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August 09, 2025
 

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2025 UPPER HOUSE ELECTION

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during an LDP plenary meeting in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 9, 2025
Ishiba says he will assess his responsibility based on election review
The LDP plans to release a summary report on the results of last month's election at the end of this month.
Voters cast their ballots for the Upper House election at a polling station in Tokyo on July 20.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 2, 2025
Japan to ramp up measures against foreign election interference
In last month's Upper House election, foreign actors were suspected to be behind the spread of disinformation on social media.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba addresses the media at the vote-counting center in the Liberal Democratic Party’s headquarters in Tokyo on July 20.  
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 1, 2025
Is this the end of Japan's 'big tent' parties?
The big winners of the day in the Upper House election were newer conservative parties.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, speaks to reporters at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday. The party’s loss in the July 20 Upper House election has become the defining factor for the yen.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 30, 2025
Yen option traders brace for more weakness ahead of BOJ decision
Analysts warn that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba may resort to populist spending to shore up support for his weakened coalition.
Supporters of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba take part in a rally across the street from the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 29, 2025
Why Ishiba refuses to quit even amid intense pressure for him to go
With the U.S. tariff deal not yet implemented, a leadership change now would create a political vacuum and may put the agreement at risk.
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya speaks at a rally in Tokyo on July 21, a day after the Upper House election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 29, 2025
A fringe party or political force: Will the real Sanseito stand up?
There were a few things that might raise eyebrows, but nothing especially scary. Sanseito's published policy platform is relatively benign.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba addresses a news conference in Tokyo on Monday. He repeated his pledge to stay on to prevent a political vacuum from forming after his party's poor performance in the Upper House election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 29, 2025
The LDP struggles to define its future after election flub
The public doesn’t know what it wants — other than “not this” — so indecision by the LDP and other parties is understandable.
Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party President Shigeru Ishiba, flanked by LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama (left) and LDP Vice President Yoshihide Suga, speaks at a meeting of party lawmakers and executives at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 28, 2025
At LDP’s post-election meeting, calls intensify for Ishiba’s resignation
The prime minister apologized to his fellow party members over the loss of its majority in the Upper House, but remains determined to stay on.
Sanseito supporters celebrate at a rally in Tokyo on July 21, a day after the party’s strong showing in the Upper House election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 28, 2025
Japan’s neighbors anxiously assess Upper House election results
Most notably, the far-right, anti-immigrant Sanseito won 14 seats, increasing its total seats from one to 15.
A supporter (center right) of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba holds up a placard reading "Don't quit Ishiba" as he takes part in a rally across the street from the Prime Minister's Office in central Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 27, 2025
Stay or go? Key events give Ishiba time to ponder his future.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has pledged to stay in office — in defiance of growing calls for him to step down after the LDP's poor showing in the Upper House election.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 26, 2025
'#Ishiba don't quit': Unlikely support grows for embattled PM
Despite Ishiba insisting that he has not discussed his resignation with members of his Liberal Democratic Party, multiple reports say that it is just a matter of time.
The Liberal Democratic Party’s historic Upper House defeat leaves the party fragmented and searching for a capable leader who can reunite conservatives, modernize its appeal, deliver real policies and rebuild its internal power structure.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 25, 2025
Who will save the Liberal Democratic Party?
The LDP is now faced with two fundamental questions: what tasks must it accomplish to restore its political dominance and who is actually capable of accomplishing them?
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.
International Monetary Fund spokesperson Julie Kozack said any fiscal stimulus measures Japan takes to address economic shocks should be temporary and targeted at vulnerable households and companies, during a news conference on Thursday in Washington.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 25, 2025
IMF advises Japan to avoid broad tax cuts and handouts
Tackling inflation was a major campaign issue in the Upper House race, with opposition parties having called for reducing or abolishing the consumption tax.
Japan’s ruling LDP-Komeito bloc lost big, smaller parties gained ground and the country now faces a more fractured, uncertain political future.
EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2025
Voter revolt shatters Japan’s ruling coalition and empowers smaller parties
The big winners were smaller, newer parties on the right, Sanseito and the Democratic Party for the People.
Japan’s ruling coalition is weakening as rising populist parties like Sanseito gain support, raising concerns that Japan could shift toward unstable multiparty coalition politics similar to Israel’s fragmented Knesset.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 25, 2025
Is Japan drifting toward fragmented and ineffective politics?
In a system with many small parties, even minor players can hold the balance of power in forming coalitions.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, walks past a poster after meeting with party executives at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 24, 2025
Political turmoil continues as Ishiba’s fate hangs in the balance
While there are demands for the ruling party's leadership to resign, the weakening of past factional ties makes it hard for those opposing the prime minister to join forces.
Police officers prepare the venue where Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was scheduled to deliver his first campaign speech for the Upper House election, on July 3 in Kobe.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 24, 2025
Police detect 889 threatening posts ahead of Upper House poll
The National Police Agency confirmed the 889 threatening posts through cyber patrol and also thanks to reports from the public between June 16 and Saturday.
Miyazaki Gov. Shunji Kono speaks at a meeting of the National Governors' Association in the city of Aomori on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2025
Governors urge central government to address Japan's shrinking population
During a two-day meeting in Aomori Prefecture, governors called for the establishment of a government agency-level control tower to coordinate related policies.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba looks on after meeting with the Liberal Democratic Party executives at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 23, 2025
Ishiba denies reports he will resign next month, leaving his fate unclear
Some media outlets had reported that the prime minister was poised to step down in the coming weeks.
Japan's inheritance tax is high, unforgiving and sometimes avoidable
The National Tax Agency at the Ministry of Finance, Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. Japanese tax authorities can bill foreign residents in Japan for assets inherited globally.
The United States imposes 15% 'reciprocal' tariff on most Japanese goods
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the White House on Wednesday.
U.S. backtracks on Japan tariff calculation, taking effective rate lower
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, said the U.S. made a clerical error in not including a “reciprocal” tariff rate ceiling for Japan in the trade deal.
How Pakistan shot down India's cutting-edge fighter using Chinese gear
An Indian Air Force pilot gets out of a Rafale fighter jet during its induction ceremony at an air force station in Ambala, India, September 2020.
Biggest drop in Japanese nationals seen alongside record high in foreign residents
A street in Tokyo's Shinjuku district on Wednesday
Cheer with caution: Expert advises sports fans have game plan for extreme heat
A Cardinals fan fans himself during the seventh inning of a game against the Pirates in St. Louis, Missouri, in June 2022.
Australia's warship selection signals Japanese defense industry's arrival
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate. Australia's selection of an upgraded version of the Mogami-class warship for its next frigate class could prove to be a watershed moment for Japan’s defense industry.
Japan's inheritance tax is high, unforgiving and sometimes avoidable
The National Tax Agency at the Ministry of Finance, Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. Japanese tax authorities can bill foreign residents in Japan for assets inherited globally.
Will the movement seeking Ishiba’s resignation succeed?
Liberal Democratic Party youth division head Yasutaka Nakasone (center) and other members speak to reporters in Tokyo on July 25.
Photographer Bleg Bayraktar is winning social media with politeness
A video on Bayraktar's Instagram account of the Belgian photographer approaching an elderly worker in Tokyo's Shibuya has gone viral, garnering almost 9 million views.

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