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July 12, 2026
 

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NIPPON ISHIN NO KAI

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party head Hirofumi Yoshimura speak to reporters in Tokyo on Dec. 16, 2025.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 8, 2026
Speculation over potential snap election resurfaces
Recent remarks of senior members of the ruling coalition appear to have gotten many talking again about the possibility of a dissolution of the Lower House in the near future.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a ceremony marking the last trading day of the year at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Dec. 30.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 7, 2026
Takaichi’s political landscape for 2026
Unlike her predecessors who were consistently forced to address turmoil over the past two years, Prime Minister Takaichi will have time and capital to tackle real policy issues.
LDP secretary-general Shunichi Suzuki speaks at the party’s meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 7, 2026
LDP secretary-general eyes ‘political stability’ in courting DPP into ruling bloc
The move fits into the wider trend of growing cooperation between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party for the People in recent months.
Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Innovation Party officials hold talks on constitutional revision in the parliament building in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 5, 2026
LDP and JIP see different paths for constitutional revision
The Liberal Democratic Party is seeking a realistic approach for amending the Constitution while the Japan Innovation Party is more hawkish.
Lawmakers in kimonos attend a session of the Lower House in Tokyo in January 2023. For nearly a half century, the chamber operated under a multiseat district system. But following revisions to the election law in 1994, the current model of single-seat districts and proportional representation seats was introduced. Now, there is a growing debate in parliament about returning the body's current electoral system to what it once was.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 2, 2026
Debate grows on reforming Lower House electoral system
Some argue the flaws in the current system could be fixed by returning to the old one. Others aren’t so sure.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 17.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 1, 2026
Will tailwinds become headwinds for Takaichi in 2026?
This year the prime minister must show the electorate she can meet its expectations, with steady leadership and tangible answers to the country’s challenges.
For fiscal 2026, the government plans to lower drug fees by 0.87% but raise medical service fees by 3.09%, the first increase above 3% in 30 years.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 27, 2025
Efforts to reduce burden on Japan’s working generation still limited
The budget bill allocates a record ¥39.06 trillion for social security-related expenses, up ¥760 billion from fiscal 2025, reflecting a rise in medical and nursing care costs.
Itsunori Onodera (center right), the chief of the Liberal Democratic Party’s tax committee, and Japan Innovation Party counterpart Satoshi Umemura (center left) hold up the two party's tax reform proposal in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 19, 2025
Tax reform proposal lifts income tax threshold and reroutes funding to defense
The ruling coalition’s proposal includes using a levy once used to fund reconstruction work in the Tohoku region to now fund defense spending.
As the oldest member of the upper chamber, Toranosuke Katayama was known for voicing his opinions during parliamentary questioning.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 19, 2025
Former internal affairs minister Katayama dies at 90
Toranosuke Katayama, a native of Okayama Prefecture, was first elected to the House of Councilors in 1989.
Officials from the Liberal Democratic Party, the Japan Innovation Party and Komeito shake hands after reaching an agreement on free public elementary school lunches, in parliament on Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2025
Ruling bloc and Komeito agree on free school meal program
In areas where school meals for the month cost more than ¥5,200, the additional cost may be paid by local governments or collected from parents.
A mock model of the upgraded Mogami-class frigate is displayed during the Defense Security Equipment International Japan exhibition in the city of Chiba in May.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 17, 2025
Japan has long had tough rules on arms exports. That may soon change.
Japan is likely to scrap long-standing limits on its exports of lethal arms next year — a move that will have lasting implications for the ostensibly pacifist country.
The Foreign Ministry is planning to create an office to provide assistance to third countries, spanning from peace mediation to post-conflict recovery and reconstruction.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2025
Foreign Ministry to set up peace mediation office, sources say
The new office is expected to help Japan provide assistance spanning from mediation to post-conflict recovery and reconstruction.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura hold a joint news conference in parliament in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 16, 2025
Decision on Lower House seat-reduction bill postponed to next year
The delay could impact the ruling coalition, as the JIP had made passing the bill this year a key plank of its October tie-up with the LDP.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, will reconsider the route of the planned Hokuriku Shinkansen section between Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture and Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka Prefecture.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2025
Japan to reconsider route of planned Hokuriku Shinkansen section
The existing plan, adopted by the then LDP-Komeito coalition in 2016, has faced opposition from some due to environmental and fiscal concerns.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi chats with Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara during a plenary session of the House of Representatives at the National Diet in Tokyo on Dec. 8.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 14, 2025
What will Japan’s planned intelligence bureau look like?
Ultimately, this is an evolutionary measure that seeks to break down government intelligence silos and improve the information being provided to the highest levels of government.
LDP parliamentary affairs chief Hiroshi Kajiyama (left) and JIP counterpart Takashi Endo discuss the seat reduction bill in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2025
Lower House seat-reduction bill faces headwinds as Diet session nears end
The bill has been a key point of agreement for the ruling LDP and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party.
The government and ruling coalition are considering a ¥6 million cap on tax-free holdings for a new investment program for minors under the revamped NISA framework, sources say.
BUSINESS
Dec 10, 2025
NISA program for minors to have ¥6 million tax-exemption cap
The cap will be introduced to address potential disparities that could arise when the assets are eventually withdrawn.
The transport ministry may delay the planned fiscal 2026 start of construction on the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension from Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture to Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka Prefecture, sources say.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2025
Hokuriku Shinkansen extension work unlikely to start in fiscal 2026, sources say
The expected delay mainly reflects a lack of consensus within the ruling coalition regarding the route for the bullet train’s extension.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi walks inside parliament in Tokyo on Oct. 24.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 6, 2025
Japan considers bill on original surname use in gender equality program
The move is in response to a plan by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration to enact a bill on the matter during next year’s ordinary session of parliament.
Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Innovation Party lawmakers present a bill to reduce at least 45 Lower House seats by the end of next year, for submission on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 5, 2025
LDP and JIP submit bill to eliminate at least 45 Lower House seats
The path to the bill’s submission has been rough as the parties had been at loggerheads over the number of seats to cut and which ones, and the legal framework for implementation.
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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