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November 06, 2025
 

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LOWER HOUSE

With less than two months left before the conclusion of the current session of parliament, any possibility that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can deliver constitutional reform before the end of his term as Liberal Democratic Party president in late September, as he has promised, appears remote.
JAPAN / Politics
May 4, 2024
Debate on constitutional revision at a standstill despite Kishida's pledges
Lawmakers are instead focusing their attention on reviewing the political funds control law in the wake of the LDP's slush funds scandal.
Officials of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito hold talks on the revision of the Political Funds Control Law in the parliamentary building on April 24.
JAPAN / Politics
May 3, 2024
LDP eyes more disclosure on fundraising ticket buyers
The LDP is currently examining the idea of lowering the threshold for the mandatory disclosure from ¥200,000 per buyer per fundraising party.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 30, 2024
What's next for Kishida after LDP's by-election loss?
Speculation has been rife over how he may decide to take responsibility, from dissolving parliament to making senior party leadership changes.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's Natsumi Sakai (center) celebrates with other CDP officials and supporters on Sunday in Tokyo's Koto Ward after being announced as the winner of the Tokyo No. 15 district by-election.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 29, 2024
Election trouncing a blow to Kishida, but snap election unlikely
The PM might order a Cabinet reshuffle and make leadership changes within the LDP to boost his popularity ahead of the party's presidential election.
LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (center) speaks to reporters as election strategy committee chair Yuko Obuchi (left) and Deputy Secretary-General Hiroshi Kajiyama look on at party's headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday night.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 28, 2024
Main opposition CDP sweeps three Lower House by-elections in blow to LDP
The results were seen as a setback for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and could accelerate talks within the LDP about his political future.
Voters listen to a speech by a candidate for a Lower House seat in the upcoming Tokyo No. 15 district by-election.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 23, 2024
CDP-backed candidates seen leading in all three Japan by-elections
Candidates backed by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan are in the lead ahead of three by-elections.
A bill to tackle the low birthrate is passed at a Lower House plenary session on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 19, 2024
Lower House approves bill aimed at tackling low birthrate
The government plans to start collecting the fees in fiscal 2026 and gradually increase the amounts to secure ¥1 trillion annually from fiscal 2028.
Ayuko Kato, minister in charge of children's policies (right), stands after a bill on expanding child-rearing allowances clears a Lower House committee on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2024
Lower House panel approves bill aiming to address low birthrate
The bill will expand child-rearing allowances, funded through a new system to collect additional fees on top of public medical insurance premiums.
A bill on expanding legal support for crime victims clears the Lower House on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2024
Japan enacts bill to help crime victims
The bill to revise the comprehensive legal support law was approved unanimously at a plenary session of the House of Representatives.
LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi and election strategy committee chair Yuko Obuchi speak to reporters in Tokyo on April 2.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 15, 2024
By-elections to determine Kishida’s fate within LDP
Losing in the Shimane No. 1 district, long an LDP stronghold, would mark a major blow to the prime minister.
Author Hirotada Ototake declares his candidacy for the April 28 House of Representatives by-election in the Tokyo No. 15 constituency during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 12, 2024
LDP won't endorse author Hirotada Ototake in Tokyo by-election
The by-election for the lower chamber of parliament will be held to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of ex-LDP member Mito Kakizawa.
Author Hirotada Ototake declares his candidacy for the April 28 House of Representatives by-election in the Tokyo No. 15 constituency during a news conference in Tokyo Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 8, 2024
Japanese author Ototake to run in Lower House by-election
Ototake, who was born without arms or legs, says he wants to "help people in need through the power of politics."
Toshimitsu Motegi, secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 3, 2024
LDP not to field candidates in two Lower House by-elections
The ruling party will not field candidates in two of three upcoming by-elections amid headwinds the party faces over a slush fund scandal.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (left) and Yuichiro Tamaki (right), leader of the Democratic Party for the People, hold a party leaders' debate in June 2021.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 28, 2024
Is Japan-style 'question time' facing abolition in parliament?
Both ruling and opposition parties have shown a lack of enthusiasm for holding such events, with some forces even advocating for its abolition.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 25, 2024
LDP heavyweight Nikai says he won't run for reelection
Toshihiro Nikai, 85, said he had conveyed his decision to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, as the LDP grapples with an ongoing political funds scandal.
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.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida enters his office on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 12, 2024
Japan's LDP concerned about headwinds in Lower House by-elections
The Nagasaki race is designed to fill the vacancy of a former LDP member embroiled in a funds scandal.
The Tokyo headquarters of the Unification Church in Shibuya Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 13, 2023
Japan enacts law to monitor Unification Church assets
The special legislation is designed to ensure that victims of the organization's malpractices have a source of relief.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 20, 2023
Kishida’s support rate hits new lows in three major polls
Polls by three major newspapers — the Yomiuri, Asahi and Mainichi — showed Kishida’s support rate at 24%, 25% and 21%, respectively.
Ichiro Ozawa (third from right) with other members of parliament at a ceremony to launch a new party in Tokyo in July 2012.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 15, 2023
Ichiro Ozawa is once again looking for a way to defeat the LDP
The octogenarian political veteran is looking to cap his long career with another successful drive to defeat the ruling LDP at the polls.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
More Japanese universities pushing toward teaching in English
Waseda University in Tokyo
Takaichi leads first ministerial meeting on policies regarding foreign residents
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a ministerial meeting on policies regarding foreign nationals and immigration on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office.
ChatGPT nickname and Trump tariffs nominated for Japan’s buzzword of 2025
Women hold toys depicting Myaku-Myaku, the official character for the 2025 Osaka Expo, during a media day ahead of the event's public opening day in Osaka in April.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slumps 4%, led by losses in tech sector
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average index briefly tumbled more than 2,000 points on Wednesday morning following a downbeat session on Wall Street fueled by fears of a bubble in the artificial intelligence sector.
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
Young Indonesians in Japan find their political voice
Indonesian students at Hiroshima University hold posters of the 17+8 Demands, demanding transparency and action from their homeland’s government.

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

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