Tag - cabinet

 
 

CABINET

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends the Joint Chairpersons' Press Announcement after the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit Meeting in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2023
Kishida Cabinet support rate hits fresh low at 22% amid funds scandal
By political party, the support rate of the LDP came to 26.0%, a drop from 34.1% in the previous survey and the lowest level since December 2012.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 16, 2023
Kishida losing grip on LDP as funds scandal unfolds
As the Cabinet's approval rate continues to fall, officials and are beginning to discuss a scenario in which the prime minister is forced to step down.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 15, 2023
Kishida's approval rate falls into dangerous territory amid scandal
The rate is the worst figure for a prime minister from the Liberal Democratic Party in more than a decade.
The support rate for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet has fallen to 17.1%.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 15, 2023
Kishida Cabinet's approval rate falls below 20% for first time
The support rate fell 4.2 percentage points from last month, rewriting a low since the LDP's return to power for a third month in a row.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno attend a Cabinet meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2023
Funding scandal deepens as parliament session draws to a close
The probe into a Liberal Democratic Party funds scandal looks likely to deepen in the coming days, making the political scene increasingly unpredictable.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 11, 2023
Kishida likely to shake up Cabinet in wake of political funds scandal
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is reportedly considering removing all members of the faction once led by his late predecessor Shinzo Abe.
Then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at Graceland, a mansion once owned by Elvis Presley, in Memphis, Tennessee, in June 2006. Koizumi was dubbed the "jujitsu prime minister” for his style of politics.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 11, 2023
Japan needs a 'jujitsu PM' to grapple with this scandal
Kishida fights for survival as the political funding scandal deepens. His predecessor, "jujitsu PM” Junichiro Koizumi, could teach him a thing or two.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a session at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 3, 2023
For embattled Kishida, Dubai trip fails to pay dividends
The PM's visit to Dubai for a U.N. climate summit will do little to offset woes at home, including an LDP funding scandal and sagging approval ratings.
Gen Nakatani, then-special adviser to the prime minister for international human rights, speaks at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2022
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 1, 2023
Kishida’s puzzling decision to ax his human rights adviser
Why did the prime minister eliminate the post of special adviser on human rights from the Cabinet and what does this mean for Tokyo's foreign policy?
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 20, 2023
Kishida’s support rate hits new lows in three major polls
Polls by three major newspapers — the Yomiuri, Asahi and Mainichi — showed Kishida’s support rate at 24%, 25% and 21%, respectively.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives in San Francisco on Wednesday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 16, 2023
Public approval for Kishida Cabinet sinks to new low of 21.3%
The support rate fell 5.0 percentage points from the previous month, while the disapproval rate rose 7.0 points to 53.3%.
Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida take part in a news conference in September 2021 in the lead-up to the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 15, 2023
Takaichi makes another play to become the next PM
With the creation of a new study group, Cabinet minister Sanae Takaichi aims to build support for her bid for the top political job.
State Minister of Finance Kenji Kanda (left) and Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki attend an Upper House session in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 13, 2023
State minister of finance resigns in further blow to Kishida
Kenji Kanda submitted his resignation after admitting that his firm had failed to pay fixed asset taxes.
The support rate for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet has fallen to a fresh low of 28.3%.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 6, 2023
Support for Kishida's Cabinet at record low of 28%
The approval rate dropped from 32.3% marked in October, the previous record low, while the disapproval rate rose to a record high of 56.7%.
Taro Yamada, parliamentary vice minister for education, speaks to reporters at the parliament building in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 26, 2023
Parliamentary Vice Minister Taro Yamada steps down over affair
The first Cabinet resignation since a mid-September reshuffle deals a blow to Kishida at a time when public support rates have plummeted.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida fist bumps voters in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 16, 2023
Kishida’s popularity in free fall ahead of key political events
The government’s popularity hit a record low in four public opinion surveys over the weekend, just as the political calendar looks set to heat up.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara speaks during a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon in Washington on Oct. 4.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 16, 2023
Defense chief retracts comments implying LDP vote would be good for SDF
Article 61 of the Self-Defense Forces Law explicitly forbids SDF personnel from engaging in political activity, with the exception of voting.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses members of the media during a news conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 15, 2023
Kishida Cabinet's support rate falls to record low 32%
The Cabinet's disapproval rating, meanwhile, rose to a record high of 52.5% from 39.7% in September.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 26, 2023
Kishida urges ministers to use all tools in new economic package
Kishida said Japan is at a critical phase of shifting from a "cost-cut" economy to a virtuous cycle of pay hikes and proactive corporate investment.
October's by-elections will be the first national elections since Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reshuffled his Cabinet last week.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2023
October by-elections to be first test for Kishida's new government
The results of the by-elections are expected to influence Kishida's strategy for dissolving the Lower House for a general election.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals