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March 29, 2025
 

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BUDGETS

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a session of parliament on Thursday afternoon.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 14, 2025
Budget talks intensify between ruling coalition and opposition parties
The minority government is looking to pass its budget by March 2 to give Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba some breathing room.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba talks with executives of his Liberal Democratic Party in the parliament building in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 11, 2025
Japan's ruling-opposition talks reach a critical point
For its enactment by the end of March, the fiscal 2025 budget bill needs to clear the Lower House on March 2, at the latest.
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to the White House in Washington on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 10, 2025
Ishiba builds inroads with Trump, but challenges still loom
Ishiba won praise for his deft handling of Trump, squelching critics’ predictions that the president would walk all over the bookish Japanese leader.
Rapidus, which is expected to begin pilot production of chips in April and achieve mass production in 2027, is the cornerstone of the government’s effort to revive its domestic semiconductor industry.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 7, 2025
Cabinet approves bill to fund Rapidus semiconductor production
Rapidus is the cornerstone of the government’s effort to revive its domestic semiconductor industry.
While the ruling minority government’s weakened position has emboldened opposition parties to push for more spending across multiple policy fronts, the International Monetary Fund has warned there is limited space today in Japan to address the risks of natural disasters and mounting social security costs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 7, 2025
Japan needs immediate deficit cut to fix fiscal path, IMF warns
The government needs to prepare now to avoid negative surprises four or five years down the road, the IMF’s Japan mission chief says.
The ruling coalition has put forward a plan to make public school tuition free, with costs of up to ¥118,800 yearly subsidized for all families regardless of income.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2025
Recent talks on education funding for all might be missing the point
As the government works to pass its budget without a majority, the issue of free education for all has become key to negotiations for support in parliament.
A farm laborer stands next to sacks filled with harvested potatoes at a field in Subhri village, in the northern state of Haryana, India, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 3, 2025
In first budget of third term, Modi puts short-term tax cuts above deep reforms
But the year's top economic policy event passed up a chance to go big on reforms needed to reignite rapid growth — once the envy of the world at more than 8%.
Yoshihiko Noda, the head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, attends a news conference last week.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 2, 2025
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.
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
A move to summon a former LDP faction accountant risks upsetting the party's parliamentary timetable and exposing it to criticism.
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
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.
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
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.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato holds a news conference at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo in October last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 24, 2025
Finance chief vows to balance economic revival and fiscal consolidation
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato highlighted the need to improve Japan's fiscal health, which is the worst among major countries.
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.
Japan considers all possible options as Trump threatens new auto tariffs
Subaru cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama on Thursday.
Massive quake kills at least 150 in Myanmar and Thailand
Medical workers treat a earthquake survivor on a bed in the compound of a hospital in Naypyitaw on Friday, after an earthquake in central Myanmar.
Student suicides in Japan hit all-time high
A volunteer handles an incoming call at the Tokyo Befrienders call center, a suicide hotline center in Japan's capital.
Tourist submarine sinks in Red Sea of Egypt, leaving 6 people dead
The interior of a Sindbad submarine vessel at sea off Hurghada, Egypt, in August 2024, in this still image obtained from video.
Yellow sand blankets cities across Japan
The Meteorological Agency forecast the yellow sand to move away from eastern Honshu by 6 p.m. on Wednesday. But it will continue to cover parts of western Honshu and Shikoku until Thursday morning, it said.
Recent spate of wildfires in Japan and South Korea linked to climate change
Smoke and flames rise from a wildfire in Andong, South Korea, on Tuesday.
Hanami season to have record ¥1.39 trillion economic impact on Japan
Cherry blossoms along a road in Tokyo on Tuesday. The 2025 cherry blossom season is expected to have an economic impact of around ¥1.39 trillion on Japan.
Tokyo Series proves to be big business for MLB — and Japanese companies
An advertisement featuring Shohei Ohtani in Tokyo.
New SDF command will be key for contingency planning, Australian commander says
A Maritime Self-Defense Force SH-60K "Super Auk" from JS Shiranui prepares to land on HMAS Brisbane during Exercise Malabar 2023 while off the coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Japanese wages likely to rise more than 5% again this year
Wages are set for another big increase this year as annual negotiations secure generous agreements.

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