Tag - diet

 
Menu
Search
 
July 04, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

DIET

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during the Upper House budget committee meeting at parliament in Tokyo on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 7, 2026
Japan’s fiscal 2026 budget passes Upper House
The ¥122.3 trillion budget is the largest ever, reflecting Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s goal of an expansionary fiscal policy.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at the Lower House plenary session on Thursday as the bill to upgrade the nation’s intelligence framework was put to debate.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 6, 2026
Japan’s much-needed intel debate could cost Takaichi political points
While the Liberal Democratic Party will not likely face major obstacles in the intelligence debate, it still could weigh down Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration.
Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 6, 2026
Opposition Democratic Party for the People eyes change in strategy
The Democratic Party for the People’s influence has diminished due to the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in the February Lower House election.
The Diet building in Tokyo in February
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 3, 2026
Japan’s budget likely to be enacted as early as Tuesday
The ruling bloc is looking to get the budget through the Upper House on Tuesday, but opposition parties have called for four rounds of intensive deliberations.
Centrist Reform Alliance leader Junya Ogawa speaks during an interview at the Diet building on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 3, 2026
CRA leader Ogawa calls for full merger with CDP and Komeito
“Prolonged stagnation ... could sink them together,” Junya Ogawa said, referring to the three Japanese opposition parties.
Yoshihiko Isozaki (right), the Liberal Democratic Party's Diet affairs chief in the Upper House, and his Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan counterpart, Yoshitaka Saito, attend talks at the Diet building on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 2, 2026
LDP abandons fiscal 2026 budget passage this week
Members of the LDP and the CDP agreed to hold a deliberation session on the bill Friday, effectively putting a vote off until next week.
Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno (left) addresses a meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party's project team as it discusses making damaging the national flag a crime, at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 1, 2026
LDP divided over move to criminalize desecration of Japan’s flag, sought by JIP
While some party members have called for a bill to be enacted during the current session of parliament, others express concern over freedom of expression.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a session of the Lower House Budget Committee in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 30, 2026
Japan’s parliament passes emergency ¥8.56 trillion stopgap budget
Lawmakers across party lines were forced to resort to the temporary measure for the first time in 11 years.
Members of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan attend its regular party convention on Sunday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2026
CDP stops short of specifying when to merge into CRA
A draft of the CDP’s campaign policy had included a plan to make the decision in June 2027, after unified local elections earlier that year.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during an Upper House Budget Committee session on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 29, 2026
Some LDP members eye passing fiscal 2026 budget on April 7
The government and ruling parties aim to get the budget bill through parliament next week, but the opposition camp is demanding “sufficient” deliberations.
Until last year’s extraordinary parliament session, when the ruling bloc lacked majorities in both chambers, Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki positioned his party as an opposition group capable of delivering policy results.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2026
DPP struggles with reduced presence after election
The opposition party’s strategy of negotiating for concessions, rather than taking a confrontational stance against the government, is stalling.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama answers questions during an Upper House plenary session on Monday. Katayama said Tuesday that a provisional budget would be compiled to prepare for unexpected events, while noting that passing the fiscal 2026 budget bill by the end of fiscal 2025 remains "necessary."
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 24, 2026
Preparations begin for stopgap budget in case fiscal 2026 bill slips deadline
The prime minister is still aiming for the fiscal 2026 budget to be passed this month, but appears to be showing flexibility as ruling parties lack an Upper House majority.
The Bank of Japan building in Tokyo. The House of Representatives has confirmed the government's nominations of 22 people at 11 institutions.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 19, 2026
Japan Lower House OKs two reflationists as BOJ policymakers
The House of Councillors is expected to confirm the batch of nominations on Monday.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi heads to attend a Lower House Budget Committee meeting at parliament in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2026
Takaichi vows to tell Trump what Japan ‘can and cannot do’ in Middle East
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was set for a summit in Washington with U.S. President Donald Trump later this week that will be a test of her mettle amid the war in Iran.
Asked at a House of Councilors' Budget Committee meeting on Monday whether her administration would consider a law revision to allow a female emperor, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said it was "too early to have specific discussions" about imperial succession beyond Prince Hisahito, who is second in line to the throne.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2026
Takaichi says she ‘respects’ panel proposals regarding imperial succession
The panel has proposed having female imperial family members keep their status after marriage, and adopting male members from the paternal line of former imperial family branches.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in an Upper House Budget Committee on Monday. With the fiscal deadline approaching, the prime minister's government is facing pressure to secure enough support to pass the budget while avoiding accusations it is ramming legislation through parliament.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 16, 2026
LDP tries to move carefully but quickly as budget deadline looms
The budget cleared the Lower House, where the LDP’s ruling bloc has a supermajority, but the path through the Upper House is much less certain.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a Lower House budget committee session last week
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 15, 2026
Tough debate ahead for Japan national intelligence council bill
The government believes that the current security environment is the most severe and complex since the end of World War II.
Komeito leader Toshiko Takeya shake hands with Centrist Reform Alliance leader Junya Ogawa (right) and Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan chief Shunichi Mizuoka during a Komeito party convention in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 15, 2026
Komeito chief open to full integration with Centrist Reform Alliance
The CRA currently comprises only lawmakers of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament.
A Lower House plenary session is held to vote for a fiscal 2026 budget bill on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 15, 2026
Japan ruling bloc uses ‘power majority’ to push through fiscal 2026 budget
Opposition parties have intensified their criticism, calling the ruling bloc’s move a threat to fiscal democracy.
Junya Ogawa, who became head of the Centrist Reform Alliance a month ago, is seeking to rebuild Japan’s opposition after last month’s election defeat while focusing on policy debate.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 13, 2026
CRA leader Junya Ogawa faces host of challenges, one month after election defeat
Junya Ogawa has held back on grilling government leaders, something that opposition parties usually prefer doing, and instead tried to focus on policy debate.
‘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. 
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
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.
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.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Digital marketer Netyear zeros in on generative AI
Digital marketer Netyear zeros in on generative AI

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER