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July 04, 2026
 

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DIET

Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Innovation Party officials hold talks on constitutional revision in the parliament building in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 5, 2026
LDP and JIP see different paths for constitutional revision
The Liberal Democratic Party is seeking a realistic approach for amending the Constitution while the Japan Innovation Party is more hawkish.
Lawmakers in kimonos attend a session of the Lower House in Tokyo in January 2023. For nearly a half century, the chamber operated under a multiseat district system. But following revisions to the election law in 1994, the current model of single-seat districts and proportional representation seats was introduced. Now, there is a growing debate in parliament about returning the body's current electoral system to what it once was.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 2, 2026
Debate grows on reforming Lower House electoral system
Some argue the flaws in the current system could be fixed by returning to the old one. Others aren’t so sure.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 17.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 1, 2026
Will tailwinds become headwinds for Takaichi in 2026?
This year the prime minister must show the electorate she can meet its expectations, with steady leadership and tangible answers to the country’s challenges.
Even with Japan's first female prime minister, the Lower House's 73 women must share a single two-stall restroom near parliament's main plenary session hall, showing how politics remains male dominated in the nation.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2025
Female lawmakers call for more toilets in Japan’s parliament building
There is only one restroom containing two stalls for the Lower House’s 73 women to use near parliament’s main plenary session hall in central Tokyo.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito says the party's rupture with the Liberal Democratic Party has given new life to its support base.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 29, 2025
Komeito forced to chart new path after divorce from LDP
The party faces an urgent need to redefine its identity and set itself apart from its competitors.
A reduction of Lower House seats is unlikely to be implemented in time for the next general election, says Keiji Furuya, the head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s election strategy committee.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 22, 2025
Lower House seats might not be reduced ahead of next election
Interparty discussions and a revision of constituencies would need to take place first, the head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s election strategy committee says.
A mock model of the upgraded Mogami-class frigate is displayed during the Defense Security Equipment International Japan exhibition in the city of Chiba in May.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 17, 2025
Japan has long had tough rules on arms exports. That may soon change.
Japan is likely to scrap long-standing limits on its exports of lethal arms next year — a move that will have lasting implications for the ostensibly pacifist country.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura hold a joint news conference in parliament in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 16, 2025
Decision on Lower House seat-reduction bill postponed to next year
The delay could impact the ruling coalition, as the JIP had made passing the bill this year a key plank of its October tie-up with the LDP.
LDP parliamentary affairs chief Hiroshi Kajiyama (left) and JIP counterpart Takashi Endo discuss the seat reduction bill in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2025
Lower House seat-reduction bill faces headwinds as Diet session nears end
The bill has been a key point of agreement for the ruling LDP and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and others attend a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo. The existing Cabinet Intelligence Committee, headed by the chief cabinet secretary, will be remade into a national intelligence council, involving the prime minister and other ministers.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 9, 2025
Japan to create ministerial post for envisioned national intelligence bureau
The government plans to set up the bureau as early as July 2026 by upgrading the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama delivers a fiscal policy speech at a Lower House plenary session in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 8, 2025
Katayama urges lawmakers to cooperate to pass supplementary budget bill
The finance minister says the bill should be passed as soon as possible to “bring back a strong economy to Japan.”
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has made measures against high prices her top priority while pledging strategic fiscal outlays to build a stronger economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 8, 2025
Takaichi government submits ¥18.3 trillion supplementary budget to parliament
The budget is mainly to finance the first comprehensive economic package under the administration of the recently elected prime minister.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi walks inside parliament in Tokyo on Oct. 24.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 6, 2025
Japan considers bill on original surname use in gender equality program
The move is in response to a plan by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration to enact a bill on the matter during next year’s ordinary session of parliament.
The Diet building in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 5, 2025
Japanese government plans to launch new intelligence bureau in July
The envisaged bureau will be formed by upgrading the existing Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office.
Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Innovation Party lawmakers present a bill to reduce at least 45 Lower House seats by the end of next year, for submission on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 5, 2025
LDP and JIP submit bill to eliminate at least 45 Lower House seats
The path to the bill’s submission has been rough as the parties had been at loggerheads over the number of seats to cut and which ones, and the legal framework for implementation.
While media polls show a high support rate for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet, the support for the LDP is not as great, meaning there’s no guarantee of a coattail effect if a snap poll is called.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 5, 2025
Will Takaichi bank on her high approval ratings to call a snap election?
Calling a snap vote ahead of next year’s parliamentary session could bring great rewards for the prime minister and her party, but the risks may outweigh them.
Measures in a law to address the uneven availability of doctors in Japan will be implemented in stages from April 2026.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2025
Japan’s parliament approves bill to address uneven doctor availability
Measures in the revised law will be implemented in stages starting in April 2026.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivers a policy speech during an extraordinary session of the Lower House in Tokyo on Oct. 24. Japan needs to right-size its parliament to match a declining population.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 5, 2025
A plan to fix voter disparity and modernize Japan’s political system
With the population continuing to decline, down 5% since 2009, and people relocating from rural to urban areas, the scale of the government should also be adjusted.
Ruling and opposition lawmakers deliberate on bills related to political donations reform at a House of Representatives committee session in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 4, 2025
Japan’s parliament starts debates on corporate donation reform bills
Some have speculated that the ruling side is putting the bills on the back burner.
Katsunobu Kato, head of the Liberal Democratic Party's political system reform panel, speaks at a party meeting on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 4, 2025
Proposed Lower House seat reduction could affect 20 prefectures
As the 20 prefectures include areas with many conservative voters who strongly support the LDP, an increasing number of party members are voicing their opposition to the measure.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan's renewable goals.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.

Podcast

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

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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