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April 28, 2024
 

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FUNDS

The approval rating for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet has hit a fresh low of 20.1%, according to a new survey.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 10, 2024
Kishida Cabinet support rate hits fresh low at 20% over funds scandal
The poll also showed 91.4% believe LDP lawmakers involved in the funds scandal have not been held accountable.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a ruling Liberal Democratic Party meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2024
LDP to revise rules to ban traditional factions
The draft revisions include tougher penalties for political funds control law violations.
LDP secretary-general Toshimitsu Motegi has asserted that he handled his funds "appropriately" in compliance with the political funds control law.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2024
Motegi-linked organization transferred funds to group with lighter disclosure rules
A group associated with the LDP heavyweight transferred a large sum over several years, making it impossible to trace how the money was used.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives for a meeting of a parliamentary ethics committee at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Feb. 29.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 7, 2024
Kishida's three challenges: Discipline, by-elections and Motegi
How the prime minister handles these matters could impact his political future as well as that of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during an Upper House Budget Committee session on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 4, 2024
Kishida denies intent to dissolve Lower House in April
The prime minister was grilled on his reason for rushing the passage of the government's fiscal 2024 draft budget last week.
The Japanese parliament building in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 3, 2024
Opposition again demands 32 Upper House members face ethics panel
Junichi Ishii, LDP parliamentary affairs chief in the Upper House, says the LDP intends to decide in early March on the plan to hold ethics panel hearings.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a Lower House plenary session on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 3, 2024
In bid to save face, Kishida sticks to his guns on budget passage schedule
The PM wants to prevent his administration's popularity from falling further but his handling of a funds scandal is widely perceived as inadequate.
Factions, cliques, caucuses — whatever they may be called, groupings in legislatures are not unusual in many countries.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Perspectives
Mar 2, 2024
Is the funding scandal unraveling the LDP?
The media is caught up in the money-politics scandal of the moment, framing factions as all good or all bad. Things are a lot more nuanced than that.
Former economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who served as the Abe faction’s secretary-general for 10 months until August 2022, said the practice of returning portions of the income collected through fundraising parties to individual lawmakers was solely handled by the faction chairman and an administrative secretary.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 1, 2024
As ethics hearing unfolds, Diet falls into chaos over budget approval
The CDP sought to censure budget committee leader Itsunori Onodera over his decision to push through a final vote, and argued for more extensive debate.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a Lower House ethics committee hearing in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 29, 2024
Kishida apologizes over slush funds scandal at ethics committee meeting
In a rare appearance in front of the committee, the prime minister also vowed to implement political reforms in the wake of the scandal.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida tells reporters that he plans to attend a Lower House ethics committee hearing, in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 28, 2024
Kishida says he will attend ethics committee hearing on funds scandal
In addition to Kishida, five senior LDP members will face the committee in front of a fully-open session of the Lower House on Thursday and Friday.
In principle, political ethics committee meetings are not open to either the media or other lawmakers. But the committee can open them to both at its discretion.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2024
What to know about the ethics committee probing the LDP funds scandal
When the committee convenes later this week, at least five senior ruling party officials are expected to testify on what they knew about the scandal.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 23, 2024
Nikkei's all-time high unlikely to serve as tailwind for Kishida
Many analysts point out that the jump in Tokyo shares is not due to the economic and monetary policies of the government and the Bank of Japan.
Lower House Budget Committee executives discuss next week's schedule in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2024
Committee probing LDP funds scandal set to open next week
The committee will likely gather next Wednesday and Thursday to interrogate five senior LDP lawmakers over their involvement in a kickback scheme.
The LDP's Takuo Komori stepped down from his post as parliamentary vice minister for internal affairs after it was revealed he had underreported political funds.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2024
Will the LDP funding scandal change Japanese politics?
What can we learn from the LDP funding scandal? One thing is certain: The saga fits a pattern that is anything but unseen in Japanese politics.
Former Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2024
Senior LDP members likely to appear before ethics committee next week
While the opposition said the willingness of additional LDP figures to answer questions was an improvement, they called for more to step up.
Education Minister Masahito Moriyama bows to parliament after a motion of no confidence against him was voted down in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2024
Japan opposition fails with censure motion against education minister
The CDP's move against a Unification Church-linked minister came as the party also called for questioning over a slush funds scandal.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Kazunori Yamanoi shows a Liberal Democratic Party survey about a slush funds scandal to reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 16, 2024
LDP survey doesn't quell demand from opposition for ethics hearing
The scandal, and the demand to convene a meeting of the ethics committee, have Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a political bind.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Thursday following the release of a Liberal Democratic Party report on the probe into the slush funds scandal.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 16, 2024
Biggest LDP faction's slush fund practice spanned over 10 years
Recipients used the funds for social gatherings, personnel expenses, vehicle purchases and other purposes, the LDP internal investigation said.
The disapproval rate for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet has also exceeded 60% for the first time.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 15, 2024
Support for Kishida Cabinet hits new low of 16.9% in Jiji poll
The approval rate is also the lowest for a Liberal Democratic Party-led administration since the party returned to power in December 2012.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
In Japan, regional revitalization fails to halt population decline
Sakiyama elementary school in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, in March .Over the past decade, the government has directed efforts toward policies designed to give young people incentives to base themselves in rural areas.
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
Ukraine is far from doomed
When comparing Ukraine’s military situation in 2024 to Europe’s in 1941, Russia’s defeat seems entirely possible.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Top U.S. and China diplomats talk tough amid warnings of new ‘downward spiral’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Friday

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Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

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