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November 14, 2025
 

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The Japan Innovation Party's Nobuyuki Baba (left) and the Liberal Democratic Party's Yoshitaka Shindo at a meeting on constitutional revision held in the National Diet Building on Thursday. Baba and Shindo co-chair the two parties' working-level forum for discussing constitutional amendments.
JAPAN / Politics
LDP and JIP to advance talks over constitutional revision
The ruling parties held the first meeting of their working-level forum for discussing constitutional amendments on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Prime Minister Takaichi says she sleeps only 2-4 hours a night
The revelation about how little she sleeps came after Takaichi raised eyebrows last week by arranging a 3 a.m. staff meeting in her office to prepare for a parliamentary session.
JAPAN / Politics
Ousted mayor of Ito to seek return in December election
The city assembly passed no-confidence motions against Takubo in September and October.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi talks with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Nov.1.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 14, 2025
Takaichi's summit diplomacy scores highly in Jiji poll
A total of 75.1% of respondents rated highly the prime minister’s summit meetings with the leaders of the U.S., China and South Korea.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 13, 2025
Japan panel members call for extra budget topping ¥14 trillion
Members also urged the government to abandon its goal of achieving a surplus in the primary balance at the central and local governments.
The Japan Innovation Party has long sought to get Osaka designated as Japan's backup capital.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 13, 2025
What would a ‘backup capital’ look like for Japan?
By Eric Johnston
The concept faces tough questions on its substance and whether its true purpose is to realize the Japan Innovation Party's goal of making its Osaka base the natural choice.
At a joint meeting of Japan's National Governors' Association and the Governors Association of the Republic of Korea, officials discussed issues affecting both countries and the need for future cooperation, in Incheon, South Korea, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 13, 2025
Japanese and South Korean governors discuss need for cooperation
Officials talked about measures to boost the economy and deal with population decline in the eighth joint meeting since 1999.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki (second from left) speaks at a meeting of the party's political system reform headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 12, 2025
LDP begins internal talks on Lower House seat reduction
The party agreed with its coalition partner to aim for enacting legislation to reduce Lower House seats during the ongoing extraordinary Diet session.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during an Upper House Budget Committee session on Wednesday in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 12, 2025
Takaichi sidesteps commitment to decades-old nonnuclear principles
By Jesse Johnson
The prime minister refrained from saying her government would maintain Japan’s Three Non-Nuclear Principles, leaving the door open for a revision.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a session of the House of Councilors Budget Committee in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 12, 2025
Japan to use extra budget to address bear attacks
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Wednesday that a proposed supplementary budget would include spending to help local governments address attacks by bears.
Joo Ho-young, head of a suprapartisan league of South Korean lawmakers working to promote friendship with Japan, speaks during an interview on Tuesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 12, 2025
South Korean politician urges Tokyo to address Takeshima matter calmly
Joo Ho-young, head of a suprapartisan league of lawmakers working to promote friendship with Japan, said the issue easily infuriates South Korean people.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 12, 2025
Japan lawmakers eye firm response to Chinese envoy's threat to behead PM
The LDP adopted a resolution calling for a decisive response to Xue Jian's post on X, including the possibility of expelling the diplomat from Japan.
Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow. The 30 Japanese individuals Russia's Foreign Ministry targeted for the ban include Japan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Toshihiro Kitamura as well as researchers and members of the press.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 12, 2025
Russia bans entry of 30 more Japanese nationals
It was Moscow's first decision to ban Japanese nationals from entering Russia since the inauguration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last month.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party head Hirofumi Yoshimura in Tokyo on Oct. 21. An agreement between the two parties included a promise, at the JIP's insistence, to introduce legislation in the current parliamentary session that reduces the number of Lower House seats.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 11, 2025
LDP-JIP coalition faces friction over parliamentary seat-reducing bill
By Eric Johnston — Gabriele Ninivaggi
Differences over the measure to reduce parliamentary seats could weaken the ruling minority coalition’s unity and test its ability to compromise.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responds to questions during a House of Representatives Budget Committee session in parliament on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 11, 2025
Takaichi doesn’t mince words on Taiwan, but dramatic policy shift unlikely
By Jesse Johnson
The prime minister’s remarks illustrate the gradual evolution of Japan’s relationship with Taiwan and its growing concern over China.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responds to questions during a session of the House of Representatives' Budget Committee in parliament in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 10, 2025
Takaichi stands firm on controversial Taiwan contingency remarks
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
While the prime minister says she has “no intention” of changing the government’s position, her remarks push the line further than those of her predecessors.
Mika Yokota won Hiroshima Prefecture’s gubernatorial election on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 10, 2025
Hiroshima Prefecture elects its first female governor
Mika Yokota, a former deputy governor of Hiroshima Prefecture, defeated two contenders to win Sunday’s gubernatorial election.
Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, attends an extraordinary session of the Lower House in Tokyo on Oct. 21.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 10, 2025
DPP finds itself on the outside after failing to join ruling coalition
By Eric Johnston
Yuichiro Tamaki’s indecisiveness is seen as having contributed to his party’s drop in popularity.
Takashi Tachibana, head of the anti-NHK party
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 9, 2025
Anti-NHK group's head arrested in libel case
Takashi Tachibana's arrest came after the police determined that he could run or destroy evidence.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 9, 2025
LDP sees difficulty in agreeing on Lower House seat reduction in current Diet session
A coalition between the LDP and the JIP says that the two parties will work together to cut the number of Diet members by 10%.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi chats with her Cabinet members in parliament in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 8, 2025
Takaichi plans pay cuts for herself and her ministers
The prime minister seeks to revise the public servant remuneration law to cut the salaries of Cabinet members, including herself.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a Lower House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 7, 2025
Takaichi makes the case for economic growth in parliament debate
By Himari Semans
Friendly and smooth-sailing exchange between Takaichi and her LDP colleagues in the morning was followed by a more critical line of questioning from CDP lawmakers.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers questions from Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda regarding her policy speech at the Lower House in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 5, 2025
Takaichi sticks to script in second day of parliamentary questioning
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
The prime minister remained elusive in her answers, much to the chagrin of the opposition.

From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
Descendants in Philippines denied Japanese citizenship
What would a ‘backup capital’ look like for Japan?
The Japan Innovation Party has long sought to get Osaka designated as Japan's backup capital.
Chinese national sentenced for hit-and-run that injured four children in Saitama
A Saitama district court sentenced Deng Hongpeng, a Chinese national and demolition worker, to two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years, for hitting a group of elementary school children with his car and fleeing the scene while driving under the influence.
As attacks surge, who can cull bears in Japan?
Police cars leave the Akita Prefectural Police headquarters to cull bears, in the city of Akita on Thursday.
Japan fully enters sports streaming era as fans face new dilemmas
Sports fan Tadashi Yokoyama streams basketball and fencing on three screens.
Tatsuya Nakadai: A masterful leading man and postwar icon
Tatsuya Nakadai had the look of a leading man in his youth, but his large and searching eyes suggested the pain and loneliness of an old soul.
As Japan’s female leader rises, can she cross sumo’s sacred line?
Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (front center) delivers a speech on the first day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center on Sunday. Centuries of belief and tradition still underpin the all-male association's stance of excluding women.
Takaichi doesn’t mince words on Taiwan, but dramatic policy shift unlikely
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responds to questions during a House of Representatives Budget Committee session in parliament on Tuesday.
Florist Nicolai Bergmann flourishes outside the box
Florist Nicolai Bergmann shops for fresh flowers at the Ota flower market in Tokyo on Friday.

Podcast

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

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years
By Yukana Inoue

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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