DEALS

Japan

News, deep dives, and analysis — every Japan story, newest first.

88
Articles
27
Beats covered
4
Reporters on beat
Aug 18
Last updated
Sort
DJI Brings Osmo Pocket 4P To Cannes On May 14, Mid-Film Festival
China

DJI Brings Osmo Pocket 4P To Cannes On May 14, Mid-Film Festival

DJI has set the date and venue for the Osmo Pocket 4P reveal. The company posted matching teasers Monday from its global and Japan X accounts confirming a Cannes, France event on May 14, 2026 at 17:00 CEST. That date lands inside the 79th Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 12 to May 23.…

Japan's $450 Wooden Drone Is a Ukraine Lesson in Plywood
US Air Force

Japan’s $450 Wooden Drone Is a Ukraine Lesson in Plywood

A Tokyo defense startup just put a $450 fixed-wing drone on the Japanese market, and the airframe is made of wood. JISDA, short for Japan Integrated Security Design Agency, announced the ACM-01 Shiraha on April 14 in Tokyo. It’s a 6.2-foot wingspan trainer built to be flown hard, crashed, and replaced without anyone wincing at…

Japan Drops Apaches, Bets $70M on Drones Instead
Japan

Japan Drops Apaches, Bets $70M on Drones Instead

Japan just put real money behind the idea that attack helicopters are finished. The country’s fiscal year 2026 defense budget, enacted on April 7, includes ¥11.1 billion ($69.7 million) to buy five “wide-area UAVs” for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, as Defence Blog reported. The procurement is the first funded step in a plan to…

Japan Deploys Drones for Nighttime Wildfire Mapping
DJI

Japan Deploys Drones for Nighttime Wildfire Mapping

When a wildfire tore through Mount Ogi in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, ground crews couldn’t reach it and helicopters stopped flying at dark. That’s when the drones went to work. Blue Innovation Co., Ltd. conducted nighttime aerial imaging flights over the burn area, filling the critical hours between sunset and the next morning’s helicopter operations, as…

ACSL SOTEN Gets SAMO: A 64MP Thermal Payload Built for Operators Who Can't Use DJI
ACSL

ACSL SOTEN Gets SAMO: A 64MP Thermal Payload Built for Operators Who Can’t Use DJI

ACSL is actively promoting SAMO, its dual optical-thermal swappable payload for the SOTEN drone, as the Japan-made platform pushes deeper into U.S. public safety and inspection markets. Built around Teledyne FLIR’s Hadron 640R module, SAMO pairs a 64-megapixel visible camera with a 640×512 radiometric Boson thermal sensor — all in an NDAA-compliant, ITAR-free package. Teledyne…

U.S. Marines and South Korea Just Practiced Shooting Down Suicide Drones
Ukraine

U.S. Marines and South Korea Just Practiced Shooting Down Suicide Drones

For the first time on public record, American forces have disclosed live-fire drone interception training during a combined exercise with South Korea. U.S. Marine Corps forces deployed from Okinawa, Japan, conducted the training on March 18 at the Daecheon Shooting Range using Stinger portable surface-to-air missiles to shoot down MQM-171A BroadSword target drones configured to…

— The DroneXL Briefing · Free

The drone industry moves fast. Stay ahead of it.

One email with the drone news that matters — DJI, FAA, public safety, and everything in between, straight from the newsroom. No spam, no fluff.

8,400+
Articles published
340+
Beats & desks
2020
Covering drones since
100%
Independent