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August 09, 2025
 

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UPPER HOUSE

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba answers questions from Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda during a Lower House Budget Committee session on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 6, 2025
Ruling parties to discuss corporate donation issue with CDP and DPP
Now that the ruling parties are short of a majority in both chambers, the coalition is set to meet halfway with the opposition in an effort to kick-start the stalled debate.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 25, 2025
Various tactics to force Ishiba out of power emerge within the LDP
The LDP has been thrown into a political power game between those who want Ishiba ousted immediately and those supporting him staying on.
Voters cast their ballots at a polling station in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 21, 2025
47% turn to social media and videos for voting decisions: exit poll
Of those, the largest proportion, at 23.9%, cast proportional representation votes for Sanseito.
Ayaka Shiomura, running for an Upper House seat on a Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan ticket in the Tokyo district, was one of 42 women elected in Sunday's election.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 21, 2025
Japan elects record number of women to Upper House
Female candidates won 42 of the 125 seats contested on Sunday, up from 35 seats in the last election in 2022.
Election officials open ballot boxes during the Upper House election at a counting center in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 21, 2025
Voter turnout rises to 58.51% in Japan's Upper House poll
In Sunday's election, the voter turnout topped the 2022 levels in all of Japan's 47 prefectures and surpassed 60% in 12 of them.
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.
People listen to stump speeches earlier this month in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, ahead of the Upper House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 11, 2025
Dual surnames for married couples in focus ahead of Japan poll
The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has urged the Japanese government to introduce the system four times.
Voters listen to a stump speech in Tokyo on Thursday as campaigning for the July 20 Upper House election kicked off.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 4, 2025
Women make up fewer than 30% of candidates in upcoming Upper House election
Japan's law for promoting gender equality in politics calls on political parties to make the number of male and female candidates as equal as possible.
Former Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi addresses a meeting of the party's lawmakers held in the Diet building on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 20, 2025
Former Komeito head Natsuo Yamaguchi to retire from politics
Yamaguchi served as Komeito chief for eight terms, or 15 years, through last September.
Reiwa Shinsengumi deputy leader Yasuhiko Funago during a news conference at the Diet building on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 18, 2025
Reiwa Shinsengumi lawmaker with ALS to retire
Yasuhiko Funago, 67, said that it would be difficult for him to serve another six-year term considering his age and physical strength.
A fine of up to ¥30 million will be imposed on companies that dismiss or take disciplinary action against whistleblowers under the revised law.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 5, 2025
Japan enacts bill to penalize revenge against whistleblowers
Under the revised law, individuals who discipline whistleblowers will be subject to a prison term of up to six months or a fine of up to ¥300,000.
A new law to promote the development of artificial intelligence while addressing its risks passed at an Upper House plenary meeting on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 28, 2025
Japan enacts bill to promote AI development and address its risks
The new law includes a provision to allow the government to disclose the names of malicious businesses in the event of crime using AI.
Evacuees stand in line to receive water from a water tank car at an evacuation center in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 4, 2024.
JAPAN
May 28, 2025
Japan enacts legislation aiming to strengthen disaster preparedness
The legislation was compiled based on lessons learned from the Noto Peninsula earthquake in January 2024.
An Upper House committee approves new rules drawn up in April following a revision of the law governing lawmaker allowances.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 22, 2025
Parliament moves to boost transparency in lawmaker allowances
Both chambers have adopted new rules mandating the disclosure of how the allowances are spent and requiring the return of unused funds to government coffers.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and other ministers ahead of a Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
May 16, 2025
Japan enacts bills to make criminal procedures digital
The revised laws will make trial records digital to allow lawyers to view them online.
The Upper House passed the active cyberdefense bill on Friday with majority support spanning the ruling bloc and the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
May 16, 2025
Japan enacts active cyberdefense law
Through the law, the government aims to set up defenses against cyberattacks that are on par with or better than major Western countries.
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.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba answers questions as the House of Councilors begins deliberations on an active cyberdefense bill on Friday at the Diet.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2025
Japan Upper House begins debates on active cyberdefense bill
The bill is aimed at allowing the government to monitor online communication in order to neutralize threats if it detects any sign of a major cyberattack.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has most support from eligible voters ahead of this summer's election for the House of Councilors, a Jiji Press poll showed Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 17, 2025
LDP has most support ahead of Upper House election, poll shows
Respondents who said they will vote for the LDP in the Upper House's proportional representation bloc accounted for 20.6%.
Japan needs a strong leader as it faces huge challenges. With Upper House and Tokyo gubernatorial elections coming up, the LDP needs to lay the groundwork for replacing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, whose polls have entered the danger zone.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 9, 2025
The window to replace Japan's accidental prime minister is nigh
Shigeru Ishiba isn't the right leader to weather Japan through the incoming storm. With Upper House elections this summer, it's time the LDP starts fielding his replacement.
Japan's inheritance tax is high, unforgiving and sometimes avoidable
The National Tax Agency at the Ministry of Finance, Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. Japanese tax authorities can bill foreign residents in Japan for assets inherited globally.
The United States imposes 15% 'reciprocal' tariff on most Japanese goods
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the White House on Wednesday.
U.S. backtracks on Japan tariff calculation, taking effective rate lower
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, said the U.S. made a clerical error in not including a “reciprocal” tariff rate ceiling for Japan in the trade deal.
How Pakistan shot down India's cutting-edge fighter using Chinese gear
An Indian Air Force pilot gets out of a Rafale fighter jet during its induction ceremony at an air force station in Ambala, India, September 2020.
Biggest drop in Japanese nationals seen alongside record high in foreign residents
A street in Tokyo's Shinjuku district on Wednesday
Cheer with caution: Expert advises sports fans have game plan for extreme heat
A Cardinals fan fans himself during the seventh inning of a game against the Pirates in St. Louis, Missouri, in June 2022.
Australia's warship selection signals Japanese defense industry's arrival
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate. Australia's selection of an upgraded version of the Mogami-class warship for its next frigate class could prove to be a watershed moment for Japan’s defense industry.
Japan's inheritance tax is high, unforgiving and sometimes avoidable
The National Tax Agency at the Ministry of Finance, Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. Japanese tax authorities can bill foreign residents in Japan for assets inherited globally.
Will the movement seeking Ishiba’s resignation succeed?
Liberal Democratic Party youth division head Yasutaka Nakasone (center) and other members speak to reporters in Tokyo on July 25.
Photographer Bleg Bayraktar is winning social media with politeness
A video on Bayraktar's Instagram account of the Belgian photographer approaching an elderly worker in Tokyo's Shibuya has gone viral, garnering almost 9 million views.

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