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July 10, 2026
 

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LDP

Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 6, 2026
Opposition Democratic Party for the People eyes change in strategy
The Democratic Party for the People’s influence has diminished due to the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in the February Lower House election.
Despite steady leadership from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during rising global risks, her tenure so far lacks decisive economic vision, raising questions about whether she can use the current narrow window to pursue structural reforms.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2026
Takaichi’s path from crisis manager to ‘champion’ builder
Despite steady leadership amid global risks, Prime Minister Takaichi lacks decisive economic vision, leaving questions about whether she will seize the narrow window for reform.
The National Diet building in Tokyo. Some members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are opposed to a bill to reform the retrial system that the government is considering submitting.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 4, 2026
Many LDP members oppose retrial system reform bill
Many argued that retrial appeals by prosecutors should be banned, saying such appeals impede relief for wrongful convictions.
The Diet building in Tokyo in February
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 3, 2026
Japan’s budget likely to be enacted as early as Tuesday
The ruling bloc is looking to get the budget through the Upper House on Tuesday, but opposition parties have called for four rounds of intensive deliberations.
Centrist Reform Alliance leader Junya Ogawa speaks during an interview at the Diet building on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 3, 2026
CRA leader Ogawa calls for full merger with CDP and Komeito
“Prolonged stagnation ... could sink them together,” Junya Ogawa said, referring to the three Japanese opposition parties.
Yoshihiko Isozaki (right), the Liberal Democratic Party's Diet affairs chief in the Upper House, and his Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan counterpart, Yoshitaka Saito, attend talks at the Diet building on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 2, 2026
LDP abandons fiscal 2026 budget passage this week
Members of the LDP and the CDP agreed to hold a deliberation session on the bill Friday, effectively putting a vote off until next week.
Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno (left) addresses a meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party's project team as it discusses making damaging the national flag a crime, at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 1, 2026
LDP divided over move to criminalize desecration of Japan’s flag, sought by JIP
While some party members have called for a bill to be enacted during the current session of parliament, others express concern over freedom of expression.
Japan Innovation Party policy chief Alex Saito (left) and Ichiro Miyashita, a Lower House member of the Liberal Democratic Party, speak to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 1, 2026
LDP and JIP agree to drop special ward requirement for secondary capital
The move opens up the role to prefectures other than just Osaka.
The news of Gen. Douglas MacArthur came as a surprise to the Japanese public and was covered from a variety of angles.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Apr 1, 2026
Japan Times 1951: Truman ousts Gen. MacArthur
U.S. President Harry Truman dismissed the key player in Japan’s postwar recovery 75 years ago this month.
Japanese lawmaker Keiji Furuya speaks to reporters on Monday at the Diet building.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2026
China’s sanctions against Japan lawmaker over Taiwan ties slammed
The Japanese government has urged China to lift the sanctions against Keiji Furuya, which include a ban on his entry into China.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a session of the Lower House Budget Committee in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 30, 2026
Japan’s parliament passes emergency ¥8.56 trillion stopgap budget
Lawmakers across party lines were forced to resort to the temporary measure for the first time in 11 years.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Izumo helicopter carrier (back) leaves Yokosuka port in Kanagawa Prefecture for an escort mission with the United States in May 2017.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 30, 2026
Japan marks a decade since landmark security legislation took effect
The legislation — and what it allows Japan to do — has come under the spotlight amid the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during an Upper House Budget Committee session on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 29, 2026
Some LDP members eye passing fiscal 2026 budget on April 7
The government and ruling parties aim to get the budget bill through parliament next week, but the opposition camp is demanding “sufficient” deliberations.
Until last year’s extraordinary parliament session, when the ruling bloc lacked majorities in both chambers, Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki positioned his party as an opposition group capable of delivering policy results.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2026
DPP struggles with reduced presence after election
The opposition party’s strategy of negotiating for concessions, rather than taking a confrontational stance against the government, is stalling.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama answers questions during an Upper House plenary session on Monday. Katayama said Tuesday that a provisional budget would be compiled to prepare for unexpected events, while noting that passing the fiscal 2026 budget bill by the end of fiscal 2025 remains "necessary."
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 24, 2026
Preparations begin for stopgap budget in case fiscal 2026 bill slips deadline
The prime minister is still aiming for the fiscal 2026 budget to be passed this month, but appears to be showing flexibility as ruling parties lack an Upper House majority.
Yoshimura Hirofumi, leader of the Japan Innovation Party, delivers a speech at the party’s regular convention in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 22, 2026
Japan Innovation Party adopts policy agenda for 2026
After suffering a sluggish performance in the Feb. 8 House of Representatives election, the JIP aims to demonstrate its presence by pressing the LDP to realize the JIP’s policies.
Asked at a House of Councilors' Budget Committee meeting on Monday whether her administration would consider a law revision to allow a female emperor, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said it was "too early to have specific discussions" about imperial succession beyond Prince Hisahito, who is second in line to the throne.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2026
Takaichi says she ‘respects’ panel proposals regarding imperial succession
The panel has proposed having female imperial family members keep their status after marriage, and adopting male members from the paternal line of former imperial family branches.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in an Upper House Budget Committee on Monday. With the fiscal deadline approaching, the prime minister's government is facing pressure to secure enough support to pass the budget while avoiding accusations it is ramming legislation through parliament.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 16, 2026
LDP tries to move carefully but quickly as budget deadline looms
The budget cleared the Lower House, where the LDP’s ruling bloc has a supermajority, but the path through the Upper House is much less certain.
A Lower House plenary session is held to vote for a fiscal 2026 budget bill on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 15, 2026
Japan ruling bloc uses ‘power majority’ to push through fiscal 2026 budget
Opposition parties have intensified their criticism, calling the ruling bloc’s move a threat to fiscal democracy.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at parliament on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 13, 2026
Ruling bloc pushes fiscal 2026 budget through Lower House in supermajority flex
Opposition parties voted against the budget in a plenary session on the argument that it needs more time for deliberations.
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.
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.
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.
Wakatakakage injury casts pall over July meet, but potential new stars loom
Nicholas Tarasenko trains at Minato stable in August 2024.
Osaka trumps Tokyo as both ranked among world’s top 10 most livable cities
Osaka’s infrastructure earned higher marks than Tokyo’s in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest Global Liveability Index.
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.
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.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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