Hub in singapore. thomas moore. while we don t have the exact details of this in principle ban, it seems like a significant forjapan tell us more. tokyo has been very proactive in terms of condemning russia s invasion of ukraine and imposing sanctions but it has been less keen when it comes to banning imports of russian energy because of its heavy energy dependence. so when announcing the ban, the prime minister emphasised how difficult this decision is for his country and also stressed the importance of the g7 partners working together and hinted this would be done in a gradual manner, without giving us a timeline. this is significant because it gives japan some leeway in terms of phasing out those imports from russia while finding alternative sources of energy. a reminder here thatjapan s energy dependence increased substantially after the 2011