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July 04, 2026
 

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LDP

A government draft calls for raising awareness of gender and sexual diversity in schools, local communities, households and workplaces.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 2, 2026
Japan eyes multilayered approach to promote LGBTQ+ awareness
The government presented the draft program to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which approved it the same day.
Kazuhiko Shigetoku, Lower House parliamentary affairs chief of the Centrist Reform Alliance (center, left), and Yoshitaka Saito, Upper House parliamentary affairs chief of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (center, right), meet in parliament on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 30, 2026
Japan ruling and opposition parties at odds over extra budget
The budget committees of both the upper and lower chambers will each spend one day deliberating the extra budget for the fiscal year that started in April.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during the National Defense Academy's graduation ceremony in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in March. The Japanese leader currently has the political and procedural leverage to pursue sweeping reforms, including the creation of an intelligence agency modeled on the CIA.
EDITORIALS
May 29, 2026
Long overdue, Japan updates its intelligence infrastructure
The government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is taking steps to improve that capability with passage of the National Intelligence Council Law.
Aisawa Ichiro of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party speaks during a meeting of lawmakers Wednesday held to discuss the use of AI in election campaigns.
JAPAN
May 28, 2026
Realistic AI-created content to require labels during Japan’s election campaigns
The requirement will apply to videos and images that may be mistaken for those not generated by AI, while those that can be clearly identified as made using AI will be excluded.
Yasuhiro Hanashi, head of the Liberal Democratic Party's panel on public safety, hands proposals to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 28, 2026
Japan ruling LDP proposes GPS devices for stalkers to safeguard victims
The proposal, submitted as part of an urgent proposal on preventing special fraud and stalking cases, noted similar moves overseas that aim to prevent repeat offenses.
Itsunori Onodera, the Liberal Democratic Party's tax chief, on Wednesday presented a draft outline for providing additional benefits for households with children during a meeting of lawmakers.
JAPAN / Politics
May 28, 2026
Lawmakers eye extra benefits for child-rearing households
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is looking into increasing take-home pay for low- and middle-income workers by adjusting the amount of benefits according to income.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during an Upper House Cabinet Committee meeting on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 27, 2026
How the intel bill showed Japan’s new political reality
The debate surrounding the National Intelligence Council Law revealed less about Japan’s intelligence system than the current contours of the country’s new political reality.
The House of Representatives passes a bill to revise the personal information protection law with support from the ruling bloc and the Democratic Party for the People on Tuesday at parliament.
JAPAN / Politics
May 26, 2026
Lower House approves bill to revise personal information protection law
The bill includes a provision requiring businesses that repeatedly commit violations to pay fines equivalent to the earned profit to state coffers.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, and the opposition Democratic Party for the People voiced support Sunday for creating an emergency constitutional clause to extend lawmakers’ terms during major disasters.
JAPAN / Politics
May 24, 2026
LDP, JIP and DPP seek emergency clause in Constitution
The LDP’s Yoshitaka Shindo said, “If a state of emergency coincides with an election period, how will we run the country?”
A Japanese national flag outside the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo last July.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2026
LDP OKs draft bill to punish national flag vandalism
The draft calls for penalties of up to two years in prison or fines of as much as ¥200,000 for acts of vandalism that cause “extreme discomfort or disgust.”
Katsunobu Kato, chairman of the National Power Research Group, addresses the group's inaugural meeting held at the parliamentary building in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 22, 2026
What will the LDP’s new National Power Research Group become?
The group’s scale and participation by party heavy hitters would’ve been unusual even for former factions, let alone for policy research.
Takuya Hirai, head of the Liberal Democratic Party's Headquarters for the Promotion of a Digital Society, during a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday
JAPAN
May 20, 2026
LDP calls for mandatory acquisition of My Number cards
There would be no penalty for noncompliance, according to the proposal compiled by the Liberal Democratic Party’s Headquarters for the Promotion of a Digital Society.
Liberal Democratic Party cybersecurity affairs leader Masaaki Taira speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 19, 2026
Japan’s Mythos response ‘must involve Big Tech,’ says LDP cybersecurity chief
Anthropic allows only a limited number of companies and groups to access the AI model given the risks it poses.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has presented a draft bill proposing penalties for both public vandalism of the Japanese national flag and the posting of related videos and images on social media, but it withheld approval amid concerns over freedom of expression.
JAPAN / Politics
May 15, 2026
LDP seeks to penalize sharing national flag vandalism online
The outline also calls for penalties of up to two years in prison or fines of up to ¥200,000 for individuals who publicly damage the flag.
A Cabinet meeting on Friday that approved a revised bill on the retrial system
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2026
Cabinet approves revision of controversial retrial system
Critics of Japan’s retrial system have said prosecutors’ right to appeal is prolonging the court procedures needed for those seeking a retrial, with it sometimes taking decades.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Ichiro Aisawa (right) addresses a meeting of a cross-party council on election campaigning held in a parliamentary building on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 15, 2026
Japan to order social media operators to combat misinformation in elections
Actions expected to be taken by social media operators include halting reward payments to users and improving their capacity to respond to content deletion requests.
Keisuke Suzuki, who heads a Liberal Democratic Party panel on the judicial system, speaks during a party meeting on retrial revisions on Wednesday at the party's headquarters in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2026
LDP approves government proposal to revise retrial system
The approval paves the way for the revision — a top priority for the government — to be submitted to the current parliamentary session.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi leads one of the largest blocs in the Liberal Democratic Party and wields significant influence over intraparty dynamics, helping offset one of Sanae Takaichi’s perceived weaknesses: party management.
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2026
How a rival became one of Takaichi’s most trusted allies
Foreign ministers usually don’t command much authority. Toshimitsu Motegi is different.
Yasukazu Hamada (center) speaks at a meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on Security on Wednesday at the party's headquarters in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2026
Japan’s ruling LDP may consider spending up to 5% of GDP on security
A further increase in security spending is among issues set to be discussed as part of a plan to revise Japan’s three key security-related documents this year.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi receives a policy recommendation document from Takayuki Kobayashi (center left), head of the Liberal Democratic Party's Headquarters for Intelligence Strategy, in March at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 14, 2026
Government ramps up push to enhance intelligence capabilities
As a first step, the government plans to establish a national intelligence bureau as early as July.
‘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
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