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The latest results are likely to increase doubts within the party about Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s leadership going into the Upper House election in the summer.

JAPAN / Politics

Mar 24, 2025

Ishiba’s approval ratings continue to fall amid gift voucher backlash

The latest results are likely to increase doubts within the party about Ishiba’s leadership going into the Upper House election.

Orix Buffaloes pitcher Taisuke Yamaoka speaks to reporters in the city of Osaka on Friday for the first time since he was reported to have participated in a poker tournament run by a foreign casino website.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Mar 21, 2025

Cabinet approves strategy to battle illegal online casinos

A National Policy Agency survey released earlier this month showed that nearly 3.37 million Japanese are estimated to have used overseas online casinos to illegally gamble.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a session of the Upper House Budget Committee in Tokyo on Friday.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Mar 18, 2025

Why ousting Ishiba could be a tricky task

Passing a no-confidence motion could result in the dissolution of the Lower House within 10 days, triggering another election the opposition might lose.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (second from left) cheers along with other members of the Liberal Democratic Party during the party's annual convention in Tokyo on March 9.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Mar 16, 2025

As it turns 70, LDP struggles to find its fountain of youth

Having lost 60,000 members in 2024 amid a slush funds scandal, the party is under pressure to seek out new blood, but its old ways may be a turnoff for many.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive for a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 7.

JAPAN / Politics

Mar 7, 2025

Tokyo responds to Trump remarks on 'interesting' Japan-U.S. security pact

Japan's top government spokesperson underlined the agreement's cooperative element after the U.S. president complained the deal was one-sided.

Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara (left) greets Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after the budget was passed at the Lower House — with the support of the opposition party — on Tuesday.

JAPAN / Politics

Mar 7, 2025

Is Nippon Ishin the ruling LDP-Komeito coalition's friend or foe?

The party is juggling between supporting the ruling coalition in return for some of its policies being realized, and opposing them to win votes.

Yuichiro Tamaki, who has been reinstated as leader of the Democratic Party for the People, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.

JAPAN / Politics

Mar 4, 2025

Tamaki sets sights on Upper House election after retaking DPP reins

The opposition party aims to increase its seat count in the upper chamber of parliament from 12 to 21.

Without the well-developed road infrastructure of many parts of Honshu, it has never been easy to be a truck driver in Hokkaido, Japan’s second-largest island but largest prefecture in terms of landmass-

JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido

Mar 3, 2025

Hokkaido trucking industry faces challenges from overtime cap

Without the well-developed road infrastructure of many parts of Honshu, it has never been easy to be a truck driver in Hokkaido.

Democratic Party for the People head Yuichiro Tamaki speaks at the party's convention in Tokyo on Feb. 11.

JAPAN / Politics

Feb 28, 2025

DPP goes on offensive after failing to secure budget deal with LDP-Komeito

The opposition party plans to oppose the ruling coalition's budget proposal after talks between them broke down.

Komeito head Tetsuo Saito speaks at a party meeting in Tokyo on Jan. 28.

JAPAN / Politics

Feb 27, 2025

Policy differences push Komeito to tread carefully in LDP coalition

Komeito is likely to emphasize where it stands apart, but it isn't preparing for a breakup with the ruling party.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba replies to a question from Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara at a Lower House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Feb. 17.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Feb 23, 2025

Party heads' love of trains could keep budget talks from derailing

The leaders of Nippon Ishin no Kai and Komeito both share Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's passion for locomotives.

The government has made a shift toward nuclear amid predictions of higher electricity demand stemming from semiconductor production and data centers for AI in the decades to come.

JAPAN / Politics

Feb 18, 2025

Japan backs nuclear power in climate plan criticized as insufficient

The government is targeting emissions cuts of 60% by fiscal 2035, but environmental groups and businesses have called for more ambition.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba receives fruit from tangerine farmers of Shizuoka Prefecture in Tokyo on Jan. 22. The government's new regional revitalization plan focuses on convincing younger workers to choose a career and life somewhere other than a major urban center such as Tokyo.

JAPAN / Politics

Feb 18, 2025

Can Ishiba's 'joyful Japan' policy revitalize the nation's rural regions?

The prime minister may be taking cues from the mistakes of past efforts, but ultimately, even the best rural revitalization plan is tough to realize in practice.

Akihiro Arimoto (left), accompanied by his wife, Kayoko, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in 2002. Arimoto, the father of a girl who was spirited away to North Korea more than four decades ago and remains unaccounted for, died late Friday.

JAPAN

Feb 17, 2025

Akihiro Arimoto, father of girl abducted by North Korea in 1983, dies

His death at the age of 96 is a sign of how long the issue has dragged on, with most parents of abductees having now died without finding out what happened to their loved ones.

Rapidus, which is expected to begin pilot production of chips in April and achieve mass production in 2027, is the cornerstone of the government’s effort to revive its domestic semiconductor industry.

BUSINESS / Companies

Feb 7, 2025

Cabinet approves bill to fund Rapidus semiconductor production

Rapidus is the cornerstone of the government’s effort to revive its domestic semiconductor industry.

Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama has been credited with convincing opposition parties to remain at the negotiating table with his diplomatic skills.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Feb 5, 2025

Who is Hiroshi Moriyama, the man behind the prime minister?

The Liberal Democratic Party secretary-general is known for his negotiation skills and diplomacy, making him integral for a party that now rules as a minority government.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during an Upper House plenary session in Tokyo on Wednesday.

JAPAN / Politics

Jan 31, 2025

Ishiba aims to get assurances from Trump over Senkaku Islands

Ishiba also said he intends to seek assistance from Trump in resolving the issue of Japanese nationals kidnapped by North Korea decades ago.

Nippon Ishin no Kai leaders Hirofumi Yoshimura (left) and Seiji Maehara attend the party's executive meeting in the city of Osaka in December.

JAPAN / Politics

Jan 30, 2025

Shared concerns could bring LDP and Nippon Ishin together on 2025 budget

Nippon Ishin's challenge is to get the LDP to secure free high school education and ensure support for the financially troubled Osaka Kansai Expo.

Constitutional Democratic Party head Yoshihiko Noda (right) at a plenary session in the Lower House in Tokyo on Monday

JAPAN / Politics

Jan 27, 2025

Constitutional Democratic Party head grills Ishiba on diplomacy with Trump

The CDP leader raised concerns about the United States' decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization and the Paris agreement on climate change.

Rodgers (right) was a longtime managing editor of Kyoto Journal and, alongside colleagues like Susan Pavloska (left) and John Einarsen (center), helped make it one of Japan’s leading English-language publications.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives

Jan 27, 2025

Ken Rodgers, a fixture of the Kyoto literary scene, dies at 72

Hailing from Australia, Rodgers made a home and community for himself in Japan’s ancient capital across more than four decades.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

The sun shines from behind a waving Philippine flag at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

Eighty years after the Battle of Manila, old foes forge new ties

By Anton L. Delgado

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