Tag - diet

 
 

DIET

A bill calling for decency in election campaign posters is passed at the Upper House plenary session on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 26, 2025
Upper House passes bill calling for decency in election posters
The bill came in the wake of last summer's Tokyo gubernatorial election, in which posters featuring indecent content were put up.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waits for a session of the House of Councillors Budget Committee to begin at the Diet in Tokyo on March 14.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 25, 2025
Parties still at odds over corporate donations as deadline for agreement looms
The prospect of reaching a decision on whether to ban, restrict or continue to accept donations by the end of the month appears slim.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Liberal Democratic Party's annual convention in Tokyo on March 9.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 22, 2025
Ishiba appears ready to speak before Diet ethics panel over gift vouchers
Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the CDP, and Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the DPP, have called on Ishiba to give explanations before a parliamentary ethics panel.
Some critics of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba call him weak and indecisive, saying his leadership has led to policy blunders that may make his grip on power increasingly untenable.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 20, 2025
Prime Minister Ishiba’s struggles put his leadership in jeopardy
With the world as turbulent as it is, the country cannot continue with such a weak and indecisive leader.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waits for a session of the House of Councillors Budget Committee to begin in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Explainer
Mar 19, 2025
What's the fuss over Ishiba's gift vouchers?
The prime minister's standing has worsened following reports that he handed out gift vouchers worth ¥100,000 ($668) each to rookie lawmakers from his party.
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 19, 2025
Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description
The lastest scandal comes amid broader concerns over the LDP's misuse of political funds, further damaging Prime Minister Ishiba’s reputation.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a session of the Upper House Budget Committee in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 18, 2025
Why ousting Ishiba could be a tricky task
Passing a no-confidence motion could result in the dissolution of the Lower House within 10 days, triggering another election the opposition might lose.
Locals fill up bottles from a communal water tank in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 30, 2024, following the Noto Peninsula earthquake on New Year's Day.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 18, 2025
Lower House passes bill on peninsular disaster prevention
The bill is centered around advancing disaster prevention efforts that take into consideration the unique geographic features of such regions.
Japan's cyberdefense legislation is designed for the government to acquire and analyze communication information in normal times.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2025
Japan's active cyberdefense bills include normal-time monitoring
The bills also call for establishing an independent organization to supervise cyberdefense operations and file relevant reports to parliament.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba answers questions at a session of the Upper House Budget Committee in Tokyo. Approval ratings for Ishiba's government have dropped sharply, polls showed Monday, as the leader faces a backlash for distributing gift vouchers to rookie lawmakers in his ruling party.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 17, 2025
Approval rates for Ishiba's Cabinet plunge amid gift voucher snafu
Polls conducted by several newspapers over the weekend show public support tumbling to record lows.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is under fire for giving gift certificates worth ¥100,000 each to lawmakers newly elected to the House of Representatives last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 16, 2025
Past prime ministers customarily gave gift certificates, lawmaker says
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is under fire for giving gift certificates worth ¥100,000 each to lawmakers newly elected to the House of Representatives.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the prime minister's official residence on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2025
Opposition blasts Ishiba over gift certificates given to LDP lawmakers
Ishiba gave gift certificates worth ¥100,000 each to over 10 new lawmakers, sources have said. The prime minister apologized but said the move was not illegal.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends an Upper House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 13, 2025
How Upper House pressure led to Ishiba's stunning reversal on medical cost caps
An unprecedented second amendment to Japan's budget shows opposition in the Lower House is not the only external pressure to which the government is exposed.
Upper House Budget Committee chief Yosuke Tsuruho (right) and his Lower House counterpart, Jun Azumi, meet in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 12, 2025
Medical cap fumble paves way for unprecedented second revision of fiscal budget
While there have been cases of bills returning to the Lower House after amendments in the Upper House, it has never happened with the budget.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at an Upper House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Monday. The opposition's slamming of the Liberal Democratic Party over its position on corporate and group donations, as well as their own divisions over whether to restrict or ban such contributions, cast uncertainty over Ishiba’s hopes of reaching a consensus within the month.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 10, 2025
Opposition parties split on whether to restrict or ban corporate donations
Their division casts uncertainty over Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s hopes of reaching a consensus on the matter within the month ahead of a summer election.
Members of a Liberal Democratic Party panel discuss proposals about allowing spouses to retain their respective surnames, in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 10, 2025
Eternal debate over surname law comes to fore again
Since last October’s general election, momentum has picked up for a legislative change to allow married couples to retain different surnames.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda attends a news conference on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 9, 2025
CDP leadership faces growing internal frustration
Due to the CDP's lackluster performance, a party source said, "We can't compete in (this summer's) House of Councilors election if we don't do anything."
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda addresses a rally calling for the introduction of a system allowing married couples to choose whether to use the same or different family names on Feb. 26 at parliament.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Some 44% of Japanese lawmakers back selective dual surname system
The figure far outstrips the 1% who said that the country should maintain its current same surname system.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday about his decision to cancel plans to raise the ceiling on out-of-pocket expenses for high-cost medical care.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Ishiba cancels planned August medical expense cap hike
It is the third time the Ishiba administration has changed its policy on the high-cost medical care system.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba with parliamentary vice ministers at the Prime Minister's Office in November. The share of women among Japan's lawmakers was 15.7% as of last December.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2025
Japan's share of female lawmakers lowest among G7 members
While the global average was 27.2%, the figure in Japan stood at 15.7% as of last December.

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