Ambassador Kazuya Endo attended the closing ceremony of the Philippines–US joint exercise “Balikatan 40-2025”, On May 9, 2025, with approximately 150 participants from the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). This marked the 11th time the JSDF participated in the exercise and featured their largest participation to date.
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) JS YAHAGI (FFM-5) took part in the Multilateral Maritime Exercise, along with other Field Training Exercises, Tabletop Exercises, Subject Matter Expert Exchanges, and Humanitarian Assistance Activities as observers. As such, defense cooperation and exchanges between Japan and the Philippines, both like-minded nations, are steadily advancing in a multifaceted and multilayered manner, particularly in the domain of maritime security.
