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July 12, 2026
 

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LDP

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.
The public approval rate for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Cabinet fell to the lowest level since her inauguration last October, but it remained relatively high after rising to 63.8% last month.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2026
Approval rate for Takaichi’s Cabinet drops to 59%: poll
The rate fell to the lowest level since Takaichi’s inauguration last October, but it remained relatively high after rising to 63.8% last month.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets with the Liberal Democratic Party’s executives in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 12, 2026
Are disbanded LDP factions staging a comeback?
Former members of the disbanded factions have been meeting informally since the party’s landslide victory in the Feb. 8 Lower House election.
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.
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 scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
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.
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.
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.
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.

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