In Riyadh this week, Japan and Saudi Arabia reaffirmed what modern industrial civilization quietly depends upon: the uninterrupted flow of crude oil through a narrow waterway where geography and geopolitics collide. Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi and Saudi Prince Faisal bin Farhan met to secure commitments on free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, even as Houthi militant attacks remind both nations how precarious that dependence can be. The meeting was not merely diplomatic courtesy — it was an acknowledgment that energy security and regional stability are, in the end, the same convers