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July 04, 2026
 

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LDP

Newly enthroned Emperor Naruhito takes part in a ritual at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in May 2019, in which imperial envoys are dispatched to the Ise Grand Shrine and imperial mausoleums.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 3, 2026
Tradition vs. change: Japan’s imperial succession debate intensifies
For decades, the government has postponed action. This week, however, Prime Minister Takaichi’s administration submitted a bill to the Diet to revise the Imperial House Law.
LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki before a meeting with the Centrist Reform Alliance on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 2, 2026
LDP to halt debate on JIP priorities to focus on imperial family bill
The LDP is ready to halt debate on controversial bills while discussions on proposed Imperial House Law revisions are underway, LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki has said.
Revisions to the laws meant to tackle the imperial family's dwindling numbers included clauses that throw succession rules into question.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2026
Law revisions regarding imperial family invite controversy about succession
Revisions to the laws meant to tackle the imperial family’s dwindling numbers included clauses that throw succession rules into question.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a Lower House committee session in Tokyo on June 22.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 30, 2026
Will Takaichi invoke 60-day rule to pass controversial bills?
The ruling coalition aims to pass bills to trim Lower House seats and establish the concept of a secondary capital in the current session of parliament, which ends in three weeks.
According to the 2025 reports on lawmakers' incomes, the average income among nine party leaders stood at ¥24.53 million.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2026
Takaichi tops 2025 income rankings for Japan party heads
The prime minister earned ¥36.41 million in 2025 while the average income among nine party leaders stood at ¥24.53 million.
The bill stipulates that imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to ¥200,000 be imposed on acts that publicly damage the national flag.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 30, 2026
LDP’s flag desecration bill clears Lower House
Under the bill, desecrating the flag is punishable by up to two years of imprisonment or a fine of up to ¥200,000.
The ruling party lawmaker Hirofumi Nakasone said on Sunday that no one would marry Princess Aiko if she ascended the imperial throne while unmarried, prompting criticism.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2026
LDP’s Hirofumi Nakasone regrets remark about Princess Aiko
In a speech in Toyama Prefecture on Sunday, the lawmaker added that no one would marry the princess if she were to succeed to the throne while unmarried.
Kazuhiko Shigetoku (third from right), Lower House parliamentary affairs chief of the Centrist Reform Alliance, and other members submit a request to Shunichi Yamaguchi (center), chair of the Committee on Rules and Administration, regarding a bill to reduce the number of seats in the House of Representatives, at the parliament building in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 28, 2026
Shrinking Lower House by 45 seats to hit smaller parties hard
Debates on the LDP-JIP bill are slated to start Monday at a political reform special committee of the Lower House.
Lawmakers who proposed a bill banning the desecration of the national flag bow as the bill was approved at a meeting of the Lower House Cabinet Committee on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 26, 2026
Lower House committee approves flag bill in appeal to conservatives
The proposed law would prohibit publicly damaging, removing or defacing the national flag in a way that “causes extreme discomfort or disgust to others.”
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a parliamentary meeting in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 25, 2026
Takaichi’s smear video scandal shows Japan’s digital campaign rules are behind the curve
A scandal involving alleged AI-generated attack videos has exposed gaps in Japan’s laws governing online election campaigns.
A draft by a tax panel calls for reducing the consumption tax rate to 1% for food for two years from April 2027.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 25, 2026
Interim draft on two-year food tax cut presented
The proposal calls for reducing the tax rate to 1% for food for two years from April 2027.
Senior Japan Innovation Party member Seiji Maehara speaks to reporters after his party submitted national security proposals to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2026
JIP takes sharper nuclear stance than LDP in security proposals
The junior coalition partner in the ruling bloc is pushing for a “realistic review” of allowing nukes into the country, while the LDP is looking to bolster extended deterrence.
Japan Innovation Party head Hirofumi Yoshimura speaks to the party's local members in the city of Osaka on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 24, 2026
Backup capital progress shows Takaichi is listening to JIP despite LDP concerns
A deal on the matter gave Takaichi the needed votes to become prime minister and form a ruling coalition.
A bill to criminalize the act of damaging the national flag is among the measures the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party plan to enact during the current special Diet session under their deal to form a ruling coalition.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 24, 2026
Lower House begins discussions on flag-vandalism bill
Under the bill, those who publicly deface the flag in a way that causes the public to feel extremely uncomfortable or disgusted would be subject to imprisonment or a fine.
Debate on constitutional revision is intensifying in commissions on the Constitution in both chambers of the Diet, Japan's parliament, during the ongoing special session.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 24, 2026
Constitutional debates intensify in Japan parliament over emergency clause
Lower House lawmakers have been debating an emergency clause that would allow legislators’ terms to be extended in the event of a disaster or crisis.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 23, 2026
Takaichi and JIP agree to pass bill on backup capital this parliamentary session
The Japan Innovation Party has long sought a backup capital plan, agreeing to join the ruling coalition last year in exchange for passing legislation on it.
Former lawmaker Yasutada Ono apologizes during a news conference following a court ruling in the LDP slush fund scandal, on Tuesday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 23, 2026
Ex-lawmaker Ono found partly not guilty over slush fund scandal
Yasutada Ono of the LDP was handed down a fine of ¥600,000 after prosecutors had originally demanded ¥1.5 million.
The government aims to double the share of female engineering students from 18% in 2025 to 36% by 2040 to address a shortage of women in science and technology fields.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2026
Japan aims to double proportion of female engineering students by 2040
In 2025, the share of female university students in engineering faculties stood at 18%. The government hopes to boost the figure to 36% in 2040.
Shunichi Suzuki
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 21, 2026
Japan ruling LDP’s Suzuki negative on Diet extension
The remarks came after Hiroshi Nakatsuka, secretary-general of the JIP, called for an extension of the Diet session in talks with Suzuki on Monday.
The nonpartisan National Council discusses a consumption tax reduction in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 18, 2026
Takaichi acknowledges proposed cut of consumption tax on food to 1%
The plan has divided party members and raised concerns about its impact on financial markets.
‘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

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