The article discusses Japan’s policy in the field of space program development. The emphasis is on the analysis of scientific projects in the field of space. While, initially, the launches of spacecraft were aimed at studying the solar wind and cosmic radiation, over the years, there has been a shift in Japan’s space policy towards the exploration of the bodies of the Solar System. This was accompanied by the construction of their own spacecraft, as well as participation in international projects for the exploration of the Moon, Mars, and Mercury. At the beginning of the 21st century, Japan began to carry out quite complex missions to explore celestial bodies, where considerable attention is directed towards the study of small celestial bodies, asteroids. Assessing the current state of development of Japanese space programs, the authors note that one of the main directions of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s activities today is the implementation of Moon exploration projects. Together with the European Space Agency and NASA, Japan is planning another promising and ambitious mission to fly to the satellites of Mars. At the same time, the country actively participates in international cooperation, bringing together the countries of the Asia-Pacific region within the framework of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum. Japan is an undoubted leader in this organization, which allows it to develop international cooperation in areas which are of interest to it. The analysis of the space programs implemented by Japan demonstrates the country’s significant success in the development of modern space technologies, while it has a much smaller space budget compared to the United States or China. According to the authors, the Japanese model of space research organization brings substantial results, which is based on its three components: active involvement of private business in space programs, the use of the country’s scientific potential for the development of space projects, and participation in international cooperation, which allows attracting research and financial resources of other countries for the implementation of space programs.

The article is devoted to the activities of the Japanese intelligence community in 1874– 1945. The main work, first, against the Russian Empire, and later against the Soviet Union, was carried out by the army and navy intelligence agencies of the empire. In some cases, diplomatic missions and military gendarmerie were also engaged in secret intelligence against our country following the instructions of the supreme command of the Japanese army and navy. The beginning of Japan’s intelligence activities in Russia dates back to 1874–1875, when residents from the army and navy were sent to Saint Petersburg and Vladivostok. Before the start of the 1904–1905 campaign, Japanese intelligence managed to organize channels for obtaining reliable information about the state of the Tsarist navy and army, which largely ensured the success of its armed forces in this war. After the “Course of the National Defense of the Empire” was adopted in 1907, Japanese army intelligence focused on intelligence work against Russia, while naval intelligence began to collect information mainly focusing on the United States and Great Britain. In the 1920s, the interest of the army intelligence agencies also switched to the armed forces and military industry of Western Europe and the United States, but, after the occupation of Manchuria in 1931–1932, army intelligence focused on the Soviet direction again. Due to the tightening of the administrative, counterintelligence, and border protection regimes in the USSR in the second half of the 1930s, the collection of information by means of radio intelligence and cryptoanalysis received significant development in the activities of the Japanese intelligence community. Largely due to information from army and naval intelligence, the Japanese leadership abandoned its plans to attack the USSR in the autumn of 1941 and was informed in the spring and summer of 1945 about the upcoming war with the Soviet Union. Despite Japan’s defeat in World War II, in the mid-1950s, it resumed the activities of its intelligence community.

The article studies the peculiarities of the formation of political loyalty of the Russian younger generation of emigrants to the Japanese occupation authorities in Northeast China. The chronological scope of this study is defined as 1931–1945 and covers one of the most complex and controversial periods in the history of the Asia-Pacific region. Implementing a geostrategic program to conquer Asia in 1931, Japan occupied the northeastern part of China – Manchuria. In an effort to legitimize their rights and strengthen their influence in the annexed territory, the occupation authorities developed a non-standard, unique strategic program to build the population’s loyalty to the expansionist political regime. The new generation of Russian emigrants, being an effective and productive resource in terms of quality and quantity, capable of ensuring breakthrough development of an economically and industrially weak region in the shortest possible time, became an object of close attention for the representatives of the new government. Developed by the Japanese and implemented at the individual, institutional, and state levels, the system of legal, political, organizational, and ideological means of influencing the younger generation of Russian emigrants was aimed at forming a new generation of citizens of Manchukuo, loyal to the Japanese political regime and voluntarily implementing the pan-Asian program. The material for this research was the documents preserved in the emigrant funds of the State Archives of the Khabarovsk Territory: personal files of Russian emigrants, including correspondence with major figures of the Russian emigration during the period under study, materials from intelligence agencies, orders, instructions and reports, correspondence of officials and individuals responsible for the Japanese military mission; periodicals for children and youth published by Russians in China in the early to mid-20th century, which are currently a bibliographic rarity. The methodological basis of the work was made up of modern scientific approaches, principles, and research methods: historical-cultural, sociocultural, systemic-historical, cultural, comparative approach, nomothetic (generalizing) principle of research, methods of comparative-historical, synchronic, structural-typological, descriptive, biographical, and systemic analysis.

Japan’s advancements in technology and its strategic focus on space policy have driven swift advancements in the field, attributed to Japan’s ability to balance scientific exploration, industrial growth, and national defense. This article examines Japan’s national legal framework governing space activities. The key pieces of legislation analyzed are the Law Concerning Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency of 2002, the Basic Space Law of 2008, the Act on Launching of Spacecraft, etc. and Control of Spacecraft of 2016, the Act on Ensuring Appropriate Handling of Satellite Remote Sensing Data of 2016, and the Act on the Promotion of Business Activities for the Exploration and Development of Space Resources of 2021. The analysis of these activities is conducted in accordance with the relevant international space legal framework. The article delves into the shift in Japan’s space policy from “non-military” to “non-aggressive” in 2008 and its impact on national legislation. An examination is provided of the fourth law in the world (following similar actions by the USA, Luxembourg, and the UAE) concerning the exploitation of natural resources of celestial bodies, enabling private entities to conduct exploration and extraction activities. This is especially noteworthy given the lack of direct international legal oversight on space resource utilization. This article also examines Japan’s international legal space policy, including the Japan-U.S. Framework Agreement on Cooperation in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies 2023, in light of the particularly close Japan-U.S. cooperation in space exploration and use. Japan’s enactment of a law regarding the exploration and exploitation of natural resources of celestial bodies, along with Japan’s participation in projects such as Artemis, Lunar Gateway, and Hakuto-R, demonstrates its growing role in international space projects and its pursuit of the closest possible cooperation with the United States in ensuring national security through the use of outer space. The conclusion offers summarizing statements.

Japan and China are in the list of resource-deficient countries, and this fact largely determines the importance of pursuing a targeted policy for the development of low-carbon energy sectors. This refers, first and foremost, to renewable energy and hydrogen, but it is also worth taking into account the growing role of peaceful nuclear energy – Japan, despite the consequences of the Fukushima accident, is gradually increasing the share of nuclear power plants in its generation structure. The authors show that the tasks of achieving “net zero emissions” facing Japan and China have many similar features. The countries under consideration, undoubtedly, have different financial and economic resources, different potential and available capacity of their domestic markets for the implementation of low-carbon energy technologies and products in a broad sense. However, they build public policy in this direction based on the incentive mechanisms that create their own technological foundation, taking into account what advanced solutions are being developed and implemented by their closest competitors. Over the past two decades, Japan and China have elaborated the format of energy cooperation where the emphasis was placed on the supply of energy and transport equipment from Japan, as well as investments by Japanese companies in the construction of various energy infrastructure objects in China. However, at present, China already has sufficient technological potential not only to meet its needs in the production of equipment and components for low-carbon energy, but also to export products of this type. Accordingly, Japanese corporations that used to hold leading positions in the renewable energy segment as suppliers of necessary equipment and initiators of technology transfer to developing countries (mainly in Southeast and South Asia), nowadays face competition with Chinese producers. It is shown that, despite the existing controversy, Japan and China keep a high level of bilateral contacts through intergovernmental organizations and funds, joint research centers, various private business cooperation mechanisms and schemes, all of which foster the implementation of large projects. 

The article presents a comparative study of the sanctions policy of Japan and the Republic of Korea towards Russia and the assessment of the impact of their sanctions on the development of RussianJapanese and Russian-South Korean cooperation in the Russian Far East. The research is based on a wide range of primary sources – information materials of Russian, Japanese, and South Korean governmental bodies, primary sources of personal origin, as well as analysis of media materials. Based on the results of the study of the economic ties of Russia, Japan, and South Korea (in the areas of trade, investment, finance, tourism, and transport) and their interaction in the educational and cultural-humanitarian spheres under sanctions restrictions, the authors come to the conclusion that the sanctions policies of Japan and South Korea towards Russia have a common basis due to their belonging to the “collective West,” and the antiRussian measures they take are aimed at weakening the industrial and technological potential of the Russian Federation. At the same time, like most of their Western partners, Japan and South Korea are not ready to impose such sanctions that could cause significant damage to their own economic and strategic interests. There are important differences in the sanctions approaches of Japan and South Korea – Japan pursues a much tougher policy towards Russia, not only limiting exports to Russia, but also imposing a ban on imports of a number of goods from Russia. South Korea is much more willing to maintain ties with Russia and its Far Eastern territories, despite the unfavorable political situation, which is expressed, in particular, in the ongoing official contacts between Primorsky Krai and Vladivostok and a number of provinces and municipalities of the Republic of Korea. The authors suggest that ties between the Russian Far East and South Korea can be quickly restored once the situation around Ukraine is resolved, while the prospects for restoring relations with Japan look much less certain. 

Soka Gakkai is one of the largest neo-religious organizations in Japan and is based on the ideology of Nichirenism. It was created in 1930 but became widespread and gained popularity after the Second World War. Today, it has millions of members both in Japan and abroad, it also has educational institutions from kindergartens to universities, its own media outlets, a representative office at the UN, and significant influence on the country’s domestic politics. In its modern form, the organization owes much to the efforts of Ikeda Daisaku, the third president and spiritual leader, as well as the founder of the political party Komeito. He had a colossal influence on the development of Soka Gakkai, creating a powerful bureaucratic structure in it, and brought its activities to the international arena. Gradually, D. Ikeda moved away from formal management of affairs, but, as the honorary president of the organization, he continued to direct the activities and ideology of the society. At the same time, many processes in the organization turned out to be focused on exploiting the image of D. Ikeda, who occupied a central place in all religious and secular affairs. In the official publications of Soka Gakkai, D. Ikeda appears as a writer, pacifist, intellectual, and educator. Numerous diplomatic, educational, and peacekeeping activities, the opening of schools, museums, and universities, and the writing and publication of a multi-volume collection of works are attributed to his personal initiative. The rise of D. Ikeda can be explained by the orientation of Nichirenism toward the continuity of teachings through charismatic leadership. After his death in 2023, there was no other authoritative leader in Soka Gakkai, and there was a threat of destabilization and disintegration of the organization and the loss of its political influence. At the same time, the refusal to transfer charismatic leadership to a successor, apparently, was a conscious decision made by the bureaucratic apparatus of the organization. The article examines the evolution of the personality and image of Ikeda Daisaku and his role in the activities of the Soka Gakkai at the present stage. 

The blind in Japan have created their specific culture. As early as in the 14th century, they organized their own guild (Tōdōza) and succeeded in monopolizing a number of traditional entertainment and medical practices, having acquired a rather stable financial position. However, after the end of the Tokugawa shogunate and during the first reforms of the Meiji period, the guild was abolished together with its monopoly, and the blind found themselves in difficult circumstances, having to compete with the sighted, without practical support from the new government. In the early Meiji period, these were mostly Christian missions and private philanthropists who undertook measures to promote education of the blind and fought for their rights and welfare. Christian organizations founded first schools for the blind, such as the Tokyo School for the Blind and Dumb, which made many blind people wishing to acquire education interested in Christianity. The blind often became Christian converts and plunged into educational and philanthropical activities themselves. Major achievements in modernizing the life of the blind in Japan were made due to the work of blind Christians. Blind Christians launched the first Japanese newspaper and one of the first magazines for the blind, were the first among persons with visual impairments in Japan to get higher education, founded the first braille library and one of the first charity funds for the blind. Christianity not only contributed to the rise in living and educational standards of the blind, but also gave them possibilities to discover new ways of self-realization in acquiring new professions as well as in the sphere of spiritual development. For its followers, Christianity eradicated the concept of karma-bound blindness spread in traditional Japan and empowered them with the idea of their special mission in society entrusted to them by God.