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November 08, 2025
 

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LDP

Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Takayuki Kobayashi answers questions during the LDP presidential election candidates' joint news conference at party headquarters in Tokyo on Sept. 23.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2025
LDP policy chief ramps up moves to ease rules on exporting lethal defense gear
The LDP's Takayuki Kobayashi said that he intends to push for relaxing the regulations in order to “contribute to world peace” and strengthen Japan’s defense industry.
U.S. President Donald Trump is welcomed by Emperor Naruhito upon his arrival at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Monday evening.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2025
Trump arrives in Japan for security and trade talks in test for Takaichi
The prime minister will be seeking to build a solid relationship with the U.S. president as she looks to navigate increasing pressure on trade and defense issues.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama speaks at a news conference in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Oct 27, 2025
Japan’s first female finance chief is a veteran on banking policy
Satsuki Katayama joined the Finance Ministry in 1982 and reached a higher position in the influential Budget Bureau than any woman before her.
Komeito Secretary-General Makoto Nishida speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 14. He recently said that his party may give its backing to candidates of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan in future parliamentary elections.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2025
Komeito executive says party may support CDP candidates
The comments follow Komeito's departure from the ruling coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party earlier this month, partly due to discord over regulating political donations.
Sanae Takaichi’s selection as Japan’s first female prime minister marks a historic breakthrough for women in politics, but her leadership faces significant challenges from political fragility and critics, both at home and abroad.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 26, 2025
Takaichi’s rise to power and the ‘glass cliff’
Her appointment could prove to be a “glass cliff” as she encounters hypercriticism and the inherent challenges of a shaky coalition.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivers her policy speech at a Lower House plenary session on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 26, 2025
Concern raised over proposed cut in Lower House seats
JIP is calling for a cut of about 50 proportional representation seats in the all-important lower chamber of parliament.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama is scheduled to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2025
Katayama talks taxes and debt without saying too much
In comments Friday, Japan's new finance minister steered clear of controversy and commitments.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivers her first policy speech in the Lower House in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 24, 2025
Takaichi focuses on economic and security concerns in first policy speech
Over half of the new prime minister's speech was dedicated to economic policies, and she described the fight against inflation as the top priority for her administration.
Emperor Naruhito officially swears in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 24, 2025
Sanae Takaichi stands tall and heads into the breach
Her Cabinet includes several rivals from the presidential campaign. It is an attempt to smooth over ill and a smart move.
The Shipbuilders’ Association of Japan announced plans to invest ¥350 billion in capital expenditures to double shipbuilding output by 2035.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 24, 2025
Japan shipbuilders to invest ¥350 billion to double output
The Shipbuilders’ Association of Japan is also preparing for Japan-U.S. cooperation in the sector.
The appointment of seven scandal-hit lawmakers to government posts, approved after the launch of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet, may draw criticism.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 23, 2025
Seven LDP slush fund lawmakers given government posts
The move may draw criticism, as public sentiment on the scandal remains strong.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 23, 2025
Polls show Takaichi Cabinet off to strong start with support for policy stance
Approval ratings were found to be especially high among younger generations and those in the Osaka and Nagoya regions.
Artworks depicting former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during Thatcher Fest in the town of Grantham, England, earlier this month. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has described Thatcher as a role model.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 23, 2025
Japan joins over 80 nations to have been led by women since WWII
While Takaichi's rise to power is a milestone for the nation, some caution it does not necessarily signal a broader advance in women's political standing in Japan.
Ruling Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura sign a policy agreement between the two parties at the Diet in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 23, 2025
The newly formed LDP-JIP coalition may not be as solid as it seems
The Japan Innovation Party’s insistence on passing a seat-reducing measure could prove to be a sticking point in the relationship.
A Japanese-style teacup featuring a caricature of new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, on Wednesday in the city of Toki, Gifu Prefecture
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 23, 2025
Orders surge for popular caricature teacups featuring Takaichi
Preorders for the Takaichi teacup, which will also show past Japanese prime ministers, surpassed 4,000 even before she was sworn in.
Since medical and nursing care services are offered at fixed prices set by the state, many service providers are struggling to cope with rapid inflation and are operating at a loss.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 23, 2025
Balancing medical services and costs will be major challenge for Takaichi
With services offered at fixed prices set by the state, many service providers are struggling to cope with rapid inflation and are operating at a loss.
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa will help maintain a close connection with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 22, 2025
Takaichi's economic picks reflect balancing act with party and U.S. in mind
Differences on policy have been deemphasized for the time being.
Takaichi, surrounded by LDP influencers
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 22, 2025
In pictures: The day Japan’s glass ceiling finally cracked
Scenes from the day Sanae Takaichi made history as Japan’s first female prime minister, winning a tense parliamentary vote and forming a Cabinet of “resolve and progress.”
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi poses with members of the newly formed Cabinet on Tuesday night.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 22, 2025
Japan's first female PM promised more women in her Cabinet. She picked two.
Takaichi appointed just two women to her 18-member Cabinet on Tuesday, despite promising high levels of female representation earlier.
Former Lower House lawmaker Taku Yamamoto
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2025
Japan's 'first gentleman' vows to support Prime Minister Takaichi
Yamamoto, 73, said by phone that he is "relieved" that his wife was elected prime minister.
The Toyota buyout is a major test for Japan’s reforms
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor, speaks during a media preview at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Oct. 29. Minority investors are challenging the carmaker's bid to take affiliate Toyota Industries Corp. private.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
New satellite images suggest 'mass graves' in Sudan's El-Fasher
A general view of a berm construction in Kinin Village near El-Fasher.
High-speed rail is expensive and difficult, but seen as a key to growth
Achal Khare, former managing director at India’s National High Speed Rail Corporation, gives a presentation during the IHRA Forum 2025 in Tokyo on Oct. 23.
SoftBank is said to have explored potential takeover of Marvell
SoftBank explored a potential takeover of U.S. chipmaker Marvell Technology earlier this year, in what would have been the semiconductor industry's largest-ever deal.
These are the hottest lower-division rikishi to watch right now
Fukazaki (right) grapples with Enho at the IG Arena in Nagoya on July 13.
Across borders and screens, Tokyo film festival finds humanity in migration
“Mother Bhumi” takes place in a multiethnic rice-farming community where Chinese, Thai and Malay lineages intertwine.
Takaichi’s balancing act: Supporting Taiwan and stabilizing China ties
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with Lin Hsin-i, Taiwan’s presidential adviser, on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday in this image posted to Takaichi's official X account.
From 1973 to 2025: A Japanese American skater’s long ride to recognition
Judi Oyama at Winchester Skatepark in San Jose, California, in January 1979. The Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee and Guinness World Record holder still skates and hopes to inspire older women.
More Japanese universities pushing toward teaching in English
Waseda University in Tokyo

Podcast

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

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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