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LDP

Pedestrians walk in front of an election notice board displaying posters of candidates in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 20, 2025
Voters in Tokyo reflect shifting political views across Japan
Many constituents, frustrated with the current state of affairs, have turned away from the LDP and are seeking possibilities in newer and smaller parties.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in a campaign event in Yokohama on July 6. Japan faces deep structural challenges but lacks bold political vision and leaders willing to take risks for transformative change.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 20, 2025
Performative ‘elections’ expose a sad lack of vision
Political parties jostle for position and trade barbs but offer no clear plan for Japan’s growing structural challenges.
People vote during Japan's Upper House election at a polling station in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 20, 2025
Polls open for key Upper House election that could shake Japanese politics
A variety of scenarios await the country should the ruling coalition lose its majority in the Upper House — from an enlarged coalition to an opposition-led government.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as  president of the Liberal Democratic Party, delivers a campaign speech in Yokohama on July 6.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 19, 2025
Japan's minority government faces election snub as economic storm brews
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's LDP and its partner Komeito are forecast to lose their majority in a repeat of last year's Lower House election.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, waves to voters from atop an election campaign van during a rally Friday in Yokohama for Sunday's Upper House election.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 19, 2025
Ishiba's future in balance as polls hint at rout in Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba likes the nitty gritty of policy, cigarettes and making models, but his dream job as Japanese leader could go up in smoke this weekend.
A Sanseito campaign van in Shinjuku. The populist party is gaining ground and challenging the more centrist parties.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2025
Japanese markets brace for triple whammy if opposition wins big
Bonds, stocks and the yen could be destabilized if spendthrift parties gain influence.
A woman holding a child listens to a stump speech in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on June 25.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 18, 2025
Parties vow measures to tackle falling birth rate
Last year, Japan recorded fewer than 700,000 births for the first time.
Once seen as an unlikely prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba has struggled to deliver on promises, mishandled ties with U.S. President Donald Trump and now faces an election where the odds don’t look good for his party to come out victorious.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 18, 2025
A trade deal fumble could be Ishiba’s last mistake
Ishiba already leads a coalition that lacks a majority in the Lower House, and another bad showing Sunday will likely mean Japan is looking for its third leader in as many years.
The Tokyo district has the highest number of candidates in the 2025 Upper House election with 32 people in the running for seven seats.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 18, 2025
In Upper House race, younger voters in Tokyo turn to DPP for new direction
Many younger voters, especially in the capital, are drawn to the party's idea that the working generation must be supported for the sake of everyone.
Sanseito head Sohei Kamiya makes a stump speech in Tokyo on July 3.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 17, 2025
Sanseito third-most-popular party in Upper House race, poll shows
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party remained the front-runner at 20.9%, albeit down 3.6 points from June.
Campaign posters in Tokyo. Voters in Japan put immediate economic issues ahead of longer-term concerns about the effects of tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 17, 2025
Trump tariffs fail to register with Japanese voters ahead of key election
Only 8% of voters surveyed by NHK rated tariffs as their top priority.
Kiyoshi Shibata stands in front of one of the rice paddies in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, where he produces the prefecture's signature rice brand Tsuyahime.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 17, 2025
Japan's rice farmers are confounded by Shinjiro Koizumi’s policies
Farming communities, a key base for the Liberal Democratic Party, are increasingly voicing their distress at how the rice situation is being handled.
Shigeru Ishiba, prime minister and president of the Liberal Democratic Party, gives a campaign speech in Yokohama on July 6.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 17, 2025
In uncertain times, Japan needs responsible leadership
As a responsible political party, the LDP is determined to consistently pursue policies that are accountable to future generations.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito takes part in a debate with the heads of other political parties at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on July 2.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 17, 2025
Komeito hears those hit hardest by rising prices
“To stand forever with common citizens.” Our party has faithfully abided by that founding principle for over six decades
Muneo Suzuki speaks in Sapporo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025
Prodigal Hokkaido son returns to campaign trail for last run in Upper House election
Muneo Suzuki's personality and past actions make him a divisive political figure, but he's teaming up with the Liberal Democratic Party for one final run.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, delivers a campaign speech in Yokohama on July 6.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 16, 2025
Ishiba faces bad poll numbers with Upper House vote only days away
Losing a majority in the Upper House would pile pressure on Ishiba to resign and kickstart efforts by the ruling coalition to find an opposition party to join it.
Only two months into his role as agriculture minister, Shinjiro Koizumi has become the face of a risky political bet by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025
Japan’s ‘rice minister’ is ruling party’s biggest election gamble
Shinjiro Koizumi’s reformist drive is testing the loyalty of Japan's rural population — the LDP’s most dependable voter bloc.
An aerial view from north of the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant. Opposition parties are divided over whether Japan should utilize nuclear power while the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, a proponent of it, has avoided explicitly mentioning its stance in its campaign pledges.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 15, 2025
Energy policy debate falls dormant in Upper House election despite growing risk
Rising tensions in the Middle East have fueled concerns the Strait of Hormuz may be closed, dealing a blow to Japan's energy security.
The Sanseito party, led by Sohei Kamiya, is surging in the polls with anti-immigration talk, but its rise is likely just a short-lived protest vote rather than the start of lasting right-wing populism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 15, 2025
Japan’s right-wing fringe is no MAGA or reform movement
The Sanseito party is surging in polls with anti-immigration talk, but its rise is likely just a short-lived protest vote rather than the start of lasting right-wing populism.
Then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida holds a news conference in Tokyo in December 2023 where he addressed the political fundraising scandal and announced plans to replace several implicated ministers.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 15, 2025
Cost of living trumps corruption as Japan heads to the polls
A recent NHK poll asked that question to prospective voters, and the majority answered “measures to deal with rising prices” and “social security and the declining birthrate.”

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?