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July 09, 2025
 

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LDP

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.
Aso serves as the head of the LDP's task force on Japan’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2025
Conservative heavyweights join forces in LDP panel on Indo-Pacific
The panel has prompted speculation it could serve as an occasion to coalesce support against the government in the upcoming months.
Liberal Democratic Party executives at a General Council meeting on Tuesday at the party's headquarters in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2025
LDP approves pension reform legislation
The government aims to adopt the legislation at a Cabinet meeting Friday and submit it to the current session of the Diet, the country's parliament.
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.
Senior officials of Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito agreed Tuesday on the need to draft a supplementary budget before a possible extraordinary session of the Diet this autumn.
JAPAN / Politics
May 13, 2025
LDP and Komeito agree to draft supplementary budget before autumn session
The extra budget is expected to fund measures to deal with inflation and the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Since the LDP resumed discussions on the issue in February, members against introducing a selective dual surname system have been gaining momentum, calling for expanding the use of maiden names.
JAPAN
May 12, 2025
LDP to forgo compiling bill on dual surname system
The LDP concluded that it would be unwise to create divisions within the party ahead of this summer's election for the House of Councilors.
The operator of Tokyo's Haneda Airport has been warned by the government over its inappropriate transactions.
JAPAN
May 12, 2025
Transport ministry issues warning to Haneda Airport operator
The ministry summoned Japan Airport Terminal president Kazuhito Tanaka over misconduct related to a massage chair business in a terminal at Haneda Airport.
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.
Japan Airport Terminal President Nobuaki Yokota and Chairman Isao Takashiro resigned amid an internal probe into favoritism toward a consulting firm led by a son of Makoto Koga, former secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, related to massage chair installations at the terminal buildings of an airport.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 9, 2025
Japan Airport Terminal's top execs step down amid corruption scandal
The company said it accepted resignation offers from the two top executives the same day.
Clockwise from top left: Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi
JAPAN / Politics
May 9, 2025
Who could become Japan's next prime minister?
Regardless of the outcome of July's Upper House election, the bar will be high for anyone seeking to unseat incumbent Shigeru Ishiba.
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.
A supermarket in Chiba. Politicians in Japan might cut the consumption tax to help households and the economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 8, 2025
Economists debate consumption tax cut as Japanese politicians warm to idea
Japanese politicians are considering the possibility of lowering the consumption tax to stimulate the economy in the face of U.S. tariffs.
Liberal Democratic Party Upper House member Shoji Nishida answers questions from reporters in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 8, 2025
LDP lawmaker Shoji Nishida refuses to retract remarks over WWII exhibits
Nishida said that descriptions at a monument to commemorate the "Himeyuri" nursing corps who died in the Battle of Okinawa had rewritten history.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
May 8, 2025
Ishiba faces a fresh money scandal
The supporter said he gave the Ishiba campaign cash multiple times when he ran for the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The government is looking into measures to address a situation in which online advertisements with sexual content are posted on websites that may be accessible by children.
JAPAN / Media
May 7, 2025
Regulation of online ads with sexual content draws mixed views in Japan
While advocates seek measures to better protect children, critics worry they might infringe on freedom of expression.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters about Japan-U.S. tariff negotiations at his official residence on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 5, 2025
Tariff talks with U.S. seen influencing Japan's Upper House election
The outcome of the ongoing bilateral negotiations will have a major impact on this summer's election in the Upper House.
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.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has been a staunch advocate for constitutional reform.
JAPAN / Politics
May 3, 2025
Despite shifts in Japan's political landscape, constitutional revision still far off
Weak political leadership, traditional sensitivity around the issue, and new policy priorities have forestalled a larger debate over the Constitution.
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.
Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
Trump announces new tariff rate on Japan — and extension of deadline to Aug. 1
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a trade letter sent by the White House to Japan during a news conference at the White House in Washington on Monday.
China’s housing crisis is worse than it seems
Residential buildings under construction in Shanghai in July 2022. The Chinese government risks long-term decline by repeating Japan’s policy mistakes in handling its real estate and demographic crises.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Japan stands its ground after Trump letter delivers 25% U.S. tariff shock
U.S. President Donald Trump (left) and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at Morristown Airport, New Jersey, on Sunday. Trump on Monday sent letters to 12 countries notifying them of new "reciprocal" tariff rates effective Aug. 1.
From the Abes to the Ohtanis: How siblings shape athletic development
Olympic judoka Uta Abe (second from left) and Hifumi Abe (second from right) with their brother Yuichiro (center) and their parents. “I’m always consciously trying to be a good older brother,” Yuichiro said.
Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
Scams involving police impersonation surge
A video by the National Police Agency warns about fake scams.
Lawson to let visitors use larger parking lots as paid car campsites
A Lawson convenience store in Yachiyo, Chiba Prefecture. A new service from the company comes amid the rise in inbound tourists, making hotels and inns harder to book and more expensive.
The future is bright inside the visionary mind of architect Sou Fujimoto
The exhibition of Fujimoto’s architecture surveys his career to date, as well as looks ahead as shown in his proposal of a future floating city designed in collaboration with data scientist Hiroaki Miyata.

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