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July 12, 2026
 

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NIPPON ISHIN NO KAI

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.
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.
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.
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.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a Liberal Democratic Party executive meeting at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2026
Time for Takaichi to tackle Japan’s political taboos
How Takaichi spends her political capital will define her prime ministership, and she may very well be in a position to finally tackle some unresolved voting issues.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a news conference at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on Feb. 9
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 17, 2026
As parliament reconvenes, Takaichi faces a balancing act
The upcoming budget debate is a test of whether the prime minister can balance her promise to work with the opposition with the need to move quickly to get it approved.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura speaks to reporters as he leaves the Osaka Prefectural Government office Monday evening.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 17, 2026
JIP head Hirofumi Yoshimura hints at possible return to national politics
Osaka’s governor told JIP executives that he might eye national politics if an Osaka metropolis plan for regional administrative reorganization is approved.
Lawmakers leave a plenary session of the Lower House on Jan. 23 following its dissolution for a snap election. A proposal to reduce the number of seats in the chamber may be put on hold following the landslide victory of the Liberal Democratic Party in the Feb. 8 election.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 17, 2026
Momentum for Lower House seat cut stalls after LDP’s election win
The Japan Innovation Party had demanded a reduction in the size of the Lower House as a prerequisite for joining the Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura speaks at an executive meeting of the Japan Innovation Party in the city of Osaka on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 16, 2026
Osaka Gov. Yoshimura to remain JIP leader
In a poll, 619 JIP lawmakers and local assembly members voted against holding an election, compared with 102 who voted in favor.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi addresses a news conference at her ruling party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday, a day after the Liberal Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the Lower House election.
EDITORIALS
Feb 13, 2026
After another historic victory, Takaichi takes command
Not only is she the country’s first female prime minister and a symbol of a new Japan, her career also marks a break from traditional politics.
Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura speaks at a news conference on Monday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 12, 2026
Why coalition partner JIP is now set to take a Cabinet post
A JIP member is expected to take up a ministerial post sometime later this year.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party head Hirofumi Yoshimura (left) meet in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 10, 2026
Yoshimura agrees to JIP presence in Takaichi Cabinet
It is not clear what position might be offered to the junior partner of the Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition.
Taro Aso, vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party and a former prime minister, is the oldest winner in Sunday's Lower House election at 85 years old.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 10, 2026
Japan’s Lower House grows younger as the average age of election winners falls
The average age of winners in Sunday’s election was 54.7 years old.
Japan Innovation Party head Hirofumi Yoshimura speaks to reporters in the city of Osaka on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 9, 2026
Uncertainty clouds JIP’s role in ruling coalition following LDP’s election win
With the Liberal Democratic Party winning so many seats, the prime minister may begin to disregard its junior coalition partner’s views, one political scientist says.
Election officials work at a ballot counting center on Sunday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2026
Exit poll shows over 40% of voters want LDP-JIP bloc to continue ruling
The backing far outpaced support for any other alternative arrangement.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday night
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2026
LDP secures two-thirds supermajority in Lower House election victory
Results early Monday showed the LDP had won 316 seats, giving it a higher proportion of representatives in the body than any other party in postwar Japan.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of Japan Innovation Party, speaks at a news conference with Osaka city Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama after initial results showed the two were set to be reelected to their positions in snap local elections Sunday.
JAPAN / Media
Feb 8, 2026
Reelected governor, Osaka’s Yoshimura eyes referendum on merging city’s wards
Most members of the Osaka City Council are against holding another referendum after voters twice rejected the plan previously.
People gather at an election campaign event on Tuesday in Higashimatsuyama, Saitama Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 8, 2026
Voting kicks off for Lower House election seen as referendum on Takaichi
The prime minister’s Liberal Democratic Party has kept the make-or-break line low, saying its coalition with the Japan Innovation Party is aiming for a simple majority.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends an election campaign event for Sunday's snap election, in the city of Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2026
LDP-JIP coalition set for commanding election victory, polls show
The ruling bloc could end up with more than 300 seats, giving it a possible two-thirds majority in the Lower House.
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.

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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