Does the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz constitute a "life-and-death crisis" for Japan?

It is reported that Iran has blockaded the Strait of Hormuz. For Japan as well, this strait is a critical chokepoint for energy imports. In the past, the Japanese government had cited the “minelaying blockade of the strait” as a hypothetical example of a “situation of grave danger to survival” that would justify the exercise of the right of collective self-defense. However, this time it will carefully assess the situation.

At a press conference on March 2, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shigeru Kimura said: “At this stage, we have not yet determined that this constitutes a situation of grave impact and a situation of danger to survival under the laws related to security and safeguards.”

A situation of danger to survival is a concept defined in security-related legislation passed in 2015 during the Shinzo Abe administration.

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The Nikkei Inc. and the Financial Times merged into the same media group in November 2015. The alliance between the two newspaper companies—one in Japan and one in the UK—both founded in the 19th century, is moving forward with broad cooperation in areas such as joint special features, under the banner of “high-quality, the strongest economic journalism.” This time, as part of that effort, the two newspapers’ Chinese websites will exchange articles between each other.