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February 03, 2025
 

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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a Lower House plenary session last week.
JAPAN / Politics
LDP conservatives frustrated by Ishiba's diplomacy with China
As Ishiba's foothold within the LDP remains precarious, one misstep could spark moves to undermine his administration.
JAPAN / Politics
CDP to present 'full package' of budget revisions in mid-February
The opposition party's upcoming revisions will include a gasoline tax cut, free school lunches and tuition-free high school education regardless of parents' income levels.
JAPAN / Politics
Trump says Ishiba will visit him next week
"They’re coming in to speak to me and I’m looking forward to it," the U.S. president told reporters in the Oval Office.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, along with other members of the imperial family, attend the spring garden party at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo in April last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2025
Lower House speaker wants early conclusion on imperial family talks
Despite the speaker's hopes, it is unclear whether an agreement can be reached among the parties because there remain gaps between their views.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba answers questions during a Lower House budget committee meeting on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2025
LDP gets a taste of life with an opposition-led budget committee
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
A move to summon a former LDP faction accountant risks upsetting the party's parliamentary timetable and exposing it to criticism.
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
By Eric Johnston
Ishiba also said he intends to seek assistance from Trump in resolving the issue of Japanese nationals kidnapped by North Korea decades ago.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during an 'Unleashing American Energy' event at the Department of Energy in Washington in June 2017.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2025
Japan weighs Alaska LNG pipeline pledge to win Trump's favor
By Tim Kelly, Yukiko Toyoda and John Geddie
President Trump may raise the project when he meets Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for the first time in Washington as soon as next week.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani speaks to reporters at the parliamentary building on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2025
Top U.S. and Japan defense officials agree to beef up military ties
By Alastair Gale
The newly appointed U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, confirmed that the U.S.-Japan defense treaty covers the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
The Lower House Budget Committee vote to summon Jun Matsumoto, a former LDP faction's accountant, in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 30, 2025
Budget Committee votes to summon former LDP faction accountant
By Himari Semans
The move ends a stalemate between the LDP and opposition parties, the latter of which had conditioned the start of budget deliberations on the inquiry.
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
By Eric Johnston
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.
The preserved Atomic Bomb Dome is seen behind the Cenotaph for the victims of the atomic bombing at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park last October.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 28, 2025
Hiroshima and Nagasaki mayors invite Trump to visit on 80th anniversary of atomic bombing
By Jesse Johnson
The mayors emphasized Washington’s key role in reining in the proliferation of nuclear weapons as “tensions continue to worsen” across the globe.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends an ordinary session of parliament along with his Cabinet ministers on Friday. Ishiba has toned down his stance on legally allowing married couples to have separate surnames.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 28, 2025
Ishiba tones down stance on dual-surname debate
While previously being all in favor of a dual-surname system, the prime minister has recently suggested considering a "compromise" of legally expanding the use of maiden names.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba answers questions during a Lower House plenary session on Monday. Ishiba needs to secure passage of the annual budget to demonstrate he can run policy effectively with his minority government.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 28, 2025
Japan's opposition DPP to block budget without higher tax allowance
By Sakura Murakami, Akemi Terukina and Yoshiaki Nohara
The ruling LDP and Komeito are also negotiating with Nippon Ishin no Kai, who want the government to make school education free for all students.
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
By Eric Johnston
The CDP leader raised concerns about the United States' decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization and the Paris agreement on climate change.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his policy speech at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 27, 2025
Japan's young government officials to help municipalities as side gig
The measure, part of regional revitalization efforts by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, aims to help municipalities struggling with a lack of personnel.
Mieko Yoshimura, a 73-year-old independent, became the first woman in Japan to be elected prefectural governor for five or more consecutive terms.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 27, 2025
Yamagata Gov. Mieko Yoshimura wins fifth term
Yoshimura, a 73-year-old independent, became the first woman in Japan to be elected prefectural governor for five or more consecutive terms.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 27, 2025
Ishiba carefully considering release of war anniversary statement
Conservative members of the prime minister's ruling Liberal Democratic Party oppose releasing such a statement.
Tomin First no Kai adviser Hirotada Ototake speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 26, 2025
Tomin First adviser Hirotada Ototake keen to use social media
"Through social media outreach, we want to become an option for unaffiliated voters who have not decided for whom to vote" in the June 22 race, said Ototake.
Taeko Oshioka, a member of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) looks for visitors to sign a petition to call on the Japanese government to sign and ratify the Treaty of the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, in front of the preserved Atomic Bomb Dome in the city of Hiroshima last October.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 26, 2025
Japan rules out participating in nuke ban treaty meeting as observer
Instead, the country is considering sending lawmakers from the ruling bloc to the meeting, officials have said.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 24, 2025
Japan's foreign minister vows to take ties with U.S. to new heights
The minister said he will work to take the two countries' cooperation to new heights by building a strong relationship of trust with the Trump administration.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his policy speech at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 24, 2025
Ishiba stresses regional revitalization in policy speech
By Himari Semans
The relocation of industrial, state and academic institutions to regions outside of Tokyo will begin with government agencies.
Daisuke Komatsu (left), who heads the Liberal Democratic Party's group in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, and others bow in apology during a news conference at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 24, 2025
LDP Tokyo assembly members to correct funds reports
Some LDP members of the assembly kept some revenues from fundraising parties held in 2019 and 2022 for themselves and did not declare the income.
Imperial family members wave to well-wishers during a public appearance in Tokyo on Jan. 2.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 23, 2025
Parliament to resume discussions over imperial family succession this month
The two chambers of parliament plan to resume talks Jan. 31 on measures to secure a sufficient number of imperial family members.

Japan scrambles jets as Russian bombers fly over high seas
Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bombers perform a flypast during the victory day parade in Moscow in June 2020.
Slope built to reach man trapped in sinkhole in Saitama
A slope (left) is built at the intersection of a sunken road in Yashio City, Saitama Prefecture on Saturday.
Japan to ease foreign worker rules for hotel restaurants
The Japanese government is considering allowing foreign workers under its specified skilled worker program to take orders and serve and cook food at restaurants within inns and hotels.
Trump's Pentagon says it will 'rotate' out some media from offices
More than two dozen news organizations operate out of the Pentagon reporting on the daily activities of the U.S. military.
Residents near Japan sinkhole urged to evacuate
Rescuers on Thursday continue to try and free a truck driver after his vehicle plunged into a sinkhole in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, earlier in the week.
Home away from home: My first time at a Tet festival in Japan
Billed as a “cultural bridge that connects Japan and Vietnam,” Tet Viet Saitama drew tens of thousands of attendees from across the Kanto region.
First official survey set to change backcountry Hokkaido skiing
The first official government survey of Hokkaido backcountry skiing could spell changes for trails in the northern prefecture.
Fuji TV’s go-big PR strategy wins grudging praise globally
Fuji TV executives take questions during a news conference on Monday in Tokyo in which some participants became unruly.
Two decades of unparalleled access into the world of Hayao Miyazaki
Documentary director Kaku Arakawa’s filming style — naturalistic, intimate and unobtrusive — proved essential to portraying anime powerhouse Hayao Miyazaki as a man as flawed and human as he is a visionary artist in “Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron.”
For two weeks only, cold-water yellowtail can give you chills
Yellowtail caught during the coldest period of the year is delicious enough — but paired with a classic method of marinade and pan-searing, it's divine.

Podcast

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

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?
By Alex K.T. Martin

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