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May 07, 2024
 

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POLITICAL

Officials with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office remove seized items during a raid on the local office of Lower House lawmaker Yoshitaka Ikeda in Nagoya in December.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 7, 2024
Prosecutors make first arrest in LDP political funding scandal
Lower House lawmaker Yoshitaka Ikeda, suspected of having taken more than ¥48 million from his faction's slush funds, was arrested in connection with the scandal.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Taro Aso, vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party, shake hands last November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 7, 2024
Kishida forced to rely more on 'kingmaker' Taro Aso amid funds scandal
The move underscored how Kishida's political influence is plunging as more LDP lawmakers have begun to doubt his leadership and ability to handle the accusations.
Then-LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai and then-LDP policy chief Fumio Kishida at the party's headquarters in Tokyo in October 2017.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 6, 2024
Ex-LDP Secretary-General Nikai questioned over growing funds scandal
The political funds scandal has rocked the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, already struggling amid low public support.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Thursday
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 5, 2024
PM vows to establish rules to boost transparency of LDP factions
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to establish rules to enhance the transparency of factions within his ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a council meeting at business lobby Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) in Tokyo on Dec. 25.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 1, 2024
Kishida says Japan to play leading diplomatic role in 'tense' 2024
In his New Year's address, the PM, who puts intense focus on diplomacy with other world leaders, said he will exert leadership "unique to Japan."
The Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2023
Criminal cases eyed for Japan's ruling party accountants
Prosecutors are also considering whether to build cases against two LDP lawmakers who are suspected of receiving tens of millions of yen under the fundraising scheme.
Fumio Kishida
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2023
Kishida mulls dropping Latin America trip amid fund scandal
Kishida was expected to make his first visit to Latin America as prime minister in January.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida makes a toast with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at a Japan-ASEAN luncheon meeting at the Japan Business Federation in Tokyo on Dec. 18. Kishida’s chance of reelection in the LDP presidential race in September will largely depend on his administration’s response to the current funding scandal and its entanglement in it.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2023
Scandal, economic policy and LDP race to weigh on Kishida in 2024
How he balances all three will determine whether he keeps his job as LDP party president and, by extension, prime minister.
Then-industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura speaks at an exhibition in Tokyo on Dec. 13.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 30, 2023
Nishimura questioned over funds scandal at biggest LDP faction
Nishimura is the sixth senior member of the faction to have been questioned by the special investigation team.
Tokyo prosecutors raid lawmaker Yasutada Ono's local office in the city of Hashima, Gifu Prefecture, on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 29, 2023
LDP lawmaker's local office raided over funds scandal
The special squad of the Tokyo Public Prosecutor's Office raided lawmaker Yasutada Ono's local office in the city of Hashima, Gifu Prefecture.
Reporters gather in front of the Upper House parliamentary building on Thursday in Tokyo. Prosecutors raided LDP lawmaker Yasutada Ono's office, which is located in the building, the same day.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 28, 2023
Second LDP member’s office raided over political funds scandal
Upper House member Yasutada Ono became the second lawmaker to have his offices searched by prosecutors in connection with the scandal.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa attends the 10th trilateral foreign ministers' meeting in Busan, South Korea, on Nov. 26.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 27, 2023
It's time to consider a woman to take Japan's top job
Is a controversial call for Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa to become the LDP's first female prime minister a Hail Mary or a masterstroke?
Tokyo prosecutors raid lawmaker Yoshitaka Ikeda's office in Nagoya on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 27, 2023
Prosecutors raid LDP lawmaker's home and offices over unreported funds
Prosecutors entered Yoshitaka Ikeda's Tokyo and Nagoya offices on suspicion that he violated the Political Funds Control Law.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi took office on Dec. 14 after his predecessor quit over a political funds scandal.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 27, 2023
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi vows to tackle distrust
Hayashi, who took office after his predecessor quit over a funding scandal, says revising the relevant law is related to freedom of political activity.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gives a speech in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 27, 2023
Kishida vows to improve political funds transparency
As president of the LDP, Kishida has unveiled a plan to establish a new intraparty organization early next year to discuss political and party reforms.
Koichi Hagiuda (left), the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s former policy chief, has been questioned by Tokyo prosecutors over a political funds scandal.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 26, 2023
Prosecutors question former LDP policy chief over funds scandal
Koichi Hagiuda has become the latest veteran lawmaker to be questioned on a voluntary basis over the political funds scandal.
Investigators from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office arrive to search the headquarters of the powerful Abe faction within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo on Dec. 19.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 26, 2023
Has the funding scandal doomed the Abe faction?
With criminal investigations under way, there is impetus for the younger generation of the Abe faction members to break away and form a rebranded group.
A Tokyo Public Prosecutor's Office vehicle exits the building housing the office of a political faction once led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Dec. 19.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 25, 2023
LDP's top faction withdrew decision to abolish kickbacks
A special squad suspects that senior faction officials knew of the apparent mechanism of the kickbacks and attempted to correct the situation.
Unlike his immediate predecessor, new Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi has chosen to speak in words of his own for some matters.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 24, 2023
Hayashi maneuvers through his new Cabinet position carefully
Hayashi has served in many Cabinet posts in the past, including defense minister, agriculture minister and education minister.
The faction led by former LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai is the second group within the party that has allegedly listed kickbacks given to its members after they sold fundraising tickets, informed sources revealed Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 24, 2023
Embattled LDP's Nikai faction also suspected of logging kickbacks
The faction is suspected of not reporting excess fundraiser revenues as income but reporting the kickbacks as expenditures.
As visitors surge, Japan seeks ways to make tourism eco-friendly
Much like other hot spots across Okinawa, Onna has diligently strived to captivate both domestic and international tourists, while at the same time grappling with the environmental strain induced by the influx of visitors.
Japan says Biden's description of nation as xenophobic is 'unfortunate'
The National Diet building in Tokyo
Tokuryū, a new crime menace in Japan, emerges from the shadows
The National Police Agency coined the term "tokuryū" to classify individuals involved in dark part time jobs and quasi-gangsters, using the words "tokumei" (anonymous) and "ryūdo" (fluid) to reflect their characteristics.
Japan's labor crunch persists despite slight improvement
Over 300 companies went out of business in fiscal 2023 due to labor shortages, according to Teikoku Databank.
Is Modi’s party heading for a stunning election loss?
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign tactics have escalated, including anti-Muslim rhetoric and fearmongering, reflecting his ruling party's desperation.
How a Japanese scientist is turning the climate crisis into music
A screencap of a performance of Hiroto Nagai's “String Quartet No. 1 ‘Polar Energy Budget’” by the PRT Quartet
Japan’s tween skateboarders get head start on preparations for 2028 Olympics
Ibuki Matsumoto competes at an event in Osaka on April 21.
Pentagon reveals drone types for Replicator program to counter China
A U.S. Naval Special Warfare Operator fires a Switchblade 300 loitering munition during training exercises in Fallon, Nevada, last July. The U.S. Defense Department plans to use small drones — known in the Pentagon as “all-domain attritable autonomous systems” — to help counter Chinese military systems and tactics.
As visitors surge, Japan seeks ways to make tourism eco-friendly
Much like other hot spots across Okinawa, Onna has diligently strived to captivate both domestic and international tourists, while at the same time grappling with the environmental strain induced by the influx of visitors.
Kishida talks up bolstered Latin American ties as China cements position
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida holds a news conference in Sao Paulo on Saturday.

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