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May 23, 2025
 

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CDP

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a Cabinet meeting in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 16, 2025
Pension bill makes it to parliament after two-month delay
Internal resistance from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party toward certain proposals in the draft bill led to the delay.
As Japan heads into summer elections, debate over the consumption tax has intensified, with opposition parties demanding cuts to ease pressure on households and the government defending the levy as essential amid rising debt and economic uncertainty.
EDITORIALS
May 16, 2025
Don’t overreact to the consumption tax debate
Economic uncertainty in combination with rising prices are squeezing the budgets of households, businesses and the government.
With Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling coalition in crisis, the opposition divided and the Democratic Party for the People gaining momentum, Japan’s upcoming Upper House election could trigger a major political realignment.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 15, 2025
Elections are fast approaching, and none of the big parties are ready
With Ishiba in place, the fear that the LDP could next lose its current majority in the Upper House in July is pervasive.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 13, 2025
Consumption tax set to dominate Upper House election debate
Broaching the subject has traditionally been seen as akin to kicking a hornet's nest.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama speaks in the city of Kagoshima on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 12, 2025
LDP and CDP see consumption tax cut as election issue
CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda told reporters in Sapporo that if the ruling camp does not decide on the consumption tax cut, it would have to become an election issue.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) responds to questions from Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda (left) at a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on April 14.
JAPAN / Politics
May 9, 2025
Hung parliament keeps Lower House Legislative Bureau busy
As each party pushes its own agenda by drafting its own bills, the workload increases for the bureau, which supports lawmakers in such matters.
The Diet building in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
May 3, 2025
Parties remain apart on social media rules for elections
Senior officials of ruling and opposition parties broadly agreed Saturday on the need to regulate election misinformation on social media, but were apart over specific measures.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers speak to reporters in parliament on Wednesday after submitting a bill in the Lower House to allow married couples to retain different surnames.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 30, 2025
CDP submits bill proposal on separate surnames, but challenges remain
Japan remains the only country in the world that forces couples to use one surname after marriage.
Prime Minister Shigaru Ishiba and CDP head Yoshihiko Noda at a parliamentary session in Tokyo on April 23.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 30, 2025
Ishiba hears advice from across the aisle on how Japan should handle Trump
A shared sense of national crisis and a desire to appeal to voters ahead of the July Upper House elections is pushing opposition parties to speak up.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan head Yoshihiko Noda speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 28, 2025
CDP's about-face piles pressure on LDP to cut consumption tax on food
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan chief Yoshihiko Noda pledged that the party will abolish the consumption tax on food products for a year.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on April 17
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 23, 2025
Opposition slams Ishiba's gas price cut while calling to scrap provisional tax
Ishiba's decision would lower gas prices by ¥10 per liter starting May 22, but nixing the provisional gas tax would lower prices by ¥25.
A vegetable stand displays prices at a supermarket in Tokyo in 2023. Some lawmakers are proposing lowering the consumption tax on food to 0%, which is expected to result in a loss of up to ¥5 trillion in tax revenue annually.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2025
LDP and CDP lawmaker groups propose 0% consumption tax on food
Reducing the tax to 0% is expected to result in a loss of up to ¥5 trillion in tax revenue annually.
Former CDP executive Kenji Eda discusses a possible reduction of the consumption tax rate, in Tokyo on April 10.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 17, 2025
CDP divisions over proposed tax cut pose headache for Yoshihiko Noda
The nation’s largest opposition party is preparing for the Upper House poll in July, in which it hopes to win enough seats to make a CDP-led coalition government possible.
Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Itsunori Onodera addresses a party meeting to discuss measures to cope with U.S. tariffs, held at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 13, 2025
LDP and CDP officials voice caution over tax cut
The CDP's Kazuhiko Shigetoku said that his party has only begun discussions on the consumption tax.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda speaks during a news conference Friday afternoon at the Diet building in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 12, 2025
CDP kicks off discussions on cutting consumption tax
While party leader Yoshihiko Noda has been cautious, calls for a cut are growing within the party, especially in light of U.S. President Donald Trump's onerous tariff policies.
Economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa, who Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has appointed Japan's tariff negotiator, is one of his closest allies and busiest ministers.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 9, 2025
Who is Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's tariffs negotiator?
The man tasked with convincing the U.S. drop its tariffs on Japanese goods is one of the prime minister's closest allies and busiest ministers.
The House of Representatives passed an active cyber defense bill on Tuesday in the Diet.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 8, 2025
Japan's Lower House passes active cyber defense bill
The bill is expected to be enacted by the end of the current ordinary Diet session, with the government planning to fully introduce an active cyber defense system in 2027.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a news conference in Tokyo on April 1. The approval rating for Ishiba's Cabinet fell to 30.6% over the weekend, according to a JNN poll.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 7, 2025
Ishiba under pressure to take stronger stance against U.S. on tariffs
Some opposition leaders are urging the prime minister to rally his party around a strategy before speaking with the U.S. president, but others are eyeing his removal.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Shinjiro Koizumi (center) meets with his counterparts from Komeito and the Democratic Party for the People in Tokyo on March 28.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 4, 2025
LDP reels in DPP to win political donation war against CDP
Partnering with the DPP gave the LDP much-needed momentum against the CDP this week, not to mention the votes to pass legislation.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 1, 2025
No rest for weary Ishiba as challenges await in parliament
After finally securing passage of the country's budget earlier this week, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba now faces an uphill battle to win back the public's trust.
Trump’s wake-up call for India’s foreign policy
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 13. Trump’s coercive use of trade threats against India during the Pakistan military crisis has undermined trust in the U.S.-India partnership and exposed Washington as an unreliable security ally.
Toyota considers making tiny trucks for U.S. market as demand booms
Toyota executives say the automaker is listening to U.S. dealer requests for a truck smaller than the brand’s best-selling Tacoma midsize and Tundra full-size pickups.
Onosato’s march to yokozuna could usher in golden age for sumo
Onosato (left) battles Gonoyama on Day 6 of the Summer Basho. With Onosato on the cusp of promotion to yokozuna, there could soon be two titans at the top of the sport fighting for titles.
Shinjiro Koizumi takes farm ministry reins after predecessor's rice gaffe
Agriculture minister Taku Eto (left), who resigned on Wednesday, and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi
Railguns, missiles and lasers: Japan uses massive defense event to highlight shift
A mock-up of Japan's state-of-the-art railgun, which is currently undergoing testing, is displayed at the three-day DSEI Japan defense exhibition in the city of Chiba on Wednesday.
Nippon Ishin grapples with poor governance ahead of Upper House election
Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday.
Beware of dubious websites offering cheap rice, consumer watchdog warns
Questionable websites appear to be taking advantage of consumers looking for cheaper rice online amid the high prices of the staple grain in the nation.
Onosato’s march to yokozuna could usher in golden age for sumo
Onosato (left) battles Gonoyama on Day 6 of the Summer Basho. With Onosato on the cusp of promotion to yokozuna, there could soon be two titans at the top of the sport fighting for titles.
A window into the mind of Esperantist and political activist Teru Hasegawa
Teru Hasegawa, Esperanto name Verda Majo, wrote leftist political essays during WWII.

Podcast

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

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones
Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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