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September 16, 2025
 

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DIET

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan chief Yoshihiko Noda speaks during a news conference in the parliament building on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 15, 2025
Japan's opposition parties wary of snap election
The opposition remains fragmented against the ruling coalition in the event a general election is called by the Liberal Democratic Party's next leader.
Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki addresses a meeting of DPP lawmakers held at the parliament building last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 15, 2025
DPP eyes leadership role as it marks fifth anniversary
The opposition party's basic strategy is to leave open the possibility of joining the ruling coalition but without easily making concessions.
Upper House lawmaker Yasutada Ono speaks to reporters in the parliamentary building in January last year after being indicted without arrest.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 10, 2025
Ex-lawmaker Ono pleads not guilty in LDP funds scandal
Ono was indicted without arrest on charges of violating the political funds control law and left the party in January 2024.
Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, in Tokyo on Nov. 1, 2024
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 10, 2025
Who might the LDP woo once it elects its next president?
Short of a majority in both chambers of parliament, the ruling party needs an opposition party’s support to elect its leader as prime minister.
Hei Seki
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2025
Beijing sanctions China-born Upper House lawmaker over remarks
The sanctions order cited Hei Seki’s remarks and actions such as on Taiwan, the Senkaku Islands and Hong Kong, saying he "gravely interfered in China’s internal affairs.”
The Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters in Tokyo. Recent polls paint a bleak picture for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s chances of avoiding an early leadership contest than previous surveys.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 6, 2025
Ruling LDP moving toward calling presidential election, polls show
The latest polls paint a far bleaker picture for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s chances of avoiding an early leadership contest than previous surveys.
Prime Minister Yoshio Mori declared in September 2000 that Japan must “grab the historic opportunity of the IT revolution."
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Sep 6, 2025
Japan Times 2000: Prime minister pitches ‘e-Japan’ as way of life
Japan must “grab the historic opportunity of the IT revolution,” Prime Minister Yoshio Mori declared as the final Diet session of the century opened in September 2000.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama (left) and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attend a party executive meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 4, 2025
Seeking Upper House majority, LDP eyes support from independents
The 121-strong ruling coalition needs just three more seats for a majority in the chamber.
Voters look at posters of candidates for an Upper House election outside a polling station in Tokyo on July 20. The young abandoned the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for other conservative and newer parties in the recent poll. REUTERS
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 31, 2025
What is a ‘Japanese conservative’ in this day and age?
My view is that younger voters saw the LDP as a group of elderly, self-absorbed elitists who were out of touch with the issues that mattered to them.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, will screen government agencies and ministries' requests for tax reform at their respective tax panels, aiming to draw up guidelines later this year.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 30, 2025
Government agencies draw up fiscal year 2026 tax reform requests
The ruling coalition will screen the requests, aiming to draw up late this year tax reform guidelines for the fiscal year starting next April.
Nippon Ishin no Kai leader Hirofumi Yoshimura (center), Secretary-General Hiroshi Nakatsuka (center right) and other executives meet in Osaka on Aug. 12.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 28, 2025
Amid LDP turmoil, speculation grows over possible tie-up with Nippon Ishin
Recent moves that put LDP-friendly executives into leadership positions seem to signal that Nippon Ishin wants to draw closer to the LDP.
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 22, 2025
Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?
With smaller, more ideologically unified parties gaining voter support, some critics say the LDP should split into different groups.
In the most recent regular session of parliament, problems were highlighted regarding some foreign workers leaving Japan without paying outstanding taxes.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2025
Japan starts survey on foreign nationals' unpaid resident taxes
Some foreign workers end up leaving the country without paying outstanding taxes.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba answers questions from Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda during a Lower House Budget Committee session on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 6, 2025
Ruling parties to discuss corporate donation issue with CDP and DPP
Now that the ruling parties are short of a majority in both chambers, the coalition is set to meet halfway with the opposition in an effort to kick-start the stalled debate.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and Economic Revitalization Minister and chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa attend a budget committee session on the U.S. tariff issue in the Lower House in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 4, 2025
Opposition parties fume over U.S. trade deal not being put in writing
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said issuing a joint document with the U.S. will not serve the nation’s interests and may instead jeopardize the agreement.
Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara speaks at a party plenary meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 4, 2025
Nippon Ishin no Kai could join ruling coalition, if the conditions are right
The party might be open to joining if there is a new prime minister and Osaka is designated as Japan's backup capital, its leaders say.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives at a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 31, 2025
Ishiba’s time as LDP chief and PM might not be over just yet
The lack of obvious successors who can unite the party and raise public support, coupled with a cautious opposition, puts him in a stronger position than expected.
Parliamentary affairs chiefs of the ruling and opposition parties on Wednesday at the parliament building after signing an agreement to abolish the provisional add-on gasoline tax
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2025
Ruling and opposition parties agree to scrap provisional gas tax by year-end
The parties aim to enact a bill to scrap the tax at an extraordinary session of parliament expected to be convened in autumn.
Kazuhiko Shigetoku (second from left), policy chief of the Constitutional Democratic Party, speaks at a meeting of opposition party policy leaders discussing a bill to scrap the provisional add-on gasoline tax rate, on Tuesday at parliament.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2025
Eight opposition parties agree to push for extra gasoline tax to be scrapped
The opposition parties are hoping to raise public expectations for political change after the ruling coalition lost its majority in the recent Upper House election.
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.
SDF spots China’s biggest aircraft carrier for first time
The Fujian aircraft carrier is seen in Shanghai in May 2024 as it leaves for its first sea trial.
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
Is America ready for Japanese-style 7-Elevens?
Convenience stores are a fixture of Japanese life and 7-Eleven, a chain that began in the U.S. in 1927, opened its first store in Japan in 1974 — and then became wholly Japanese-owned in 2005 through parent company Seven & I Holdings.
Final weeks of World Expo in Osaka likely to see large crowds
With one month left to go, crowds are expected to swell at the World Expo in Osaka during its final weeks.
Japan's elderly population down at around 36.2 million
The estimated number of people age 65 or older in Japan stands at 36.19 million as of Monday, accounting for record 29.4% of the country's total population, according to the internal affairs ministry.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.
As Manila modernizes its military, new opportunities emerge for Tokyo
A Brahmos missile system is displayed during a rehearsal for a military parade in New Delhi in January. The Philippines will soon receive its second batch of the supersonic cruise missiles from India.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

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