Tag - ldp

 
Menu
Search
 
July 11, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

LDP

Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, attends a party general council meeting at the Diet building on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 10, 2026
LDP and DPP to discuss bill to criminalize national flag vandalism
The Democratic Party for the People aims “to clarify what constitutes a crime”
Katsunobu Kato, head of the Liberal Democratic Party's task force for political system reform, speaks during a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 9, 2026
LDP mulls proposal to automatically cut 45 Lower House seats
The proposal was presented by Katsunobu Kato, head of the party’s task force for political system reform.
Since adjusting cash register systems for a 1% tax rate would take less time than for zero percent, implementing 1% next April is gaining support within the government and ruling parties.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 7, 2026
Final decision on tax cut left to PM Takaichi: LDP exec
Since adjusting cash register systems for a 1% tax rate would take less time than for zero percent, implementing 1% next April is gaining support.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responds to questions at the Upper House Budget Committee on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 6, 2026
Takaichi faces heat over defamatory campaign video scandal
A report claims that her campaign posted defamatory videos of her rivals on social media during election time. The release of audio recordings has intensified the controversy.
A push by Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party to criminalize the desecration of the national flag is reviving a long-running debate over the limits of political expression.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 5, 2026
LDP’s flag desecration bill rekindles debate over limits of expression
Advocates say the measure is meant to address a legal gap but critics argue the bill’s language is “extremely vague.”
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki speaks during the party's meeting on political system reform in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 4, 2026
LDP considering cutting 45 proportional representation seats in Lower House
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is said to be seeking consensus within the party on reducing Lower House seats through cuts to proportional representation seats.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a party leaders' debate at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on May 20. A pledge to cut the consumption tax on food products is quickly becoming a policy headache for the prime minister.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 4, 2026
Consumption tax cut is quickly turning into a headache for Takaichi
Translating the pledge from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration into policy has proven more complicated than many lawmakers anticipated.
Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), delivers a question during a House of Representatives plenary session on May 25. Making the DPP a coalition member would make it easier for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (above left) to drive forward her legislative agenda.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 3, 2026
The LDP wants another coalition partner. Will it happen?
The Liberal Democratic Party floated the idea of inviting the Democratic Party for the People to join the ruling bloc.
Criminalizing flag vandalism is a key policy goal of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, and was included in the coalition agreement between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 2, 2026
LDP approves bill criminalizing vandalism of national flag
Criminalizing flag vandalism is a key policy goal of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
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.
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.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Japan’s southwestern islands on high alert as Typhoon Bavi approaches
A woman walks out of a shop with duct-taped windows to prevent damage from Typhoon Bavi as it approaches, in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, on Thursday.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘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.

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

Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being
Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER