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July 08, 2026
 

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LDP

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi discusses tax reduction at a national council in Tokyo on Feb. 26.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 10, 2026
CRA might join national council on consumption tax cut after all
Like the Democratic Party for the People, the party fears the political cost of not taking part in talks over the proposed consumption tax cut for food items.
LDP’s security chief Yasukazu Hamada (left) and JIP counterpart Seiji Maehara speak to reporters in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 6, 2026
LDP-JIP coalition submits proposal to revise rules on defense equipment exports
The ruling parties’ joint security committee seeks to relax export rules for defense equipment, which would be a major policy shift for Japan.
The Liberal Democratic Party holds a meeting to discuss the government's sixth basic plan for gender equality at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2026
Japan considers legalizing use of original surnames on their own after marriage
The plan is expected to be approved by the Cabinet later this month.
Vietnamese students attend a Japanese language class at a job placement company in Hanoi in October 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2026
The limits of Japan’s immigration charade
Until now, the quality and training of Japanese-language teachers were largely left to the private sector, including academia.
Members of the Lower House Budget Committee meet in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 5, 2026
LDP drops proposal to conduct fiscal 2026 budget deliberations on Saturday
The ruling party had proposed the weekend session in response to opposition concerns that time spent deliberating the fiscal 2026 budget bill had been insufficient.
Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People, speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 5, 2026
DPP to join panel on consumption tax cut
The Democratic Party for the People’s announcement comes after it, along with the Centrist Reform Alliance, skipped the panel’s inaugural meeting on Feb. 26.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a news conference at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on Feb. 18. Takaichi has repeatedly stressed her focus on boosting investment in growth, especially in technologies vital to Japan’s food, energy and economic security.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 3, 2026
Takaichi takes aim at Japan’s supplementary budgets
The prime minister wants to push as much spending as possible into the initial budget.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responds to questions from Centrist Reform Alliance leader Junya Ogawa (left) at a Lower House Budget Committee session on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 1, 2026
Government and ruling bloc adamant about passing budget before fiscal 2026
The ruling bloc of the LDP and the Japan Innovation Party is aiming to pass the draft budget through the Lower House on March 13.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a parliamentary session on Thursday. While Takaichi wants to use a nonpartisan panel to achieve consensus across party lines on how to pause consumption tax on groceries for two years, opposition parties are concerned about the political fallout of being seen as agreeing too much, or not enough, with her effort.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 26, 2026
Consumption tax panel kicks off without two opposition parties
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had hoped to use the panel to achieve consensus across parties on how to lift the tax for two years.
The Nikkei 225 stock average nears 60,000 on Thursday as analysts revise up their estimates.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 26, 2026
Nikkei 225 index forecasts revised upward after LDP’s big win
Analysts are looking for 60,000, and that level is already near.
An Liberal Democratic Party panel calls for a review of existing measures to deter and detect foreign intelligence activities and states that new legislation should be considered if current safeguards are found to be insufficient.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 26, 2026
LDP panel approves proposal to strengthen intelligence capabilities
Both the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, have said that Japan’s current capabilities are inadequate.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks in parliament in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2026
Scrutiny of Takaichi’s gift catalogs for LDP lawmakers could delay budget debate
The prime minister said she gave gift catalogs to 315 lawmakers to celebrate their election on Feb. 8, saying she believes the move is above board.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi talks with Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi during in the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Feb. 18.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2026
Japan takes step closer to easing rules on export of lethal weapons
A panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday approved a proposal calling on the government to ease rules limiting defense equipment transfers.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi looks toward Centrist Reform Alliance leader Junya Ogawa during a parliamentary session in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 24, 2026
Despite Lower House dominance, Takaichi puts emphasis on cooperation
The prime minister urged opposition parties to work with her coalition to get the fiscal 2026 budget passed before the end of March, when the current fiscal year concludes.
Trade minister Ryosei Akazawa spoke with the United States’ commerce secretary about new tariffs imposed by the U.S. president.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 24, 2026
Akazawa says Japan shouldn’t be worse off under new tariffs
The U.S. Supreme Court declared tariffs central to the Japan-U.S. trade agreement illegal.
Japan’s newly convened special session of the Diet is set to debate legislation criminalizing damage to the national flag, strongly backed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and the opposition party Sanseito.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 24, 2026
Parliamentary debate grows over move to criminalize flag desecration
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed a strong desire to enact a flag desecration ban, which is also supported by the opposition party Sanseito.
Itsunori Onodera, a senior member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Sunday that U.S. tariffs were "a real mess" after President Donald Trump raised levies following a Supreme Court ruling that his earlier tariffs were illegal.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 22, 2026
LDP tax chief calls U.S. tariff situation ‘messy’
Itsunori Onodera, a former defense minister who currently serves as chair of the party’s tax research group, ruled out Japan seeking to renegotiate its trade deal with the U.S.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a Cabinet meeting on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2026
LDP considers mandatory reporting by foreign agents in Japan
As part of counterintelligence efforts, more countries are banning visitors to important government facilities from carrying mobile phones or entering with electric vehicles.
Itsunori Onodera, chair of the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on Security greets members of the grouping at party headquarters in Tokyo's Nagatacho district on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2026
LDP OKs draft proposal for lifting ban on lethal arms exports
The LDP plans to finalize the proposal soon and submit it to the government, which will aim to revise the defense equipment transfer guidelines in spring at the earliest.
Sanae Takaichi and her ruling party's election victory strengthens Japan’s stability and its role in regional and global diplomacy amid rising geopolitical uncertainty.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 20, 2026
Stability as strategy: Japan’s moment for global leadership
Rising anti-China sentiment may have contributed to Takaichi’s strong mandate.
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
Prior to launch, Japan ‘strongly urged’ China to reconsider missile test in Pacific
A missile is fired from a Chinese Navy nuclear-powered submarine on Monday.
Suspected Asian fraud ring exec served fresh warrant in Japan
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and Osaka Prefectural Police have issued arrest warrants for three people, including a suspected fraud network leader, over alleged immigration and residency violations.
Japan might be giving the currency market the silent treatment
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has issued verbal warnings recently using the same language and the same tone, saying authorities “will take appropriate action at any time, as necessary.”
Japanese teen arrested for booting users off streaming service
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has arrested a 15-year-old boy for allegedly creating a malicious program and canceling subscription accounts on the Bandai Channel.
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.
Japanese nail salons are tourists’ new obsession
Tourists in Japan have always been interested in quintessentially Japanese approaches to modern culture, and, increasingly, visits to nail salons have become the new hot thing.
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.
‘Defense,’ not ‘warfare,’ stressed as pacifist Japan beefs up capabilities
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attends an annual training session near Mount Fuji at Higashifuji Training Field in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, on June 7.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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