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August 15, 2024
 

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Eric Johnston

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Eric Johnston
Digital minister Taro Kono (left), Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (center) and former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba are among the potential candidates for the ruling party's presidential election next month.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 14, 2024
Kishida's out. Who will likely be Japan's next leader?
The prime minister's decision not to run in the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race has ignited discussion on who might succeed him.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 14, 2024
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
The surprise move came amid growing criticism from rank-and-file party members and bad poll numbers.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan decides the schedule of its presidential race, in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 8, 2024
CDP presidential election in September puts party future in focus
Key questions surrounding the election start with the issue of what the CDP's relationship should be with the Japanese Communist Party.
A bulletin board shows the day's highest temperature in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, on July 29.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Aug 8, 2024
From Naha to Nemuro, how Japan’s cities are responding to more heat
Municipalities are reaching for everything from automated misting systems to anime to help cool residents and educate them about the risks of heat.
Upper House lawmaker Muneo Suzuki speaks to reporters in Moscow on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2024
Pro-Moscow lawmaker Muneo Suzuki visits Russia again
The Upper House member defied the central government by flying to Moscow for talks with senior Russian officials.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (left) shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in April.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 25, 2024
The LDP members best placed to deal with the next U.S. president
With Kamala Harris entering the race, the LDP now has to prepare to deal with either a familiar former president or a not-so-familiar vice president.
A conceptual design of a potential Hokkaido Spaceport (HOSPO). HOSPO is aiming to become one of Japan’s major domestic spaceports for launching satellite-equipped rockets and spacecraft as well as for the aerospace industry to conduct research and development.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jul 22, 2024
Small Hokkaido town looks to the stars for future growth
Taiki, population 5,300, is home to what is billed as Asia’s first privately operated spaceport — Hokkaido Spaceport.
When Renho (center) announced her candidacy for the Tokyo gubernatorial election on May 27, the head of the Japanese Communist Party's secretariat, Akira Koike (far left), was also in attendance.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 17, 2024
Cutting ties with JCP not easy for CDP despite Renho's defeat
Despite calls to end the relationship, there is still pressure on the CDP to seek interparty cooperation to avoid splitting the opposition vote.
Renho, who had been considered incumbent Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike’s main rival in Sunday's gubernatorial election in the capital, finished third behind Shinji Ishimaru, the former mayor of Akitakata in Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 8, 2024
Is cooperation with the JCP an asset or liability for the CDP?
Renho finishing third in the Tokyo gubernatorial race despite the backing of both parties raises questions for Japan's largest opposition group.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has not yet formally announced whether he will seek another three-year term as party president.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 24, 2024
Pressure mounting on Kishida within LDP to give up on reelection
Veterans fear the LDP — under Kishida — will lose control of the government in a general election, while younger members don't want an unpopular president leading them.
A potato field in summer in Hokkaido. The prefecture is a significant source of food and produced 81% of Japan's potatoes in 2022.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jun 24, 2024
Hokkaido's farmers look for a silver lining to climate change disruption
As the prefecture becomes warmer, it could produce more apples and sweet potatoes, agricultural cooperative officials say.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 21, 2024
For Kishida, the LDP election means a fraught summer ahead
Attention is turning to what the prime minister will do as potential rivals rally support ahead of September's vote for party president.
Renho attends a news conference in Tokyo on Friday. Renho needs to appeal to a wide range of voters in a race that has over 50 candidates, especially CDP and JCP supporters who don’t like incumbent Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2024
Japanese Communist Party's shadow looms over Renho in Tokyo race
The appearance of a two-page flier in which the JCP endorsed Renho raised eyebrows and added more uncertainty to her prospects of winning the race.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida listens to voters in the city of Kumamoto in April. Liberal Democratic Party politicians are afraid that Kishida's unpopularity could seal their own fates when they stand for local elections.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 13, 2024
Calls for Kishida to step down growing among local LDP chapters
They blame their party’s unpopularity on him over the way he handled the kickbacks scandal and the political funds bill aimed at toughening up rules in its wake.
Liberal Democratic Party Vice President Taro Aso (left), Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (center) and LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi sing the LDP song at the party's annual convention in Tokyo on March 17.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 8, 2024
Kishida could break with Motegi and Aso over fund regulation
To secure backing for the bill, Kishida chose to concede to external parties rather than side with his right-hand men in the LDP.
A Liberal Democratic Party fundraising event in Tokyo in 2023
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 31, 2024
Why Japanese politics can't quit fundraising parties
To succeed in Japanese politics, it’s long been said that a politician must have, among other things, a fat purse.
The entrance to Maruyama Park, one of Sapporo's most popular parks for summer recreation. The Maruyama Park area is part of a designated region where Sapporo plans tougher bear countermeasures, including the possible use of bear traps.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
May 27, 2024
From coexistence to separation: Sapporo's battle with bears
An increasing number of bears in Hokkaido is forcing the prefectural capital to change its strategy for dealing with the animals.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a gathering of a Liberal Democratic Party faction led by LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (left) in Tokyo in 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2024
LDP loss in Shizuoka election could increase pressure for snap poll
Shizuoka's gubernatorial election is a close race between candidates backed by the ruling party and the main opposition.
Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, announced in March that he would not run in the next Lower House election to take responsibility for the political funds scandal that rocked his party and his own faction.
JAPAN / Politics
May 17, 2024
Son of LDP heavyweight Toshihiro Nikai to run in Lower House election
Nobuyasu Nikai's decision to throw his hat into the ring also has larger implications for the Liberal Democratic Party.
Nippon Ishin no Kai Secretary-General Fumitake Fujita (right) speaks beside Yui Kanazawa, the party's candidate in the Tokyo 15th district by-election on April 28. Nippon Ishin lost in this by-election as well as another in Nagasaki held on the same day.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 14, 2024
Ishin struggles to set itself apart from other parties
The Osaka-based party is weighed down by its Kansai focus as well as its closeness to the LDP, which makes it hard for it to criticize the ruling party.
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

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