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July 17, 2025
 

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2025 UPPER HOUSE ELECTION

Mayu Ushida, a former NHK newscaster running for election in the Tokyo electoral district on the Democratic Party of the People ticket, poses for a photo with one of her voters after a public rally at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 17, 2025
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
As Japan aims to increase the number of women in politics, addressing the issue of unwanted attention from men remains a challenge.
Muneo Suzuki speaks in Sapporo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025
Prodigal Hokkaido son returns to campaign trail for last run in Upper House election
Muneo Suzuki's personality and past actions make him a divisive political figure, but he's teaming up with the Liberal Democratic Party for one final run.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, delivers a campaign speech in Yokohama on July 6.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 16, 2025
Ishiba faces bad poll numbers with Upper House vote only days away
Losing a majority in the Upper House would pile pressure on Ishiba to resign and kickstart efforts by the ruling coalition to find an opposition party to join it.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan President Yoshihiko Noda speaks during a debate with leaders of other political parties at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on July 2.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 16, 2025
The Constitutional Democratic Party vows fight against inflation
The CDP will work to lower surging food costs and realize fair rice prices
Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of Nippon Ishin no Kai, outlines his party’s policies during a news conference at the Diet building in Tokyo on June 30.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 16, 2025
Nippon Ishin stakes its appeal on real results as Upper House vote nears
Neither the ruling coalition or other opposition parties have advanced political reform.
Tomoko Tamura, chairperson of the Japanese Communist Party, attends a debate with other party leaders in Tokyo in October. Her party urges voters to end the LDP’s business-centered politics and U.S. dependence by supporting its social, economic and foreign-policy reforms.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 16, 2025
JCP vows fairer taxes, stronger social safety net and a commitment to peaceful diplomacy
Tamura says LDP’s politics are now in a terminal and critical state with the party unable to respond to domestic and international issues or the wishes of the people.
Only two months into his role as agriculture minister, Shinjiro Koizumi has become the face of a risky political bet by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025
Japan’s ‘rice minister’ is ruling party’s biggest election gamble
Shinjiro Koizumi’s reformist drive is testing the loyalty of Japan's rural population — the LDP’s most dependable voter bloc.
The new administrative body would serve as a cross-agency "control tower" to respond to issues such as crime and overtourism involving foreign nationals, according to the government.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 15, 2025
Japan launches government body to address concerns over foreign nationals
The body will serve as a cross-agency "control tower" to respond to issues such as crime and overtourism involving foreign nationals, the government said.
An aerial view from north of the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant. Opposition parties are divided over whether Japan should utilize nuclear power while the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, a proponent of it, has avoided explicitly mentioning its stance in its campaign pledges.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 15, 2025
Energy policy debate falls dormant in Upper House election despite growing risk
Rising tensions in the Middle East have fueled concerns the Strait of Hormuz may be closed, dealing a blow to Japan's energy security.
The Sanseito party, led by Sohei Kamiya, is surging in the polls with anti-immigration talk, but its rise is likely just a short-lived protest vote rather than the start of lasting right-wing populism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 15, 2025
Japan’s right-wing fringe is no MAGA or reform movement
The Sanseito party is surging in polls with anti-immigration talk, but its rise is likely just a short-lived protest vote rather than the start of lasting right-wing populism.
Then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida holds a news conference in Tokyo in December 2023 where he addressed the political fundraising scandal and announced plans to replace several implicated ministers.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 15, 2025
Cost of living trumps corruption as Japan heads to the polls
A recent NHK poll asked that question to prospective voters, and the majority answered “measures to deal with rising prices” and “social security and the declining birthrate.”
People listen as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (not pictured) speaks on Sunday in Kikuchi, Kumamoto Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 14, 2025
Ruling parties could lose majority in Upper House election, poll suggests
A Mainichi Shimbun poll shows the ruling coalition might end up falling short of the 50 seats they need to maintain their majority in the Upper House of parliament.
Trading volumes in dollar-yen call options, which gain in value if the yen depreciates against the dollar, more than doubled those of put options on July 11.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 14, 2025
Yen traders revamp option bets ahead of Japan election
Expectations that the election outcome may pave the way for additional fiscal stimulus have already started to drive long-term Japanese yields higher.
The Bank of Japan may face pressure to avoid rate hikes if opposition parties gain traction in the upcoming Upper House election.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jul 14, 2025
Upper House election could further hamper BOJ's drive to raise rates
Surveys suggest Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition may lose its majority, and empowered opposition parties could pressure the central bank to avoid rate hikes.
People listen to stump speeches earlier this month in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, ahead of the Upper House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 11, 2025
Dual surnames for married couples in focus ahead of Japan poll
The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has urged the Japanese government to introduce the system four times.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito (left) and Japanese Communist Party leader Tomoko Tamura and their parties are stepping up efforts to reach out beyond their traditional organizational base.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 11, 2025
Komeito and JCP struggle with aging support base as Upper House poll approaches
Both parties are stepping up efforts to reach out beyond their traditional support base by turning to social media.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (center) waves to attendees as he departs after delivering a campaign speech in Yokohama on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 11, 2025
What Japanese politics could look like after Upper House election
Growing uncertainty over whether the ruling coalition can retain its majority in the Upper House has given strength to a number of possible outcomes of the election.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi waves to the audience at his stump speech on Wednesday in the city of Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 10, 2025
Prominent political speakers step up for candidates ahead of July 20 election
Party heavyweights are drawing crowds and grabbing headlines with an intensity that sometimes sparked criticism from within their own parties.
Police check the area before Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba gives a speech in Kobe on July 3 to kick off campaigning for the July 20 Upper House election.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 10, 2025
Police double staff who help prevent lone-wolf attacks after 2022 Abe shooting
Japan's National Police Agency has also strengthened cyber patrols to find threatening posts on social media and collect information about suspicious individuals.
Democratic Party For the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki delivers a campaign speech in Tokyo on July 3, ahead of the July 20 Upper House elections
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 10, 2025
DPP appears to be losing its luster as Upper House vote approaches
The small opposition party is in a tight spot amid speculation that it may be losing conservative supporters to right-wing parties like Sanseito.
Japan researchers identify gut bacteria strain that boosts anticancer drugs
Researchers at the National Cancer Center Japan say a new type of gut bacteria named YB328 could help unlock the potential of cancer immunotherapy.
Japan team finds ancient ocean full of squids
The ancient ocean was full of squids, whose population exceeded that of fish or ammonites, a Japanese research team mainly from Hokkaido University has found through a new method using technology.
Students in Japan struggle with Japanese language and math sections on national exam
The correct answer rate for the Japanese language section on a national test dropped to 67.0% from 67.8% the previous year among elementary school sixth-graders.
Japan launches government body to address concerns over foreign nationals
The new administrative body would serve as a cross-agency "control tower" to respond to issues such as crime and overtourism involving foreign nationals, according to the government.
Trump signals the end of the road for Japan tariff negotiations
U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum (left) and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Tuesday
Craig Mod's life in motion in a disappearing Japan
Mod's memoir “Things Become Other Things” chronicles his walking trips across the Kii Peninsula, surveying “a graceful end to a certain life cycle.”
With China and Trump, Japan defense report says world entering ‘new era of crisis’
A senior member of a Self-Defense Forces honor guard inspects a formation before the arrival of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for a visit to the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on June 30.
Tokyo stocks hit by a perfect storm of tariffs, politics and budget worries
Tokyo stocks are underperforming shares in other large markets globally.
Japan researchers identify gut bacteria strain that boosts anticancer drugs
Researchers at the National Cancer Center Japan say a new type of gut bacteria named YB328 could help unlock the potential of cancer immunotherapy.
Tokyobike founder believes in taking in sights of dynamic cities slowly
Ichiro Kanai, founder and president of Tokyobike, is developing a niche but a new customer base who want to cycle as part of a lifestyle.

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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After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa

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