自衛隊も宇宙利用へ: Japanese Journalism on EW

Here is an insight into how Japanese journalists (with many honorable exceptions) over the issues.  You can get an idea of piece just from the title: “New Satellite Race.” What on earth (or in orbit) that is supposed to mean, is beyond me.

The point is that the article raises legitimate concerns in its conclusion:

「政府の担当者の間では、発射のタイミングを正確にとらえるためにも、DSPなど「宇宙の目」の役割は重要と考えられている。このため、日本でも自前のDSP導入に向けた研究が始まった。
しかし課題は山積している。DSPにはミサイルの熱源をもとに瞬時に種類や能力を割り出し、弾道を緻密に解析できるソフトウエア開発が欠かせない。しかし日本にはそうしたデータの蓄積がない。しかも早期警戒システムには衛星だけでなく、集めた情報を部隊間で共有する巨大なネットワークの構築も必要になる。
03年から打ち上げが始まった政府の情報収集衛星に投じられた経費は現在、7000億円近い。開発費を含めればDSPも数千億円かかると推定されており、国民の納得が得られるかどうかという新たな問題に直面する。」

Which boils down to legitimate doubts and questions about Japan’s EW program. But the point is without context/ contextual/ relevant contextual presentation by the journalist, the Japanese public is left thinking that the Asahi’s question raising motivated by its political stance; even a few more cursory levels of analysis of facts and background would have made this more helpful…but at least it isn’t at the pizza on the moon level of rubbish that we sometimes see in the foreign press.

So I figure, anything that gets Japanese space development issues into the media by a reasonable  journalist has to be something…

日本の宇宙利用は変わるのか: An interesting interview with Norihiro Sakamoto

Here is an interesting article by my good friend and space expert Norihiro Sakamoto at The Tokyo Foundation. I have known Mr. Sakamoto ever since he worked at the Society of Japan Aerospace Companies (SJAC) and whose predictions and interpretations about Japan’s evolving space policy have proved the most accurate in the business. Here is a screenshot of the article, but you can find the full text at: http://www.tkfd.or.jp/files/doc/nikkeiplus.pdf

The MoD’s PFI for communication satellites was largely Mr. Sakamoto’s idea and he has lots more great ideas!

Mr. Sakamoto has some very interesting opinions about what exactly Japan should do with EW and marine observation and if I get a chance I will be talking about his ideas more on this blog later. Chance would be a fine thing. If I get a chance to put 10% of what I am looking at on this blog or in the media I will be lucky!

In Defense of: “In Defense of Japan: From the Market to the Military in Space Policy”

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Hi, to anyone reading this first entry for “In Defense of Japan: From the Market to the Military in Space Policy” (Stanford University Press, 2010)  a book inspired during my 17-year stint covering Japan’s space development program.
Where do I begin?  Well, here!
How about some previews from leading academics:
It is a very valuable work and makes an important contribution to our understanding of the unraveling of the Yoshida Doctrine and Japan’s evolving security strategy. Needless to say, I totally agree with the thrust of what you say…”
Kenneth B. Pyle, Professor of History and International Studies at the University of Washington, winner of the Order of the Rising Sun (1998) and author of Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose.
“Thanks for sharing this. This ms is in terrific shape and should be a powerful contributor to debates on Japanese militarization, Japanese politics, industrial policy and host of other areas.” 
T. J. Pempel,  director of the Institute of East Asian Studies from January 2002 until 2007, currently Il Han New Chair in Asian Studies and author of Beyond Bilateralism: U.S.-Japan Relations in the New Asia-Pacific (Oxford University Press)Image
“…your willingness to tackle an important subject, make a strong argument, and avoid narrow minded…concerns….is always a breath of fresh air. Moreover your argument seems entirely correct. This book will be an important contribution to the literature of Japanese industrial policy and national security.” 
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It was particularly gratifying to get this feedback from Dick Samuels, whose work, and common sense, was a major inspiration for this book, which will be out in the spring- finally- from Stanford University Press.