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March 03, 2025
 

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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (center) at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday. The Cabinet has decided to spend an additional ¥106.8 billion ($710 million) from its fiscal 2024 budget reserve funds on disaster relief for areas hit by the Noto Peninsula earthquake last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Japan to spend additional ¥106.8 billion on aid for quake-hit Noto
The latest relief, using reserve funds from the fiscal 2024 budget, takes the total of financial aid for the peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture to more than ¥820 billion.
JAPAN / Politics
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.
JAPAN / Politics
Japan's Cabinet approves bill to digitalize criminal procedures
Once passed, existing laws will be amended to allow greater use of technologies by law enforcers and the judiciary.
Lower House Budget Committee Chairman Jun Azumi (third from left) and other members of the panel wait for Junichiro Matsumoto to turn up for his testimony in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2025
LDP accountant's testimony on slush funds scandal leaves much in the dark
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
Junichiro Matsumoto, the ex-accountant of a faction previously led by Shinzo Abe, did not name the person who reinstated the kickback scheme.
Minoru Kishiguchi, a prefectural assembly member expelled from the Hyogo prefectural arm of Nippon Ishin no Kai (left), and Makoto Masuyama, a prefectural assembly member who received a recommendation to leave the party, at the Hyogo Prefectural Government Office on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2025
Nippon Ishin's Hyogo group expels member over probe info leak
Minoru Kishiguchi had been serving as the committee's deputy chief and head of the party's assembly group at the time.
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
By Eric Johnston
Komeito is likely to emphasize where it stands apart, but it isn't preparing for a breakup with the ruling party.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan head Yoshihiko Noda speaks at the party's convention in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 26, 2025
Is time running out for CDP in budget talks with the ruling coalition?
By Himari Semans
Concerns have emerged that the main opposition party might have lost its bargaining chip after Nippon Ishin no Kai clinched a deal with the minority government.
Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara speaks at the party's executive meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2025
Ruling coalition clinches budget deal with Nippon Ishin
By Himari Semans and Gabriele Ninivaggi
The agreement is expected to lead to an increase in government spending on public and private education from April.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba addresses Group of Seven leaders during a teleconference from the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo late Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2025
Japan urges G7 to avoid 'wrong lessons' in Ukraine peace process
By Jesse Johnson
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has urged leaders to be careful in backing any Ukraine peace process that could validate the use of force to change borders.
Yuichiro Tamaki, chief of Democratic Party for the People (left), meets with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te at the presidential office in Taipei on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2025
DPP's Tamaki meets Taiwanese President Lai
Both leaders underlined the importance of cooperation among democracies for regional and global stability.
Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, speaks at a party convention in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2025
CDP to accelerate election preparations after party convention
The CDP adopted a program of activities for fiscal 2025 that positions a change of government as its top goal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sign a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement at a meeting in Pyongyang in June 2024.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 24, 2025
Japan wary of North Korea's practical combat experience in Ukraine war
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi underlines concern over how Pyongyang's participation in the conflict might affect Japan's security environment.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro assists Defense Minister Gen Nakatani as he signs a guest book prior to their bilateral meeting at a hotel in Manila on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 24, 2025
Japan and Philippines to establish high-level defense gear framework
By Jesse Johnson
The two sides also agreed to establish a “strategic dialogue” between the Self-Defense Forces and the Philippine Armed Forces to deepen operational collaboration.
Three Hyogo Prefectural Assembly members belonging to Nippon Ishin no Kai apologize Sunday for providing undisclosed and unconfirmed information to NHK Party head Takashi Tachibana.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 23, 2025
Hyogo assembly member offers to quit Nippon Ishin over probe data
The audio data and the document in question contain information supporting Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito's in his probe over alleged harassment.
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
By Eric Johnston
The leaders of Nippon Ishin no Kai and Komeito both share Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's passion for locomotives.
U.S. Marines during training in Okinawa last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2025
U.S. Marines start to leave Japan, decades behind schedule
By Martin Fackler
The U.S. base on Okinawa has relocated 105 Marines. But an agreement to move 9,000 in total is colliding with the perceived threat from a rising China.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in parliament on Friday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 21, 2025
LDP and opposition lock horns over Japan budget
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
Mindful of how much the ruling coalition needs their support, Nippon Ishin no Kai and the Democratic Party for the People are digging their heels in.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky speaks during an interview at the Ukrainian Embassy in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2025
As Ukraine rift emerges, Kyiv's envoy says Japan must take on bigger global role
By Jesse Johnson and Gabriel Dominguez
The remarks by Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky came amid what appears to be a dramatic reversal in years of U.S. support for Ukraine since Russia's invasion.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito (foreground) attends a meeting with the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly's special investigative committee in the city of Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, on Dec. 25.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2025
Two Ishin lawmakers quit special panel probing Hyogo governor
Minoru Kishiguchi and Makoto Masuyama had leaked information from the panel to the leader of the NHK party.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya attends the Group of 20 foreign ministers' meeting at the Nasrec Expo Center in Johannesburg on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2025
At G20, Japan FM vows to continue support for Ukraine amid Trump tensions
By Jesse Johnson
The top diplomat reiterated the importance of standing up to Moscow, calling the war in Ukraine a “major challenge to the rule of law."
While upholding his "America First" policy and transactional diplomacy, U.S. President Donald Trump has been emphasizing the importance of the U.S.-Japan relationship since his first term, from 2017 to 2021.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025
Marking 80th year since Battle of Iwo Jima, Trump touts U.S.-Japan alliance
The bloody battle fought on the Pacific island between February and March of 1945 claimed some 21,900 lives on the Japanese side and about 6,800 among American forces.
Prime Minister Shiger Ishiba waits for the Lower House Budget Committee session to begin in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025
Dispute over funds scandal questioning delays budget talks as CDP seeks leverage
By Himari Semans and Gabriele Ninivaggi
Veering off schedule, even for a day, is detrimental to securing passage of the fiscal 2025 budget in the Lower House by March 2 — a priority for the government.
A bill to revise the public offices election law was submitted to the House of Representatives by Ichiro Aisawa (third from right), chairperson of the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on the Election System, and other bipartisan lawmakers, on Thursday in the Diet.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025
Bill calling for campaign poster decency submitted in Japan
Some campaign posters drew controversy in last summer's Tokyo gubernatorial election for depicting an almost fully naked woman and an advertisement for a sex services shop.

Aboard Japan’s most luxurious train, the journey is the destination
The luxury Seven Stars in Kyushu train trades the hyper-efficiency of typical rail travel in Japan for a slower, more decadent version.
Europe's nightmare is here: They have to fight Putin without the U.S.
Ukrainian servicemen play with dogs at their position on a front line in the nation's Zaporizhzhia region on Feb. 21.
Japan struggles to fend off a world without enough matcha
Once a boon to tea farmers' bottom lines, the global matcha craze is now pushing producers and distributors to their limits with few options to adequately meet demand.
Japan battles biggest wildfire in decades
Smoke rises from a forest fire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Feb. 28
Prince Hisahito's coming-of-age ceremony set for Sept. 6
Prince Hisahito in the city of Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, on Feb. 12
Redevelopment and resistance in historic Nishiogikubo
Tsuyoshi Mizukoshi, owner of a pub in Nishiogi’s commercial area, is a community organizer who is rallying local residents against the road development plan.
Aboard Japan’s most luxurious train, the journey is the destination
The luxury Seven Stars in Kyushu train trades the hyper-efficiency of typical rail travel in Japan for a slower, more decadent version.
Taiwan comics on the rise: Local storytellers, global aspirations
Taiwanese comic artist Rishiazao and interpreter Yun-wen Huang greet an attendee at the 2025 Angouleme International Comics Festival in France.
Not even Japan is safe from counterfeit luxury goods
While Japan's luxury goods market remains strong, its seconhand resale market is proving just as much a draw for tourists searching for great bargains — as long as they can manage to get their hands on the real deal.
Nils Nielsen's vision for Nadeshiko Japan comes to life at SheBelieves Cup
Nadeshiko Japan celebrates after winning the SheBelieves Cup in San Diego on Wednesday.

Podcast

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

Longform

Pedestrians commute through Shibuya Station in central Tokyo, an area that is almost never devoid of people.
As the rest of Japan shrinks, Tokyo grows
By Alex K.T. Martin

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