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July 18, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY

Japan

World
Japan
Shigeru Ishiba, prime minister and president of the Liberal Democratic Party, gives a campaign speech in Yokohama on July 6.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
In uncertain times, Japan needs responsible leadership
As a responsible political party, the LDP is determined to consistently pursue policies that are accountable to future generations.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Komeito hears those hit hardest by rising prices
“To stand forever with common citizens.” Our party has faithfully abided by that founding principle for over six decades
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
The Constitutional Democratic Party vows fight against inflation
The CDP will work to lower surging food costs and realize fair rice prices
Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of Nippon Ishin no Kai, outlines his party’s policies during a news conference at the Diet building in Tokyo on June 30.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 16, 2025
Nippon Ishin stakes its appeal on real results as Upper House vote nears
By Hirofumi Yoshimura and Seiji Maehara
Neither the ruling coalition or other opposition parties have advanced political reform.
Tomoko Tamura, chairperson of the Japanese Communist Party, attends a debate with other party leaders in Tokyo in October. Her party urges voters to end the LDP’s business-centered politics and U.S. dependence by supporting its social, economic and foreign-policy reforms.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 16, 2025
JCP vows fairer taxes, stronger social safety net and a commitment to peaceful diplomacy
By Tomoko Tamura
Tamura says LDP’s politics are now in a terminal and critical state with the party unable to respond to domestic and international issues or the wishes of the people.
The Sanseito party, led by Sohei Kamiya, is surging in the polls with anti-immigration talk, but its rise is likely just a short-lived protest vote rather than the start of lasting right-wing populism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 15, 2025
Japan’s right-wing fringe is no MAGA or reform movement
By Gearoid Reidy
The Sanseito party is surging in polls with anti-immigration talk, but its rise is likely just a short-lived protest vote rather than the start of lasting right-wing populism.
Tokyo’s skyline keeps evolving, but the country’s drab, outdated government district, long hours, low pay and poor work conditions are driving young bureaucratic talent away just when it needs them most.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 11, 2025
Tokyo is missing 'Blade Runner' where it needs it most
By Gearoid Reidy
Until the 1960s, Japan had strict prohibitions on developments higher than 31 meters (around 100 feet), a provision that kept cities dense but low.
A Phoenix quantum computer made by Atom Computing, in Berkeley, California. Japan is advancing in quantum research but lags in commercialization. To compete globally, it must shift from a research-focused approach to one driven by industry, investment and real-world applications.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 9, 2025
Japan needs to take the quantum-technology leap
By Wakana Asano
Policymakers must focus on specific sectors, test new ideas through public-private partnerships and present practical examples.
Despite months of negotiations and Japan’s key role as a U.S. ally and investor, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba faces frustration as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats persist — damaging trust and complicating relations.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2025
Donald Trump’s ‘copy-and-paste’ tariffs will no doubt rile ‘Mr. Japan’
By Gearoid Reidy
Trump's copy-and-paste wording sent to world leaders was virtually identical, including telling Tokyo to open its "heretofore closed trading markets” — whatever that means.
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends the EU-Japan summit in Brussels in July 2023. Economic cooperation between the EU, Japan and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership is showing promise but faces political and structural hurdles that could limit progress.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2025
EU-CPTPP talks highlight shared goals and stubborn obstacles
By Brad Glosserman
EU economic cooperation with Japan and the CPTPP shows promise but could face political and structural hurdles that limit progress.

Tokyo emerges as a top market for global tech talent
Tokyo ranks among the world's top tech talent hubs alongside Beijing, the San Francisco Bay Area, Bengaluru, Paris, New York and Dublin, according to Colliers' newly released global tech markets report.
JSA’s 100th anniversary event is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for sumo fans
Egyptian wrestler Osunaarashi has some fun with children during a special Japan Sumo Association event in 2017.
Tens of millions of yen found at home of Aum Shinrikyo founder's wife
The house of the wife of the late Chizuo Matsumoto, the now-defunct Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult's founder, in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, in July
Japan researchers identify gut bacteria strain that boosts anticancer drugs
Researchers at the National Cancer Center Japan say a new type of gut bacteria named YB328 could help unlock the potential of cancer immunotherapy.
Living conditions index hits lowest level in 15 years in Japan
The share of respondents to a Bank of Japan quarterly survey in June who said they have become worse off came to 61.0%, up 5.1 percentage points from the previous survey.
Craig Mod's life in motion in a disappearing Japan
Mod's memoir “Things Become Other Things” chronicles his walking trips across the Kii Peninsula, surveying “a graceful end to a certain life cycle.”
With China and Trump, Japan defense report says world entering ‘new era of crisis’
A senior member of a Self-Defense Forces honor guard inspects a formation before the arrival of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for a visit to the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on June 30.
Tokyo stocks hit by a perfect storm of tariffs, politics and budget worries
Tokyo stocks are underperforming shares in other large markets globally.
Japan researchers identify gut bacteria strain that boosts anticancer drugs
Researchers at the National Cancer Center Japan say a new type of gut bacteria named YB328 could help unlock the potential of cancer immunotherapy.
Tokyobike founder believes in taking in sights of dynamic cities slowly
Ichiro Kanai, founder and president of Tokyobike, is developing a niche but a new customer base who want to cycle as part of a lifestyle.

Podcast

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

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa

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