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October 28, 2025
 

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TARO ASO

The LDP's newly-appointed election chief Keiji Furuya (far left), general affairs council chair Haruko Arimura (second from left), vice president Taro Aso (center left), president Sanae Takaichi (center right), secretary-general Shunichi Suzuki (second from right) and policy chief Takayuki Kobayashi in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 7, 2025
Takaichi's leadership lineup favors Aso and his allies while shutting out rivals
The new lineup also reflects her desire to reward allies of the party’s former Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi and former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi.
Sanae Takaichi (left), newly elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 6, 2025
DPP emerges as most likely candidate to help LDP's ruling coalition
With personal ties between their executives and policy proximity, the Democratic Party for the People seems the likeliest to help the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition.
Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi (center) speaks to reporters on Sunday after meeting Taro Aso, the party's supreme advisor, at the party's headquarters.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 6, 2025
Suzuki eyed for LDP secretary-general, reflecting Aso’s growing influence
Former Prime Minister Taro Aso's influence in the Liberal Democratic Party under the newly elected Sanae Takaichi is becoming increasingly more evident.
Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, poses in the party leader's office after the LDP leadership election in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 5, 2025
How Takaichi won the LDP’s leadership race
A split of moderate votes in the first round and the support of an LDP kingmaker helped propel the former economic security minister to a historic victory.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi touts his own "experience and achievement" during the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election candidate debate at Nihon Kisha Club in Tokyo on September 24.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2025
Japan’s ‘Mr. 119’ might be facing his biggest challenge yet
Time is running out for Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi to convince colleagues in the Liberal Democratic Party that he is best suited to lead them.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends the India-Japan Economic Forum in Tokyo on Friday, Aug. 29
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 4, 2025
Darkest hour for Ishiba amid pressure to quit and executive resignations
An offer by the secretary-general to resign after the party’s poor performance in a recent election has prompted Ishiba's LDP leadership team to call time on the administration.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, walks past a poster after meeting with party executives at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 24, 2025
Political turmoil continues as Ishiba’s fate hangs in the balance
While there are demands for the ruling party's leadership to resign, the weakening of past factional ties makes it hard for those opposing the prime minister to join forces.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter Princess Aiko visit the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum in Itoman on June 4.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 19, 2025
Parties are still arguing about the rules on imperial succession
Allowing female members to remain royalty after marriage, starting a maternal lineage, adoptions — there are a slew of ideas but a shortage of answers.
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.
Former Prime Minister Taro Aso speaks during the Ketagalan Forum in Taipei in August 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2024
Former PM Taro Aso calls Taiwan a ‘country' — much to China's chagrin
Tuesday’s remarks were not the first time Aso has sounded off about Taiwan and how a conflict over the island would represent an emergency for Japan.
LDP policy chief Itsunori Onodera, Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama, Vice President Yoshihide Suga, Shunichi Suzuki, chairman of the general affairs council, and Shinjiro Koizumi, chairman of the election committee, at the party's headquarters on Monday
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 30, 2024
Ishiba announces new leadership lineup ahead of general election
The appointments seem to reflect Ishiba’s desire to maintain internal party harmony ahead of a general election and reward those who have supported him.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba reacts during a news conference ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election in Tokyo on Sept. 6.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 24, 2024
Why is Shigeru Ishiba so unpopular among his LDP peers?
The former defense minister is highly regarded among the public and local chapters of the ruling party, but it's a different story when it comes to LDP lawmakers.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo in January as former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (left) looks on.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 16, 2024
In LDP presidential poll, three kingmakers hold all the cards
The decisions of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, his predecessor Yoshihide Suga and LDP Vice President Taro Aso will heavily influence the result.
Digital minister Taro Kono announces his intention to run in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 30, 2024
Is Kono, the only faction-backed candidate to lead LDP, still a maverick?
It's unclear whether his recent call for the return of slush funds pocketed by former faction members represents his true beliefs or a strategic move.
If Shigeru Ishiba, a former secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, announces his candidacy for the party's presidential election, it will be his fifth attempt at the top post.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 18, 2024
Shigeru Ishiba to announce LDP leadership candidacy soon
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last week said that he will not seek reelection as LDP president and will step down after the party picks his successor.
If two veterans, Toshimitsu Motegi and Shigeru Ishiba, run for the role of Liberal Democratic Party president, the race might come down to a choice between one of former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s allies versus one of LDP Vice President Taro Aso’s allies.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 16, 2024
Despite disbandment, factions still loom over LDP leadership race
Faction leaders' continued influence means they can't be ignored by candidates for party president.
LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and LDP Vice President Taro Aso attend an executive meeting in Tokyo on July 23.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 15, 2024
With resignation, Kishida looks to LDP's political future
Once it became clear that his chances of winning the September vote were minimal, Kishida chose to prioritize the party’s interests.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April. Both leaders face an uphill battle to stay at the helm of their respective parties and countries.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 10, 2024
Japan too is wrestling with a flawed leader
Questions about election prospects plague Biden in the U.S. and Kishida in Japan, with both trying to hang on to their commanding positions despite growing discontent.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is struggling to stay in office amid low public approval ratings and discontent from within his party. However, it is extremely rare for a sitting LDP president running for reelection to be dethroned.
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2024
Kishida fights for his political life
Despite low public approval ratings and discontent in the LDP, all is not lost for Prime Minister Kishida if the summer is kind to him and he plays his cards right.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 21, 2024
For Kishida, the LDP election means a fraught summer ahead
Attention is turning to what the prime minister will do as potential rivals rally support ahead of September's vote for party president.
Bear kills another person in Japan in record year for fatal attacks
Police investigate the scene of a bear attack that killed one person and injured three others on Friday in the village of Higashinaruse in Akita Prefecture.
Trump arrives in Japan for security and trade talks in test for Takaichi
U.S. President Donald Trump is welcomed by Emperor Naruhito upon his arrival at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Monday evening.
Japanese firms keep expanding in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia
A Nishiyama Seimen employee works at its factory in Sapporo.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Takaichi’s ‘Trump card’ for meeting U.S. leader? Her relationship with Abe.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reacts as East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao greets her during the ASEAN-Japan summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
Ukyo Shuto's run into Japan Series history shows game is about more than speed
SoftBank's Ukyo Shuto rounds first base after hitting a double in the seventh inning at Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka on Sunday.
Spanish artist and Japanese writer duos diversify the manga talent pool in Japan
"Menheim” is a dark fantasy manga with a story that centers on a girl’s quest to find a cure for her ill brother.
Japan’s youth are apathetic toward the climate crisis. Could anime change that?
“Future Kid Takara,” a series of anime shorts to be aired on NHK Educational TV in November, attempts to educate children about climate change.
Loss to Wallabies doesn't dampen Japan’s optimism
Japan's Michael Leitch controls the ball during the match against Australia on Saturday.
Lentil by lentil, Nepali food takes shape in Tokyo
At Nepalico, the "dal bhat" — a Nepali dish consisting of rice and lentils stewed with spices — with chicken curry is the most popular item on the menu.

Podcast

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Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
By Alex K.T. Martin

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