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April 29, 2024
 

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The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's Natsumi Sakai (center) celebrates with other CDP officials and supporters on Sunday in Tokyo's Koto Ward after being announced as the winner of the Tokyo No. 15 district by-election.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Election trouncing a blow to Kishida, but snap election unlikely
The PM might order a Cabinet reshuffle and make leadership changes within the LDP to boost his popularity ahead of the party's presidential election.
JAPAN / Politics
Local councils in Japan take measures to counter candidate shortfall
Efforts are being made to encourage participation to avoid undermining essential functions such as administrative oversight.
JAPAN / Politics
Japan ups defense spending to 1.6% of GDP with eye on 2027 goal
The budget edges closer to the 2% of GDP standard that many Western nations have targeted, which Tokyo aims to achieve by 2027.
LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (center) speaks to reporters as election strategy committee chair Yuko Obuchi (left) and Deputy Secretary-General Hiroshi Kajiyama look on at party's headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday night.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 28, 2024
Main opposition CDP sweeps three Lower House by-elections in blow to LDP
By Eric Johnston
The results were seen as a setback for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and could accelerate talks within the LDP about his political future.
The city government of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, has conducted its third marine survey around the Senkaku Islands.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 28, 2024
Okinawa's Ishigaki uses drone for first time during marine survey around Senkakus
During the survey, China Coast Guard vessels entered Japanese waters around the islands and attempted to interfere with the city's ship.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 27, 2024
Japan party leaders make final pitches ahead of Sunday by-elections
The outcome of the Shimane by-election is expected to affect Kishida's grip on power and his strategy for a possible dissolution of the Lower House.
The first Lower House political reform committee meeting begins in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 26, 2024
Gaps between Japan's parties on political reform on show at committee
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
At the committee's first meeting, differing views were expressed on the legal responsibility of politicians as well as punishments for wrongdoing.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said he has instructed his ministry to investigate whether or not there have been any further incidents.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 26, 2024
Five senior SDF officers punished for mishandling secret info
By Jesse Johnson
They passed on secret information to personnel within their units who were not cleared to handle such data.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara (third from left) attends a ceremony last month for the Ground Self-Defense Force's systems communications and cyber school.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 26, 2024
The glitch in Japan's plans to bolster U.S. defense
By Kaori Kaneko, Tim Kelly and John Geddie
Japan has suffered high-profile hacks in recent years that have elevated concerns over whether Tokyo can fully support its security partners.
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 25, 2024
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
By Yukana Inoue
In a departure from boys' club politics, candidates including four women, a writer and an ex-martial artist are making their case for a seat in parliament.
Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, announced in March that he would not run in the next Lower House election to take responsibility for the political funds scandal that rocked his party and his own faction.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 24, 2024
LDP veteran Nikai's youngest son expected to succeed him in Wakayama
By Eric Johnston
Nobuyasu Nikai, who serves as secretary to his 85-year-old father, has been asked to stand for election by local leaders in the prefecture.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Taro Aso, vice president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in New York on Tuesday. The Japanese government’s top spokesman on Wednesday played down the meeting as one conducted "in the capacity of one lawmaker" and “without the government’s involvement.”
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 24, 2024
Japan's former PM Aso meets Trump for talks on security and economy
By Jesse Johnson
The visit highlights behind-the-scenes moves by Tokyo to cultivate ties with the Trump camp ahead of November’s U.S. presidential election.
Ryu Shionoya, former chairman of the General Council of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, speaks at a news conference at the parliamentary building on Tuesday after he left the party.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 24, 2024
Ryu Shionoya quits LDP, ending scandal-linked punishment process
With the acceptance of the resignation, the LDP's process of punishing party lawmakers involved in the political funds scandal concluded.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has repeatedly expressed his commitment to bring about a revision of the Political Funds Control Act during the current session of parliament, which is slated to end on June 23.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 23, 2024
LDP pledges tougher action on errant lawmakers in reform blueprint
By Gabriele Ninivaggi and Eric Johnston
The ruling party will seek to review legislation on the handling of political funds in the wake of a slush funds scandal involving its members.
Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 23, 2024
Japanese minister Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine
She signed a visitors' book as a minister and made a ritual offering at her own expense.
Voters listen to a speech by a candidate for a Lower House seat in the upcoming Tokyo No. 15 district by-election.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 23, 2024
CDP-backed candidates seen leading in all three Japan by-elections
Candidates backed by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan are in the lead ahead of three by-elections.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a Lower House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 22, 2024
LDP to present political reform plan this week as pressure grows
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
The move will lay the groundwork for an amendment of the political funds control law in the current session of parliament slated to end June 23.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday marked 932 days in office, tying with Ryutaro Hashimoto as the eighth-longest-serving prime minister in postwar Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 22, 2024
Kishida is now postwar Japan's eighth-longest-serving PM
Victory in the LDP's presidential election in autumn will put him in the running to surpass Nobusuke Kishi, who held office for 1,241 days.
A "masakaki" tree offering made by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is shown at the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 21, 2024
South Korea protests Japanese leaders' offerings to Yasukuni Shrine
The government in Seoul said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's offering had prompted a feeling of "deep disappointment."
Former Prime Minister Taro Aso speaks during a forum in Taiwan in 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 19, 2024
Former PM Aso seeks Trump meeting during New York visit: report
By Yoshifumi Takemoto
Aso had attempted to meet Trump in January during a trip to the U.S. but was not able to see him.
A bill to tackle the low birthrate is passed at a Lower House plenary session on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 19, 2024
Lower House approves bill aimed at tackling low birthrate
The government plans to start collecting the fees in fiscal 2026 and gradually increase the amounts to secure ¥1 trillion annually from fiscal 2028.
CDP head Kenta Izumi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on April 13.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 19, 2024
Kishida and Izumi to campaign in must-win Shimane as by-election looms
By Eric Johnston
For Kishida and the LDP, the Shimane race is a must-win contest, while the opposition is looking to gain ground in a ruling party stronghold.
LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi arrives for his faction meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2024
Motegi faces bumpy road after faction dissolution
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
Motegi has never sought to conceal his aspirations for the top spot, but his prospects may now be dwindling.

Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
Raising kids in Japan as a single parent? It takes a village.
Making things work as a foreign, single mother in Japan isn't easy, but these tips and tricks can help you through the hardest parts.
JAL cancels international flight after captain gets drunk at Dallas hotel
A Japan Airlines' flight from Dallas to Tokyo was canceled last week after its captain got drunk at a local hotel.
In Japan, regional revitalization fails to halt population decline
Sakiyama elementary school in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, in March .Over the past decade, the government has directed efforts toward policies designed to give young people incentives to base themselves in rural areas.
Putin’s war will soon reach Russians’ tax bills
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting in St. Petersburg on Friday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

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