JAPAN PERSPECTIVE

Tokyo isn't just watching -- Japan is offering to mediate. An editorial in the Mainichi Shimbun, picked up by English-language press, argues Japan should lead ceasefire mediation between Washington and Tehran. The argument rests on specific diplomatic capital: Japan is the only G7 country to have maintained continuous relations with Iran, and former PM Abe attempted mediation in 2019. This proposal is not selfless. Japan imports 90% of its oil from the Middle East, and the strikes on Kharg Island directly threaten its supply. Physical oil near $150 is an existential emergency for an economy without sufficient strategic reserves to last more than a few months. The IRGC strikes on Jubail add another layer: if Saudi Arabia -- Japan's top supplier -- is now in the line of fire, Japanese energy diversification is a mirage. Tokyo reads Trump's ultimatum not as a moral question but as a countdown to supply crisis.