to finance business investment.

One source of such finance was bank loans, the supply and direction of which can be officially influenced by various means rather than being chiefly market-determined. Even today, bank loans account for most of the business financing in Japan, the...

On Monday afternoon, amid the heat and chaos of Thailand’s Songkran festival, Gavin Chow was crowned Mr Bear International 2026 – the first Malaysian to win the title at a pageant that has quickly become part of Thailand’s growing queer festival circuit.

Back in Chow’s home country, the climate is very different.

Malaysia criminalises same-sex intimacy under federal law, LGBTQ gatherings have faced police raids and the 34-year-old activist’s own national qualifier earlier this year struggled to...

Two strong earthquakes jolted Nagano Prefecture in central Japan on Saturday, with the first measuring a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 followed by another registering magnitude 5.1, the country’s weather agency said.

The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of aftershocks on a similar scale over the next week or so. No tsunami warnings were issued.

The first major quake occurred at 1.20pm in Omachi and registered upper 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7, according to the agency.

At...

The sound of tinkling bells drifts through an alley in central Seoul, an unmistakable sign that a shaman is near – although in this case the mystic is a robot powered by artificial intelligence.

Many South Koreans still place great value in shamanic traditions, which purport to divine a person’s future based on the day and time they were born.

Practitioners, known as mudang, wear long, colourful robes and perform dances and chants to commune with the gods – sometimes even walking on sharp blades...

Rubber glove makers have raised prices and warned of production cuts as the Iran war chokes supplies of key inputs, raising concerns for the healthcare sector.

Glove makers have already hiked the average price of synthetic rubber gloves by around 40 per cent to as high as US$29 for a box ‌of 1,000, according to Oong Chun Sung, an equity research analyst at CIMB Securities.

Sustained disruption to supply chains from the conflict could lead to glove shortages by late May, analysts at Malaysia’s...

Japan is hoping further US-Iran talks will ease tensions in the Middle East and help reopen the Strait of Hormuz permanently, but there is also mounting anxiety over what a failure could mean for the country as summer approaches.

On Friday, Iran said it would reopen the strait for commercial shipping following a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, while US ⁠President Donald Trump added that a US naval blockade of Iran’s ports would ‌remain until a deal with Tehran was struck.

The fear in Japan,...

Sleep on a long-haul flight in economy class has always been a fantasy for many travellers. Air New Zealand will soon offer a solution that involves climbing into a triple-tier bunk bed wearing special socks.

The airline will soon open bookings for four-hour stints in the Skynest sleep pods and says they will be the first lie-flat beds for budget air travellers. Fliers will get cosy with their fellow passengers, however, so crumbs, strong perfumes and bed-sharing are forbidden.

The curtained...

While many Europeans are considering putting long-haul flying on the back burner as jet fuel costs and airfares climb, those with a trip already booked for Malaysia may need to watch out if ambling around with a camera slung across a shoulder.

Following an early April warning about unlicensed street photography, city authorities in Kuala Lumpur, the country’s capital, have confiscated equipment from six people, five of them non-Malaysians, pending payment of fines levied under street hawking...

Japan is set to take another step away from its long-standing limits on arms exports, a move analysts say will strengthen the domestic defence industry, spur innovation, deepen security ties and reduce Tokyo’s reliance on the US at a time when Washington is increasingly seen as a less reliable partner.

The Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday that revisions to the Three Principles on the Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology would be approved at a cabinet meeting next week.

The changes...