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January 22, 2025
 

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BUDGETS

Then-U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo in May 2019.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 19, 2025
As Trump returns, will Japan be able to weather the storm?
Tokyo may be surprisingly more suited to work with Trump — and beat back any exorbitant demands — than it was during his first stint.
Japan’s primary balance is once again set to miss its long-standing target of achieving a balanced budget by the year ending March 2026.
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2025
Japan now expects to miss its 2025 primary balance goal
The primary balance, which excludes interest payments on public debt, is projected to remain in the red with a deficit of around ¥4.5 trillion.
Yuichiro Tamaki, currently the suspended leader of the Democratic Party for the People
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 15, 2025
Tamaki vows support for government budget if three-party pact implemented
The suspended leader of the Democratic Party for the People voiced support for the budget bill if the items in the pact with the ruling parties are carried out.
U.S. Army soldiers with the NATO multinational battle group on the territory of Bulgaria stand in formation with a U.S. flag and an armored vehicle during a visit by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the Novo Selo military ground near Mokren, Bulgaria, on Dec. 19.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 11, 2025
NATO won't back Trump's new defense spending target but will raise its sights
A new target is likely to be agreed at a NATO summit in June, but the key questions are what that new target will be and whether it will be enough to satisfy Trump.
According to NHK's budget for fiscal 2025, the public broadcaster will post a deficit of ¥40 billion in the year from April.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2025
NHK to be in the red for third straight year after viewing fee cut
The public broadcaster is set to post a deficit of ¥40 billion in the year from April.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba must get cooperation from at least one opposition party to ensure passage of the 2025 fiscal year budget. He must also show he is capable of a smooth working relationship with the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 1, 2025
Three tests Ishiba must pass to survive in 2025
Overcoming the challenges that lay ahead will require the prime minister to make the best use of his political and diplomatic negotiating skills.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 24. Ishiba has, unsuccessfully, sought to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump since November, with Trump’s team saying at the time that no meetings with foreign leaders would take place before his January inauguration.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2024
Ishiba rules out pre-inauguration meeting with Trump
Ishiba had sought a mid-January meeting with Trump but said over the weekend that sooner didn't necessarily mean better when it came to talks with the incoming U.S. president.
Ground Self-Defense Force members conduct a military drill next to an anti-ship missile unit on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Dec 29, 2024
Japan defense spending goals hit by inflation, weak yen and political uncertainty
A slew of obstacles are jeopardizing Tokyo's pursuit of raising defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product by fiscal 2027.
Cabinet ministers at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 27, 2024
Japan's Cabinet approves ¥115.5 trillion budget
The proposal exceeded ¥110 trillion for the third consecutive year in order to increase spending on defense and social welfare costs.
A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Type 10 main battle tank fires ammunition during a live fire exercise at the JGSDF's training grounds in the East Fuji Maneuver Area in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 26, 2024
Japan set to approve record budget, spending more on defense and regions
While the government will have to lean heavily on debt issuance, record tax receipts will enable the cutting back of fresh bond issuance by almost a fifth.
Official prices of nearly half of drugs in Japan will be reduced to lower the burden on patients.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024
Japan ministers agree on price cuts for half of all drugs
Ministers also agreed to raise the upper limit on out-of-pocket medical expenses.
The United Nations headquarters in New York
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 25, 2024
Japan to stay the third-largest U.N. contributor
The share of Japan's contribution to the United Nation's regular budget will drop by about 1 percentage point from the current level to 6.930%.
Elbridge Colby (center) speaks at the Threat and the Strategy panel during the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, in September 2019.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 23, 2024
Trump's Pentagon policy pick pushed for Japan to spend 3% of GDP on defense
Elbridge Colby said in an interview earlier this year that Japan is moving at a leisurely pace on defense despite being under threat from China and North Korea.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to reporters following the passage of spending legislation to avert a government shutdown, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2024
U.S. Congress passes bill to avert shutdown
After weeks of tense negotiations that went down to the wire, U.S. lawmakers passed a bill to fund federal agencies through mid-March.
The plenary session of the House of Representatives, which passed the three political reform bills, in parliament on Tuesday
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2024
Japan enacts ¥13.9 trillion extra budget for fiscal 2024
The economic policy package aims to finance measures against inflation and disaster relief.
Yoichi Miyazawa (right), chair of the Liberal Democratic Party's tax panel, said Friday that both the LDP and Komeito have agreed to decide on the start date for higher income taxes at a later date.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 13, 2024
LDP-Komeito bloc defers decision on income tax hike to boost defense budget
The bloc originally aimed to raise income tax rates in January 2027, but reconsidered following discussions with the opposition Democratic Party for the People.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (front right) bows as the fiscal 2024 supplementary budget bill is passed in parliament on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 13, 2024
Ishiba makes concessions to opposition to maintain power
The prime minister's minority government has endorsed opposition policies on tax and education to win their support for a supplementary budget.
The Lower House Budget Committee clears the 2024 supplementary budget on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2024
Lower House passes ¥13.9 trillion supplementary budget
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s minority government made concessions to the opposition to secure support for the budget, which includes an economic stimulus package.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his policy speech at the Lower House on Nov. 29.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 9, 2024
Japan's government submits ¥13.9 trillion extra budget for fiscal 2024
The budget will finance a comprehensive economic package that includes measures to tackle inflation and aid for areas affected by natural disasters in the Noto Peninsula.
"No matter who takes the helm, Japan’s fiscal discipline will worsen in a situation like this," said Mana Nakazora, a credit analyst on an economic panel advising Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 3, 2024
Japan needs a wake-up call on debt, government advisor warns
The advisor criticized the government’s decision to resume subsidies for utilities as part of the stimulus package.
Trump pledges to save U.S. from 'decline,' vowing new 'golden age'
U.S. President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday.
Cedar pollen is already in the air in Tokyo
Climate change and urbanization are believed to have contributed to the earliest ever observation of cedar pollen in Tokyo, on Jan. 8, an expert says.
What went wrong at Fuji TV's news conference on allegations against Nakai?
Fuji TV President Koichi Minato speaks at a news conference on Friday in Tokyo.
BOJ likely to raise rates this week in absence of immediate Trump tariffs
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda is still signaling caution ahead of the central bank's January meeting.
Survey finds 80% of people want to take leftover restaurant food home
52.0% of people questioned in a survey said they want to use containers to take leftovers home if they are provided free of charge, and 28.8% showed willingness to use takeout containers whether they are free or not.
Japan looks to learn from the past with bid to build Australian warships
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami frigate, of the class of the same name, is anchored at the MSDF's naval base in the city of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in September 2022.
Amid rising world hunger, a Japan-inspired group in Kenya is making a big impact
Wawira Njiru, the founder of Food4Education, serves food during the opening of a new kitchen in Mombasa County, Kenya, in 2022. The organization started in 2012 by feeding 25 children out of a single kitchen. Now it feeds nearly half a million every day.
From Tokyo to Manhattan, Takuma Watanabe stirs up a stiff drink
It's taken Takuma Watanabe little time to establish himself as one of New York's hottest bartenders.
For tourists in search of seasonal sights, Yamagata makes its case
For some time away from Tokyo's suffocating urban sameness, Yamagata Prefecture is home to a soothing array of natural abundance.
A slow dive into ‘a moment and an eternity’ with Ryuichi Sakamoto
From the mid-2000s onward, Ryuichi Sakamoto created a number of installation works, often in collaboration with Shiro Takatani, of multimedia art collective Dumb Type.

Podcast

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

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go
By Kazuaki Nagata and Richard Meyer

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