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July 11, 2026
 

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LDP

Tape marked 'immigration' indicates where people should wait in line. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s headquarters on foreign-national policy has compiled an interim draft of recommendations to submit to the government in January, aiming to tighten coordination across ministries and local governments on policies affecting foreign nationals.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 24, 2025
LDP policy panel drafts interim report on foreign nationals
The party has set up three project teams to tighten coordination across ministries and local governments on policies affecting foreign nationals
Tomoko Yoshino, president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, met Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday, where they are believed to have discussed the draft report.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 24, 2025
Japan to delay new gender equality program to next year
The delay comes amid concerns over a plan to legalize the use of birth names for married couples, which was added to the draft of a report serving as the basis for the program.
Koichi Hagiuda, a senior figure in Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has described Japan-Taiwan relations as "the best they have ever been,” according to a statement from Taiwan’s Presidential Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 24, 2025
Flurry of Japanese lawmaker visits to Taiwan sparks China’s anger
Visits by Japanese lawmakers to Taiwan are not unusual, but the current round comes at a time of heightened tensions between Japan and China.
Koichi Hagiuda, deputy secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (left), and Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te meet in Taipei on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 23, 2025
LDP exec Hagiuda and Taiwanese President Lai agree to boost ties
Hagiuda told Lai that he hopes to continue deepening what he described as the best-ever relations between the two sides.
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.
Koichi Hagiuda, the Liberal Democratic Party’s deputy secretary-general, at the party headquarters in Tokyo in October. He is on a three-day visit to Taiwan through Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 22, 2025
LDP lawmakers continue to visit Taiwan amid tensions with China
Meanwhile, it seems unlikely that a multiparty group of Japanese lawmakers for Japan-China friendship will be able to send a delegation to China by the end of this year.
Former Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told an NHK program Sunday that while the government was adhering to the country's three non-nuclear principles as a policy guideline, “the question is what to do going forward.”
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 21, 2025
Senior LDP official hints at need for discussion of non-nuclear principles
The remarks by former Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera were the latest signal that the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi could be eyeing revisions to the principles.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party says that an envisaged new requirement of Japanese proficiency for obtaining permanent residency was prompted by many reports of issues involving foreign residents in local communities and administrative procedures resulting from their lack of Japanese language skills.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 20, 2025
Japanese proficiency eyed as permanent residency requirement
To obtain the status, foreign nationals will also be mandated to take a program aimed at helping them smoothly integrate into local communities.
Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, arrives for a party leaders' debate at the Upper House in Tokyo on Nov. 26.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 19, 2025
Opposition seeks dismissal of government official over nuclear weapon remark
The government has emphasized that it remains committed to Japan’s long-standing three nonnuclear principles.
Itsunori Onodera (center right), the chief of the Liberal Democratic Party’s tax committee, and Japan Innovation Party counterpart Satoshi Umemura (center left) hold up the two party's tax reform proposal in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 19, 2025
Tax reform proposal lifts income tax threshold and reroutes funding to defense
The ruling coalition’s proposal includes using a levy once used to fund reconstruction work in the Tohoku region to now fund defense spending.
Officials from the Liberal Democratic Party, the Japan Innovation Party and Komeito shake hands after reaching an agreement on free public elementary school lunches, in parliament on Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2025
Ruling bloc and Komeito agree on free school meal program
In areas where school meals for the month cost more than ¥5,200, the additional cost may be paid by local governments or collected from parents.
Yuko Obuchi, head of the Liberal Democratic Party's panel on Okinawa promotion, speaks at the panel's meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2025
Okinawa development funds to see first rise in 10 years
The planned increase comes as the LDP aims to win the next Okinawa gubernatorial election, expected next summer.
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.
The Foreign Ministry is planning to create an office to provide assistance to third countries, spanning from peace mediation to post-conflict recovery and reconstruction.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2025
Foreign Ministry to set up peace mediation office, sources say
The new office is expected to help Japan provide assistance spanning from mediation to post-conflict recovery and reconstruction.
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.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, will reconsider the route of the planned Hokuriku Shinkansen section between Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture and Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka Prefecture.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2025
Japan to reconsider route of planned Hokuriku Shinkansen section
The existing plan, adopted by the then LDP-Komeito coalition in 2016, has faced opposition from some due to environmental and fiscal concerns.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi chats with Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara during a plenary session of the House of Representatives at the National Diet in Tokyo on Dec. 8.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 14, 2025
What will Japan’s planned intelligence bureau look like?
Ultimately, this is an evolutionary measure that seeks to break down government intelligence silos and improve the information being provided to the highest levels of government.
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.
The government plans to include information vital to economic security in a draft revision to the operational standards for the law on the protection of specially designated secrets.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 11, 2025
Japan to add economic security to scope of designated secrets
The government hopes to enhance information security by operating the specially designated secrets system in conjunction with the security clearance program.
People walk on a back street in Akihabara, Tokyo, on Nov. 13.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 10, 2025
LDP compiles proposals to address crimes by foreign nationals
The package, among other things, calls on the National Police Agency to secure a list of interpreters to be dispatched to prefectural police departments to speed up investigations.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Trump says ‘Japan’ instead of Iran at meeting in Ankara
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference during a NATO leaders' summit in Ankara on Wednesday.
World’s first fully sealed vertical-farming facility opens in Tokyo
Fully sealed units are stacked on top of each other at Plantx's vertical-farming facility in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Wednesday.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.

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