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September 16, 2025
 

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UPPER HOUSE

The CDP head Yoshihiko Noda (front row, third from right) , newly-elected Secretary-General Jun Azumi (front row, third from left) and other executives gather in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 11, 2025
Noda appoints new leadership team members to help bolster CDP's base
CDP party leader Yoshihiko Noda chose new team members whose views sometimes differ from his to help reinforce the party’s base and show "a united party front."
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba holds a news conference on Sunday in Tokyo where he announced his resignation.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 10, 2025
The Liberal Democratic Party’s internal coup is complete
Ishiba came into the prime ministership last year with the odds already stacked against him. The LDP was a fractured party with waning public support.
Candidates for Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election stand together on stage before a debate in Tokyo in September 2024. Pictured are future Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Yoshimasa Hayashi, Sanae Takaichi, Shinjiro Koizumi and others. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 9, 2025
Ishiba’s resignation triggers a battle for the soul of the LDP
To become the next prime minister, the new LDP leader will also need to secure enough support from one or two of the other larger conservative opposition parties.
Shigeru Ishiba’s brief, tumultuous prime ministership weakened Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, alienated conservatives and left the party scrambling to find a new leader capable of restoring credibility.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 9, 2025
Japan deserves far better leadership than this
While the country is mostly back where it was a year ago, the LDP is in a much weaker position.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announces his decision to step down, at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2025
Ishiba to quit as prime minister amid LDP discontent
The move comes amid growing calls from within the LDP for the prime minister to step aside after a poor showing in July’s Upper House election.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party submitted an urgent proposal on Friday calling for the government to strengthen measures aimed at preventing foreign interference in Japan's elections.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 5, 2025
LDP calls for blocking foreign interference in elections
"If foreign interference is left unchecked, it could pose a serious and immediate threat to the foundations of democracy," an LDP proposal said.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama attend the LDP’s plenary meeting in Tokyo on Aug. 8. Once dominant, the ruling party is now struggling to maintain control amid calls for Ishiba to step down.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2025
Dragging on the LDP’s political drama does little for Japan
From dominance to doubt, the ruling party struggles to maintain control.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 2, 2025
LDP secretary-general offers to step down over Upper House election losses
Hiroshi Moriyama says he will entrust his future to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is party president.
Japanese Trade Union Confederation chief Tomoko Yoshino speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Aug. 21. Under Yoshino, the organization, better known as Rengo, has cooperated with the government to achieve wage increases, but some have raised concerns about those same close ties.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 2, 2025
Tomoko Yoshino's next move in focus as end of second term as Rengo chief nears
Under Yoshino, the organization, better known as Rengo, has cooperated with the government to achieve wage increases. But some have raised concerns about those same close ties.
Voters look at posters of candidates for an Upper House election outside a polling station in Tokyo on July 20. The young abandoned the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for other conservative and newer parties in the recent poll. REUTERS
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 31, 2025
What is a ‘Japanese conservative’ in this day and age?
My view is that younger voters saw the LDP as a group of elderly, self-absorbed elitists who were out of touch with the issues that mattered to them.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama speaks to reporters on Friday at party headquarters.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 29, 2025
Pressure builds on LDP's Moriyama to take the fall for election drubbing
It is customary in Japan for a party's secretary-general to quit after a poor showing at the polls.
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.
Shinji Ishimaru, leader of The Path to Rebirth, announces resignation during a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 27, 2025
Shinji Ishimaru, ex-mayor of Akitakata, steps down as leader of political group
The Path to Rebirth, led by Ishimaru, fielded candidates for elections for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly and the House of Councilors earlier this year, but none were successful.
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.
Six executives of a pachinko parlor operator were arrested for allegedly promising to pay some 60 people in exchange for voting for a candidate in the July 20 Upper House election.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 27, 2025
Six arrested on suspicion of vote buying in July's Upper House election
The arrestees are suspected of promising to pay ¥3,000 or ¥4,000 to each of some 60 people in exchange for voting for a candidate in the July 20 Upper House election.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a speech at a dinner during the Tokyo International Conference on African Development on Thursday in Yokohama.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 22, 2025
LDP mulls pushing back deadline for review of Upper House election
The delay is mainly due to Prime Minister and LDP President Shigeru Ishiba's schedule of diplomatic events.
Onetime members of a now-defunct faction once led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are calling for the party to more actively promote conservative policies.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 17, 2025
Internal battle pits LDP's conservatives against liberals
Some in the party —mainly ex-members of the now-defunct Abe faction — are calling for it to more actively advertise conservative policies.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference in Nagasaki on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 14, 2025
Approval for Ishiba Cabinet rises to 27.3%, poll shows
Respondents who think Ishiba should not resign following the ruling party's setback in last month's House of Councilors election slightly outpacing those who think he should.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's political survival likely hinges on whether a leadership race will take place within the Liberal Democratic Party following its decision to have its election committee canvass the opinions of party members and prefectural chapters on the subject.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Aug 13, 2025
Will Ishiba's critics be able to garner enough support for a leadership race?
The only way to remove an LDP president from office — other than a resignation — is to invoke the recall clause and hold a leadership race.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito speaks to reporters in Tokyo after Upper House election voting finished on July 20.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 11, 2025
Komeito struggling after crushing Upper House election defeat
Some have been calling on Komeito to withdraw from costly races in constituencies and put resources into proportional representation.
SDF spots China’s biggest aircraft carrier for first time
The Fujian aircraft carrier is seen in Shanghai in May 2024 as it leaves for its first sea trial.
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
Is America ready for Japanese-style 7-Elevens?
Convenience stores are a fixture of Japanese life and 7-Eleven, a chain that began in the U.S. in 1927, opened its first store in Japan in 1974 — and then became wholly Japanese-owned in 2005 through parent company Seven & I Holdings.
Final weeks of World Expo in Osaka likely to see large crowds
With one month left to go, crowds are expected to swell at the World Expo in Osaka during its final weeks.
Japan's elderly population down at around 36.2 million
The estimated number of people age 65 or older in Japan stands at 36.19 million as of Monday, accounting for record 29.4% of the country's total population, according to the internal affairs ministry.
Strikes on Qatar and Poland shake U.S. sway among friend and foe
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Museum of the Bible in Washington on Sept. 8. Israeli strikes in Qatar and Russian drone incursions into Poland have challenged the U.S. leaders claims of global respect.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.
As Manila modernizes its military, new opportunities emerge for Tokyo
A Brahmos missile system is displayed during a rehearsal for a military parade in New Delhi in January. The Philippines will soon receive its second batch of the supersonic cruise missiles from India.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

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