Tag - budgets

 
 

BUDGETS

The Foreign Ministry in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 30, 2024
Japan's Foreign Ministry seeks ¥66.2 billion to fight false info
The total amount of funds sought in the budget request for fiscal 2025 is ¥814.6 billion, up 12.3% from the initial budget for the previous year.
Police officers attend a workshop on cyberattack countermeasures in February.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 29, 2024
Japan's police agency requests ¥6 billion to tackle cyberattacks
The funds will mainly be used to enhance investigation capabilities and improve measures to fight phishing using generative artificial intelligence technology.
The health ministry will seek a record general-account budget of ¥34.3 trillion for fiscal 2025 amid increasing social security costs.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2024
Health ministry seeks record ¥34 trillion budget for fiscal 2025
The amount was pushed up by increasing social security costs that reflect the country's aging population.
An illustration of the Japan Coast Guard's planned patrol ship, which will be its biggest ever
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2024
Japan Coast Guard to build its biggest patrol ship
The coast guard's new ship will be around 200 meters long and will weigh about 30,000 tons.
Demolition works were still being carried out on July 1 in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, six months after the New Year's Day earthquake in the Noto Peninsula.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2024
Land ministry highlights disaster reduction measures in budget request
The budget request is up 18.1% from the previous year at ¥7.03 trillion.
Fuel prices are displayed on a board at a gas station in Tokyo in September 2023. Fighting high prices is among the priority policy measures encompassed by a special spending quota for the fiscal year from April 2025.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2024
Japan to create priority policy spending quota in fiscal 2025
Priority measures include strengthening the country's defense capabilities, raising its birthrate and expanding investments in carbon reduction.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida listens to U.S. President Joe Biden as they hold a joint news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington in April.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 6, 2024
Biden again takes credit for pushing Japan to boost defense spending
The U.S. president said for the second time in just over a year that he had pushed Japan to its hike defense budget — comments likely to upset Tokyo.
An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during an operational test at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in August 2017. Surging costs for the U.S. Air Force's new Sentinel ICBM may further embolden arms control advocacy groups who argue that the Sentinel should be scrapped in favor of extending the life of Minuteman III missiles.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2024
Cost of U.S. Sentinel ICBM swells again to $214 million per missile
The program is now expected to cost taxpayers $141 billion, or 81% more than forecast four years ago.
The Finance Ministry and the National Tax Agency in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2024
Japan's tax revenue sets another record amid a weak yen and inflation
Even with the tax revenue gains, however, Japan’s fiscal plight is severe.
Self-Defense Force troops take part in an amphibious landing exercise on Tokunoshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture last November.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 1, 2024
Japan's SDF marks 70th anniversary as it faces change and challenges
The SDF is grappling with dramatic policy shifts while facing down challenges ranging from recruitment to rising Chinese military assertiveness.
The administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday approved this year's honebuto economic and fiscal policy guidelines.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 21, 2024
Japanese government restores 2025 primary budget surplus target
In its economic blueprint, the Kishida administration has pledged a balanced budget other than interest payments by fiscal 2025.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2024
Japan to stick to goal of primary budget surplus next fiscal year
The government will also continue to try to lower the ratio of debt to gross domestic product, a draft of annual policy guidelines for budget planning said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida answers questions during a Lower House committee session on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 7, 2024
Japan maintains goal of primary budget surplus from 2025 to 2030
The plan will be reflected in the annual economic and fiscal policy guidelines that the central government aims to adopt at a Cabinet meeting by the end of this month.
Legislation on measures to support child-rearing passes during the Upper House plenary session on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 5, 2024
Japan enacts bill to expand measures for tackling low birth rate
To pay for the changes, extra fees will be added to public medical insurance premiums.
The Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade takes part in a military drill on the uninhabited Irisuna island in Okinawa Prefecture, close to the prefecture's main island, in November. Japan's defense-related spending for fiscal 2024 is expanding to 1.6% of its gross domestic product.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 29, 2024
Japan ups defense spending to 1.6% of GDP with eye on 2027 goal
The budget edges closer to the 2% of GDP standard that many Western nations have targeted, which Tokyo aims to achieve by 2027.
Missiles are launched during a simulated nuclear counterattack drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea in this image released Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 23, 2024
North Korea holds first 'nuclear trigger' drills as U.S. and South set for cost-sharing talks
Pyongyang said the exercises, which came ahead of U.S.-South Korea talks on cost-sharing for hosting troops, were “a clear warning” to the North's enemies.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a meeting for Noto Peninsula reconstruction at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2024
Japan OKs ¥138.9 billion in fresh spending over Noto quake
This will be the fourth round of spending from the state reserve funds for the quake-affected areas in central Japan.
An employee handles 155 mm-caliber shells after the manufacturing process at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on April 16.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 22, 2024
Conflicts push military spending to all-time high, report says
Nations around the world are spending more than ever on their militaries as conflicts continue across various regions.
Ayuko Kato, minister for children-related policies
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2024
Japan discloses more details of costs to fight low birthrate
The planned fees that will be added to public medical insurance premiums aims to help secure funds to combat the declining birthrate trend.
According to the children's agency’s estimate, those with an annual income of ¥2 million will see an additional tax levy of ¥350 to support new child care provision, while those with incomes of ¥6 million will pay an extra ¥1,000.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 10, 2024
Japan to collect monthly average of ¥800 for child care boost
The exact amount for each individual will vary depending on income and public health insurance plans.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami