On April 10, 2024, the leaders of the United States and Japan held a summit and issued a joint statement, marking a new phase of the U.S.-Japan alliance. The characteristics of the new upgrade of the U.S.-Japan alliance are that the U.S. and Japan are promoting dual strategic competition with China in the Asia-Pacific region. The strengthening of the U.S.-Japan defense cooperation and practical orientation are the focus of the alliance upgrade. The scope of the U.S.-Japan alliance cooperation is more comprehensive, and the competition with China is more targeted. The upgrade of the U.S.-Japan alliance influences the geopolitical evolution of the Asia-Pacific region, leading to renewed tensions on the Korean Peninsula, complicating political and security issues in the region, and significantly increasing the risk of regional conflicts and even war. This situation poses a substantial negative impact on Chinas surrounding security and the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region. China needs to strive to play the role of a responsible regional power and a member of the international community. It should place greater emphasis on risk monitoring of surrounding security and deepen its regional diplomacy, becoming an advocate and practitioner of regional peace. China should implement the Global Security Initiative at the regional level, promote the building of a community with a shared future for the countries within the region, and safeguard surrounding and regional security.

As a major energy-consuming nation, Japans traditional energy imports and transportation routes are subject to significant uncertainty due to political risks in regions such as the Middle East. The abundant oil and gas resources in the Arctic, along with the development and utilization of its shipping lanes, hold vital strategic significance for Japan. Concurrently, the rapid environmental changes in the Arctic are poised to significantly affect various sectors in Japan, including climate, fisheries, and maritime transport. Due to its non-Arctic state status and the constraints of the Arctic Councils system, Japan has long been unable to have decision-making power in Arctic governance affairs and has long encountered multiple difficulties. Following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the geopolitical landscape of the Arctic has undergone severe fragmentation. The halt in Japans cooperation with Russia, which wields significant control over Arctic shipping routes and possesses abundant energy resources, coupled with the deceleration of its collaborative pace with near-Arctic partners like China and South Korea, has plunged Japan into a fresh set of challenges in realizing its fundamental national interests in Arctic governance. On another note, Japan has intensified its deep cooperation with the United States on Arctic security strategies and has adopted a diversified and multifaceted approach to governance, thereby forging closer cooperative ties with Nordic countries. Nevertheless, these initiatives remain insufficient in resolving Japans new predicaments, and instead push Japan towards the security dilemma of maritime militarization.

With the wide application of digital technology in the field of education, the digital-driven educational change has become a worldwide theme. Countries continue to introduce digital development strategies and plans to implement the digital transformation of education in an all-round way. Since the launch of the education reform program named “GIGA School Program” in 2019, Japan has continuously improved the level of digital infrastructure construction, strengthened the application guidance of digital teaching in schools, improved the teacher training and support system, and achieved certain results.The implementation strategy reflects the characteristics of attaching importance to the concept of educational fairness, pursuing precise target management, emphasizing educational application guidance, and building a diversified collaborative system.However, there are still a series of problems in the implementation process, such as regional differences in the use of equipment, the increased work burden of teachers, the misunderstanding of the digital transformation, and the lag of educational management concept, which reflect the particularity and complexity of the digital transformation of education.

Nowadays, the “school feeding” program, which started with individual schools as a response to hunger or disaster for children, has developed into an important part of Japanese school activities, and has become an indispensable part of compulsory education. “School feeding” provides a nutritious and balanced lunch with guaranteed food safety for primary and secondary school students who are in the stage of vigorous growth and development, greatly promoting and ensuring the healthy growth of young people. The organic combination of food education and “school feeding” is an important feature of Japan. “School feeding” is not only a carrier and platform for food education, but also a“living textbook”that plays an important role in food education. As the foundation and prerequisite for school food education in China, accelerating the construction of the feeding system is an urgent task. To this end, it is necessary to change our mindset and try to liberate the issue of lunch for primary and secondary school students from their families and society, making it an important part of compulsory education. We also need to improve relevant legal systems and standardize implementation rules. At the same time, we need to think about how to make good use of the platform of school meals to promote food education and develop a food education culture with Chinese characteristics.

The issue of female succession to the Japanese throne has both deep historical roots and significant legal and social obstacles. While a total of eight female emperors ascended the throne under special historical conditions in ancient Japan, the promulgation of The Imperial Household Law during the Meiji era and its subsequent revisions after World War II explicitly excluded female succession. The key to realizing female succession lies in amending The Imperial Household Law. However, since the Koizumi administration, despite multiple discussions on the matter, conservative traditions and political stability concerns have caused the reform process to stall. Furthermore, the publics support for a female emperor remains consistently high, and the continued advocacy for gender equality by the international community, particularly the United Nations, further highlights the significance of this issue. The question of female emperors is not only about legal reform but also but also reflects the profound contradictions and challenges in Japanese society between gender equality and the inheritance of traditional culture.

Japan began to enter an aging society with a low birth rate in the 1970s. In order to address a series of issues arising from this and promote sustainable development, the Japanese government has formulated a series of targeted laws and policies. The womens employment policy, as an important part of it, has gone through a tortuous process of development and change. Labor Standards Act, The Law on the Welfare of Hard-working Women, Law for Equal Employment Opportunity of Men and Women, and Child Care and Family Care Leave Law are the most representative legal documents. Overall, Japans womens employment policy keeps pace with the times, focusing on improving womens employment status and increasing their employment rate. However, at the same time, it also exposes issues such as effectiveness and the urgent need to strengthen constraints. Japan has accumulated rich experience and lessons in womens employment policies for more than half a century, which is worth referring to and learning from for China.