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March 20, 2025
 

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A signed picture by photographer Joe Rosenthal of U.S. Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima is shown as part of a display at the new National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia, in November 2006.
JAPAN / Politics
‘DEI’ purge prompts Pentagon to remove webpage on Iwo Jima flag-raiser
The Pentagon said that the page and others, which were removed under the Trump administration’s wide-ranging crackdown on diversity measures, were being restored.
JAPAN / Politics
Japan, China and South Korea's top diplomats to meet in Tokyo
The last such trilateral meeting was held in November 2023 in the South Korean port city of Busan.
JAPAN / Politics
Japan to begin hospital ship operations by next January
The program calls for using existing private-sector ships to transport patients from disaster-affected areas and provide medical care.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a session of the Upper House Budget Committee in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 18, 2025
Why ousting Ishiba could be a tricky task
By Eric Johnston
Passing a no-confidence motion could result in the dissolution of the Lower House within 10 days, triggering another election the opposition might lose.
Locals fill up bottles from a communal water tank in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 30, 2024, following the Noto Peninsula earthquake on New Year's Day.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 18, 2025
Lower House passes bill on peninsular disaster prevention
The bill is centered around advancing disaster prevention efforts that take into consideration the unique geographic features of such regions.
A MI-8 helicopter from the Belarus army carries the Belarusian national flag in Minsk in 2017.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 18, 2025
Belarus sentences Japanese man to seven years for spying
The man allegedly took photos of military facilities as well as railway infrastructure, and had traveled to the Ukrainian border.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba answers questions at a session of the Upper House Budget Committee in Tokyo. Approval ratings for Ishiba's government have dropped sharply, polls showed Monday, as the leader faces a backlash for distributing gift vouchers to rookie lawmakers in his ruling party.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 17, 2025
Approval rates for Ishiba's Cabinet plunge amid gift voucher snafu
By Himari Semans
Polls conducted by several newspapers over the weekend show public support tumbling to record lows.
Takashi Tachibana, leader of the Party to Protect the People from NHK, delivers his first campaign speech for the Chiba gubernatorial election on Feb. 27 in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 17, 2025
Controversial candidate draws criticism in Chiba election
Takashi Tachibana mainly campaigned in Hyogo Prefecture, hundreds of kilometers away.
Chiba Gov. Toshihito Kumagai
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 17, 2025
Chiba Gov. Toshihito Kumagai wins reelection bid as turnout dips
Voter turnout was 31.93%, down from 38.99% in the previous election four years ago.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is under fire for giving gift certificates worth ¥100,000 each to lawmakers newly elected to the House of Representatives last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 16, 2025
Past prime ministers customarily gave gift certificates, lawmaker says
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is under fire for giving gift certificates worth ¥100,000 each to lawmakers newly elected to the House of Representatives.
Then-U.S. President Joe Biden awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson during a ceremony at the White House in July 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 16, 2025
Former U.S. senator who aided Japanese American internees dies
Former Sen. Alan Simpson, who died Friday, was a cross-party ally of the late Democrat Norman Mineta, the first Japanese American to hold a U.S. Cabinet post.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba answers questions during an Upper House Budget Committee meeting Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 16, 2025
Opposition set to step up offensive against Ishiba
Ishiba, already hurt by low public support, has found himself in a bind ahead of this summer's Upper House election as the scandal shakes his image as a "clean politician."
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (second from left) cheers along with other members of the Liberal Democratic Party during the party's annual convention in Tokyo on March 9.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 16, 2025
As it turns 70, LDP struggles to find its fountain of youth
By Eric Johnston
Having lost 60,000 members in 2024 amid a slush funds scandal, the party is under pressure to seek out new blood, but its old ways may be a turnoff for many.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's reversal over medical co-payments late last week and the revelation he gave gift vouchers to lawmakers have weakened his political standing.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 14, 2025
Ishiba on shaky ground over budget and gift vouchers
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
Recent fumbles have given Ishiba's opponents within the LDP a golden opportunity to attack him.
George Glass, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Japan, speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2025
Trump's ambassador pick to press Japan to spend more to host U.S. troops
By Jesse Johnson
The remarks by George Glass were the latest volley from the Trump administration to target Japan, following comments by other nominees.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and others attend a Cabinet meeting on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2025
Japan touts benefits of foreign development aid
Japanese aid has helped the country win trust globally, the government said in an annual white paper.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the prime minister's official residence on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2025
Opposition blasts Ishiba over gift certificates given to LDP lawmakers
Ishiba gave gift certificates worth ¥100,000 each to over 10 new lawmakers, sources have said. The prime minister apologized but said the move was not illegal.
Prime Minsiter Shigeru Ishiba
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 13, 2025
Ishiba Cabinet disapproval rises to 44%
It was the highest level since the launch of Ishiba's administration in October last year.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends an Upper House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 13, 2025
How Upper House pressure led to Ishiba's stunning reversal on medical cost caps
By Himari Semans
An unprecedented second amendment to Japan's budget shows opposition in the Lower House is not the only external pressure to which the government is exposed.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 13, 2025
Ishiba mulls visit to Iwo Jima, site of fierce WWII battle
He plans to attend a joint Japan-U.S. memorial service on March 29, which would make him the first Japanese prime minister since April 2013 to set foot on the remote island.
Upper House Budget Committee chief Yosuke Tsuruho (right) and his Lower House counterpart, Jun Azumi, meet in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 12, 2025
Medical cap fumble paves way for unprecedented second revision of fiscal budget
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
While there have been cases of bills returning to the Lower House after amendments in the Upper House, it has never happened with the budget.
Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu told The Japan Times in an interview last week in Taipei that he hopes with the island democracy can strengthen ties with Japan and other like-minded nations “at every level.”
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 12, 2025
Taiwan’s No. 2 diplomat seeks higher-level ‘unofficial’ Japan meetings as ties grow
By Gabriel Dominguez
Taipei has been shifting away from its competition with China over formal recognition, focusing instead on pragmatism to circumvent diplomatic obstacles.
South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun speaks during an interview on Feb. 27 in Seoul.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2025
South Korean lawmakers to visit Osaka Expo
Lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun said he will encourage South Koreans to visit Japan for the expo.

Snowfall in Tokyo as storm sweeps country
Snow falls on a narrow drinking alley in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward on Wednesday morning.
‘DEI’ purge prompts Pentagon to remove webpage on Iwo Jima flag-raiser
A signed picture by photographer Joe Rosenthal of U.S. Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima is shown as part of a display at the new National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia, in November 2006.
Putin spurns a Ukraine ceasefire but Trump calls talk a win
After U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin's phone call, talks aimed at advancing toward a broader peace plan will begin immediately, the White House, though it was unclear whether Ukraine will be involved.
Japan’s twin obsessions meet as MLB visits sumo’s heartland
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw takes part in a sumo demonstration in Tokyo on Friday.
Musk says aid cuts haven’t killed anyone. That's not true.
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump's assertion that U.S. aid cuts to programs including PEPFAR and USAID in Africa aren't causing harm is not true. Children and others are already dying as a result.
At Tokyo Dome, a stage so big that even Shohei Ohtani felt nervous
Shohei Ohtani tips his batting helmet during the opening game of the MLB season between the Dodgers and Cubs on Tuesday at Tokyo Dome
Assassin’s Creed Shadows puts samurai style over substance
Releasing on March 20, Assassin's Creed Shadows excels in atmosphere and open-world gameplay but falls short of narrative expectations.
At Ventinove, Tuscan specialties taken to new heights
Tucked away behind the historic Tsuchida sake brewery, Ventinove's location and sleek, angular architecture make for impressive destination dining.
Private clubs quietly open in Tokyo for free-spending Chinese businesspeople
Sources say a hui suo — a private club, which in Japan caters mainly to Chinese businesspeople — will soon open on the upper floors of the Moutai Building in the Ginza district of Tokyo.
Japan’s youth climate activists still searching for a breakthrough
While climate demonstrations around the world often draw thousands of participants, in Japan such demonstrations rarely break the 100-person barrier.

Podcast

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

Longform

Passengers that were on a morning train attacked by members of the Aum Shinrikyo group wait for medical assistance outside Kasumigaseki Station on March 20,1995.
The day a religious cult brought terror to Tokyo
By Alex K.T. Martin

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