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August 30, 2025
 

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UPPER HOUSE

The special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office searches the office of Upper House lawmaker Akira Ishii in the city of Toride, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 29, 2025
Nippon Ishin lawmaker's alleged fraud likely totals ¥8 million
Akira Ishii is suspected of receiving salaries for a state-paid public secretary who actually did not work for him.
Upper House lawmaker Akira Ishii
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 27, 2025
Upper House member's office raided over alleged fraud
Akira Ishii is suspected of receiving public funds by filing a report about hiring a government-paid secretary who never actually worked for him.
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.
Most Japanese teens struggling with school find end of summer ‘painful’
Some 93.1% of Japanese teenagers who struggle with school life said they felt like they “wanted to disappear from the world" at the end of summer vacation ahead of the start of a new term, according to a recent survey released by Yokohama-based nonprofit Daisan Kazoku.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
Virtual singer Kaf's music becomes magic in 'Kamitsubaki City Under Construction'
Virtual singer Kaf got her start in 2018 by posting songs and covers to YouTube. Now, after having performed live shows at major venues including Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan, she is turning to voice acting and starring in the new anime series “Kamitsubaki City Under Construction.”
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
In pictures: Koenji Awa Odori 2025
Japan Times
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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