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September 16, 2025
 

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Eric Johnston

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Eric Johnston
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba chairs an Asia Zero Emission Community meeting in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Oct 13, 2024
Where does Shigeru Ishiba stand on the climate issue?
Ishiba appears to be charting a new course on renewable energy, especially with a nascent effort to tap Japan's bountiful geothermal potential.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2024
LDP pulls endorsements of 12 'slush fund' lawmakers for Oct. 27 election
Former LDP policy chief Koichi Hagiuda, ex-party Diet affairs chief Tsuyoshi Takagi and former education minister Hakubun Shimomura are among those not endorsed.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a Lower House session on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 7, 2024
Ishiba fends off questions on endorsement of scandal-tainted LDP members
The prime minister was grilled in parliament on the extent of support the ruling party will give those implicated in a recent slush funds scandal in upcoming polls.
Nippon Ishin no Kai head Nobuyuki Baba (back left) and Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan head Yoshihiko Noda (back right) discuss cooperation during the upcoming general election in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 4, 2024
Opposition parties have little time to form united front ahead of polls
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s surprise announcement of an Oct. 27 general election has left others scrambling to coordinate in order to avoid multi-cornered fights.
New Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (front center) and other Cabinet ministers pose for a commemorative photo after an appointment and certification ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 1, 2024
New Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba unveils Cabinet as LDP divide emerges
His Cabinet, made up of lawmakers largely untainted by an LDP political funds scandal, has appeared to open up a rift in the ruling party.
Shigeru Ishiba, the new head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, speaks during a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 30, 2024
Incoming PM Ishiba sets Oct. 27 as date for snap election
The newly elected Liberal Democratic Party president's announcement is highly unusual and not without controversy.
Shigeru Ishiba holds a news conference in Tokyo on Friday after winning the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 29, 2024
Ishiba hints at general election in late October as he starts to form Cabinet
Media reports said that preparations were underway for a snap general election to be held on Oct. 27.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves after he was elected as the new head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party during a leadership vote on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 27, 2024
Fifth time's a charm: Shigeru Ishiba set to be Japan PM after LDP poll win
Ishiba, who has also served as party secretary-general, won the LDP presidential election on Friday, defeating economic security minister Sanae Takaichi in a runoff vote.
A poster showing portraits of candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election at the party headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 27, 2024
Takaichi and Ishiba head to runoff in LDP leadership election
Ishiba, 67, and Takaichi, 63, emerged as the top picks in a crowded field of nine in the race that will decide the country’s next prime minister
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan President Yoshihiko Noda (right) and Nippon Ishin no Kai leader Nobuyuki Baba in Tokyo on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2024
CDP's Noda wants to court Nippon Ishin and DPP, but will he succeed?
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's new leader faces an uphill task of bridging the differences of its peers in the opposition ahead of a general election.
Former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda attends a news conference after being elected as the new leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan on Monday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 23, 2024
Former PM Yoshihiko Noda elected new leader of main opposition CDP
The win puts him on track for a showdown with a new leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a general election likely to be held sooner rather than later.
Caption TK
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Sep 23, 2024
Hokkaido seeks to grow market for scallops in the U.S. — and beyond
China's refusal to budge from its ban on Japanese seafood forces local officials to look elsewhere.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan presidential candidates Harumi Yoshida (far left), Kenta Izumi (center left), Yukio Edano (center right) and Yoshihiko Noda pose at a news conference in Tokyo on Sept. 7.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 20, 2024
CDP leader hopefuls must bridge internal and external differences
Once elected, the leader of the main opposition party must both unify the different groups within and choose who to work with to win the next general election.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, the 43-year-old son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, announces his candidacy for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency in Tokyo on Sept. 6.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 20, 2024
The second act of the Koizumi theater
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s style and rhetoric echo those of his father, but there are key differences between the two men.
Candidates for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election take part in a debate in Tokyo on Saturday. Of the nine candidates, three — Takayuki Kobayashi, Taro Kono, and Shigeru Ishiba — have been particularly vocal with their views on the country's energy strategy.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2024
LDP presidential hopefuls face tough choices on Japan's energy future
Candidates must decide what role nuclear power will play in the government's long-term energy strategy.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo in January as former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (left) looks on.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 16, 2024
In LDP presidential poll, three kingmakers hold all the cards
The decisions of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, his predecessor Yoshihide Suga and LDP Vice President Taro Aso will heavily influence the result.
(From left) Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, digital minister Taro Kono, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi pose for photographs at the ruling party's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 13, 2024
LDP presidential candidates field questions on political reform and economy
At their first joint news conference after the start of campaigning, they gave their views on party and political reform and argued for a strong economic strategy.
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori died Wednesday in Lima at age 86.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 12, 2024
Peruvian strongman Alberto Fujimori dies at age 86
The disgraced former president had deep connections to Japan, where he lived for several years to avoid extradition back to his home country over corruption charges.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa announces her candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 11, 2024
Yoko Kamikawa banks on overseas experience in LDP leadership race
Her candidacy could increase attention on foreign policy questions in a race so far dominated by party reform and domestic economic issues.
Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi announces his decision not to seek reelection in his party's Sept. 28 presidential election, in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 10, 2024
Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi announces decision to step down
The decision not to seek reelection marks the end of an era for the party and raises questions on how it might impact the LDP's presidential race.
SDF spots China’s biggest aircraft carrier for first time
The Fujian aircraft carrier is seen in Shanghai in May 2024 as it leaves for its first sea trial.
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
Is America ready for Japanese-style 7-Elevens?
Convenience stores are a fixture of Japanese life and 7-Eleven, a chain that began in the U.S. in 1927, opened its first store in Japan in 1974 — and then became wholly Japanese-owned in 2005 through parent company Seven & I Holdings.
Final weeks of World Expo in Osaka likely to see large crowds
With one month left to go, crowds are expected to swell at the World Expo in Osaka during its final weeks.
Japan's elderly population down at around 36.2 million
The estimated number of people age 65 or older in Japan stands at 36.19 million as of Monday, accounting for record 29.4% of the country's total population, according to the internal affairs ministry.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.
As Manila modernizes its military, new opportunities emerge for Tokyo
A Brahmos missile system is displayed during a rehearsal for a military parade in New Delhi in January. The Philippines will soon receive its second batch of the supersonic cruise missiles from India.
Shizuoka farmers fight to preserve sustainable tea method that’s steeped in tradition
As of August 2024, the number of confirmed chagusaba farmers had fallen to 302, just over half the 582 reported in 2015, according to the Shizuoka Chagusaba Farming Method Promotion Council.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

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