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DIET

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Kazunori Yamanoi shows a Liberal Democratic Party survey about a slush funds scandal to reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 16, 2024
LDP survey doesn't quell demand from opposition for ethics hearing
The scandal, and the demand to convene a meeting of the ethics committee, have Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a political bind.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida replies to a question from CDP lawmaker Kazunori Yamanoi at a Lower House budget committee session in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 14, 2024
Kishida calls ethics committee hearing 'a matter for parliament to decide'
The prime minister declined to voice support for a political ethics committee investigation into LDP members caught up in a slush-fund scandal.
A Lower House budget session discusses the political fund scandal in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 13, 2024
LDP survey shows 85 members failed to report political funds
The survey’s results are unlikely to bring an end to the scandal, with its methods criticized by opposition parties as inadequate and lacking objectivity.
Education minister Masahito Moriyama (right) responds to questions from Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Chinami Nishimura in the Lower House on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 7, 2024
Education minister under fire for unreported ties to Unification Church
Masahito Moriyama said he could not remember 2021 meeting with the group or the agreement he signed with it for electoral support.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a Lower House budget committee session in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2024
Kishida insists corporate donations have no effect on LDP policy
The responses came during Lower House budget committee questions from Akira Nagatsuma, policy chief of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida waits for the start of the Lower House Budget Committee in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 5, 2024
Parties clash over release of LDP's internal funds scandal probe
The opposition had demanded that the LDP publish a list of all party members responsible for the underreporting of political funds in the last five years.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a Lower House plenary session in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2024
Kishida faces heat from all sides over political funds scandal
The prime minister finds himself in hot water not only with the main opposition party, but also with his own ruling party.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a policy speech during a plenary session of the Lower House in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 30, 2024
Kishida comes full circle in policy speech with emphasis on 'power'
Amid low approval ratings and soul-searching for the ruling party, the prime minister made "power" a key theme in his policy speech.
The Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo. In the wake of a political funding scandal, some are calling for the dissolution of the LDP's factions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 16, 2024
Eliminating factions isn’t the answer to the funding scandal
In the wake of a political funding scandal that has embroiled the LDP, some are calling for the dissolution of the party's factions. That would be a mistake.
Officials with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office raids the office of Lowr House lawmaker Mito Kakizawa in Tokyo's Edo Ward in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 6, 2024
Lawmaker Mito Kakizawa to admit to vote-buying allegations
The Lower House lawmaker's admission to vote-buying allegations in a Tokyo mayoral election will come after an initial denial.
Reporters gather in front of the Upper House parliamentary building on Thursday in Tokyo. Prosecutors raided LDP lawmaker Yasutada Ono's office, which is located in the building, the same day.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 28, 2023
Second LDP member’s office raided over political funds scandal
Upper House member Yasutada Ono became the second lawmaker to have his offices searched by prosecutors in connection with the scandal.
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.
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.
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 .
The Tokyo headquarters of the Unification Church in Shibuya Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 13, 2023
Japan enacts law to monitor Unification Church assets
The special legislation is designed to ensure that victims of the organization's malpractices have a source of relief.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Kenta Izumi attends a news conference on Friday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 10, 2023
CDP dithers over no-confidence motion against Kishida Cabinet
The CDP leadership is expected to make a decision on a no-confidence motion after monitoring sentiment in other parties as well as public opinion.
The Lower House plenary session approves the relief bill in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 5, 2023
Bill for victims' relief in Unification Church case clears Lower House
The bill aims to prevent a religious organization's assets from being transferred overseas so that it can be set aside to provide relief.
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?
Seiji Maehara (left) speaks during a news conference in the Diet building on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 1, 2023
Seiji Maehara's new party seen as move to join Nippon Ishin
The prominent lawmaker aims to achieve a change in government through a coalition of lawmakers other than those from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Ministers gather for a Cabinet meeting on Friday at Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2023
Japan enacts bill to raise annual pay of PM and ministers
The prime minister's annual salary will be raised by ¥460,000 to ¥40.61 million.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?