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September 19, 2025
 

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Himari Semans
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday about his candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party leadership race.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2025
Hayashi pledges to carry on Ishiba and Kishida’s work if elected LDP president
The chief cabinet secretary, who served under both prime ministers, says he will follow their lead as well as add initiatives of his own.
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi speaks in Tokyo on Thursday. He is attempting to become Liberal Democratic Party president for the second time.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 12, 2025
Will a more conservative leader emerge from the LDP presidential election?
Conservative members of the party are looking to elect such a leader, but there is a possibility that their votes might be split between two presidential hopefuls.
Former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi announces he will run in the race for president of the Liberal Democratic Party at a news conference on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 10, 2025
Motegi calls for ‘new coalition’ in bid for LDP presidency
The former party secretary-general sees welcoming a new coalition member — possibly the Democratic Party for the People or Nippon Ishin no Kai — as the way forward.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends the India-Japan Economic Forum in Tokyo on Friday, Aug. 29
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 4, 2025
Darkest hour for Ishiba amid pressure to quit and executive resignations
An offer by the secretary-general to resign after the party’s poor performance in a recent election has prompted Ishiba's LDP leadership team to call time on the administration.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama speaks to reporters on Friday at party headquarters.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 29, 2025
Pressure builds on LDP's Moriyama to take the fall for election drubbing
It is customary in Japan for a party's secretary-general to quit after a poor showing at the polls.
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi (center) attends a Lower House session on Aug. 1. Locking Koizumi into the Cabinet is Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s way of turning a potential rival into a team player, according to one expert.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 22, 2025
As farm minister, Koizumi is held ‘hostage’ by Ishiba
By naming the popular lawmaker to his Cabinet, the beleaguered prime minister turned a potential rival into a member of his team — at least, for now.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba lays a flower during the memorial service at the Nippon Budokan on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 15, 2025
As Japan marks 80 years since WWII surrender, Ishiba expresses remorse
The prime minister’s reflections about the war stood in contrast to those of his recent predecessors.
Ralph Edwards (far left), Capt. Robert Lewis (rear left), Bertha Starkey (rear center), Marvin Green (rear right), Kiyoshi (seated, left) and Chisa Tanimoto (seated, right), Koko Kondo (front left) and her three younger siblings, on the show “This Is Your Life,” on May 11, 1955
JAPAN / History / FOCUS
Aug 12, 2025
How an A-bomb survivor found forgiveness for Hiroshima bombers
Koko Kondo’s anger was extinguished when she saw the co-pilot of the Enola Gay bomber recall with regret what he and his crew had done on Aug. 6, 1945.
Top officials from the Farm Ministry bow deeply to apologize for mistakenly saying that Japan has enough rice based on faulty data at a meeting on Aug. 8 at LDP headquarters.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 8, 2025
Farm ministry apologizes over erroneous rice supply and demand forecasts
The errors came to light when Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba admitted that the government’s miscalculations had led to prices surging in the past year.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and Economic Revitalization Minister and chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa attend a budget committee session on the U.S. tariff issue in the Lower House in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 4, 2025
Opposition parties fume over U.S. trade deal not being put in writing
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said issuing a joint document with the U.S. will not serve the nation’s interests and may instead jeopardize the agreement.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 25, 2025
Various tactics to force Ishiba out of power emerge within the LDP
The LDP has been thrown into a political power game between those who want Ishiba ousted immediately and those supporting him staying on.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas attends a meeting in Brussels on July 14.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 23, 2025
China singled out at EU-Japan summit
The two sides reiterated their opposition to “any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion” in the East and South China seas.
Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party President Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday, a day after the Upper House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 22, 2025
Frustration simmers in LDP as Ishiba clings to post after election defeat
The Liberal Democratic Party is expected to have a meeting on July 31 where the key focus will be on whether the party's leadership can dispel concerns about staying on.
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya in Tokyo on Sunday night
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 21, 2025
‘Japanese First’ Sanseito emerges as powerful force after Upper House poll
The small rightwing populist party led by firebrand Sohei Kamiya won 14 seats in Sunday’s Upper House election.
Mayu Ushida, a former NHK newscaster running for election in the Tokyo electoral district on the Democratic Party for the People ticket, signs an autograph for a voter after a public rally at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 17, 2025
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
As Japan aims to increase the number of women in politics, addressing the issue of unwanted attention from men remains a challenge.
Sanseito supporters applaud Saya, Sanseito candidate for the Upper House election from Tokyo, and Manabu Matsuda, a candidate from proportional representation, at a public rally at Tsukiji Market on June 28.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 1, 2025
Sanseito touts 'Japanese First' rhetoric to gain support
Some observers say conservative voters who left the Democratic Party for the People are turning to the fledgling opposition party by default.
A voter takes a photograph of a candidate running for a Tokyo assembly seat, in Tokyo on June 21.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 27, 2025
Lawmaker hints at new social media regulations as misinformation taints elections
Under a new law, social media sites can remove posts defaming political candidates if creators don't respond within two days, but lawmakers say that's too long.
Upper House lawmaker Hirofumi Yanagase in his office on June 9. Last month in parliament, he urged the criteria for naturalization to be revised.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 20, 2025
Calls to make naturalization more difficult emerge in parliament talks
Naturalization requires applicants to have lived in Japan for at least five consecutive years, or half of the duration required for permanent residency.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 17, 2025
Farm ministry says farmers 'misunderstand' rice statistics
The farm ministry's position lacks accountability, an expert from the University of Tokyo has said.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi talks to rice farmers in Fukushima Prefecture on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 16, 2025
Agriculture ministry aims to stop publishing rice index amid accuracy concerns
A gap between the rice crop situation index and farmers’ testimonies about actual yields occurred because the agriculture ministry was using outdated sampling numbers.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japan dispatches five language education 'partners' to India
Five members of the Japan Foundation's Nihongo Partners program (front) gather at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Monday.
End of U.S. de minimis exemption causes headaches for some businesses in Japan
Proxy-shopping services — companies that ship Japanese products ranging from cosmetics and snacks to limited-edition stationery on behalf of customers abroad — are already feeling the impact of the U.S. suspending de minimis exemptions.
Over 90% of low-income families in Japan struggling to feed children
Save the Children Japan domestic program chief Sonoko Kawakami speaks at a news conference in Tokyo in July. A survey conducted by the group in June has found that over 90% of low-income households with children face food insecurity.
Struggling train firm in Chiba Prefecture turns to self-deprecating humor
"Laughter is important when you're in a difficult situation," said Katsunori Takemoto, president of Choshi Electric Railway, on Aug. 5 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture.
Japan’s front-line researchers see bright path ahead for dementia treatment
A scientist looks at scans of grains at the Memory Centre at the Department of Readaptation and Geriatrics of the University Hospital (HUG) in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 6, 2023.
Still plenty to fight for, says Japan’s team leader at worlds
Race walker Hayato Katsuki earned bronze for Japan on the opening day of the World Athletics Championships on Saturday.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japanese athletes inspired by raucous home fans at World Athletics Championships
Fans cheer on the home favorites during the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.
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.

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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