Japan Amid Rising Global Tensions

US-Israeli aggression against Iran has global side effects that also affect Japanese interests. In addition to that, Tokyo is already confronting a whole range of issues of varying degrees of severity and significance.

Reaction to the armed conflict in the Persian Gulf

It is therefore not difficult to imagine the reaction of Japan’s leadership to sudden problems in the Strait of Hormuz. This situation has had an extremely negative impact not only on abstract stock market indicators of Japan’s economic activity but also on concrete, tangible indicators affecting both ordinary citizens and businesses. Above all, this concerns the sharp rise in hydrocarbon prices, the lifeblood of a modern economy. Moreover, Japan, being deeply integrated into the global economic system, can only address the problem of rising hydrocarbon prices in cooperation with other countries.

On March 11, Prime Minister Takaichi announced her government’s readiness to immediately begin using the country’s strategic oil reserves, which can sustain the country for about 250 days. This decision was presented as a contribution to similar efforts by other countries aimed at preventing a panic-driven rise in global hydrocarbon prices. The very next day, it was announced that Japan would accept the recommendations of the International Energy Agency (IEA) to immediately begin releasing 400 million barrels of oil from reserves onto the international market. Japan’s share will be 80 million barrels, accounting for just under 20% of its combined public and private oil reserves.

However, it is clear........

© New Eastern Outlook