Japanese universities and other educational institutions more than doubled their applications for defence ministry research funding this year to a record 291, up from 123 last year, as Tokyo moves to strengthen its defences. The increase is the clearest sign yet that academia’s decades-long resistance to military-linked work is easing. The bids accounted for more than half the record 560 applications received by the ministry this year, up from 340 last year, with the rest coming from public...