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August 15, 2024
 

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CORRUPTION

Investigators from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office arrive to search the headquarters of the powerful Abe faction within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo on Dec. 19.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 26, 2023
Has the funding scandal doomed the Abe faction?
With criminal investigations under way, there is impetus for the younger generation of the Abe faction members to break away and form a rebranded group.
The Tokio Marine & Nichido Building in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2023
Japan penalizes biggest property insurers for price fixing
The Financial Services Agency has issued business improvement orders on the core units of Tokio Marine, MS&AD Insurance and Sompo.
The faction led by former LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai is the second group within the party that has allegedly listed kickbacks given to its members after they sold fundraising tickets, informed sources revealed Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 24, 2023
Embattled LDP's Nikai faction also suspected of logging kickbacks
The faction is suspected of not reporting excess fundraiser revenues as income but reporting the kickbacks as expenditures.
A meeting is held at the Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday to officially replace two of the party's executives.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 22, 2023
In search for top officials, Kishida constrained by funds scandal
The limited number of viable candidates not suspected of misconduct means new appointees look more likely to be stopgap replacements.
Former education minister Kisaburo Tokai, who has been tapped as Liberal Democratic Party policy chief, speaks to reporters Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 21, 2023
Kishida makes more LDP leadership changes in bid to restore trust
The changes come a week after he dismissed four key members of his Cabinet who were also Abe faction members suspected of receiving unreported funds.
A Mainichi poll this week gave Fumio Kishida's Cabinet a nearly 80% disapproval rate, the worst result since the newspaper began surveying in 1947.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 21, 2023
No, seriously, this is one Japan scandal that’s important
With no clear rival, and potential challengers likely reluctant to take their shot with support so low, Kishida may yet hang on in the near term.
An office of Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance in Tokyo in 2016.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2023
FTC inspects nonlife insurers over alleged joint contract cartel
The on-site probes follow reports the firms prearranged premiums for joint insurance contracts with corporate and public entities.
Prosecutors head to the office of the Liberal Democratic Party faction led by former Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 19, 2023
Prosecutors search sites linked to scandal-hit LDP factions
Prosecutors searched the biggest faction, once led by late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and another led by former LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai.
Ten or more lawmakers of the LDP's largest faction, including former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, may have received over ¥10 million each in kickbacks, according to the sources.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2023
Ten or more Abe faction members may have received over ¥10 million in kickbacks
Among other LDP factions, Shisuikai, led by former party Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, is also suspected of failing to report fundraising revenues .
Keiichi Ishii
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 16, 2023
Komeito demanding 'bold' reforms over LDP scandal
The party is concerned that the public is rapidly losing trust in the government due to the unfolding political funds scandal inside the LDP.
Haruyuki Takahashi (center) arrives at the Tokyo District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 14, 2023
Former Tokyo Games executive pleads not guilty over bribery
Haruyuki Takahashi is accused of accepting about ¥200 million in bribes to help firms be selected as sponsors and marketing agents for the Games.
Incoming Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi arrives at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 14, 2023
Kishida axes Abe faction members from government over funds scandal
In replacing nearly a dozen ministers and officials, the prime minister is attempting to contain the worst crisis of his administration so far.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida awaits the results of a vote on a no-confidence motion in the Lower House against his Cabinet on Wednesday over the ongoing party financing scandal.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 14, 2023
Kishida tries to clean up the Liberal Democratic Party house
A political event of the magnitude of the LDP-funding scandal bears close observation of what happened, why and what comes next.
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.
Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura speaks to reporters in the city of Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 10, 2023
Kishida looking to replace all Cabinet members from troubled faction
Some members of the faction formerly led by the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are suspected of receiving tens of millions of yen in unreported funds.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s future is uncertain as a fund-raising scandal casts a shadow over who will lead the Liberal Democratic Party. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 8, 2023
Unpacking the scandal rocking the LDP to its core
What may be termed as the “faction parties scandal” is a shock to the system that will have deep implications for the Japanese political landscape.
Hunter Biden departs the federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 26.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 8, 2023
Hunter Biden faces federal tax charges in Los Angeles
The new criminal case could reveal more evidence that supports corruption allegations levied by Republicans.
Nepali security personnel stand guard at Pokhara International Airport in Pokhara, Nepal, ahead of the arrival of the first international flight from China on June 21.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 13, 2023
Nepal is investigating new airport made by China
A few engineers who had worked on the airport said that building quality had been compromised and that the project’s infrastructure was not sound.
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

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