Tag - ishiba

 
 

ISHIBA

People observe a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m. on Tuesday in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, when the Great East Japan Earthquake hit 14 years ago. Behind them is a pine tree dubbed "the miracle tree" that survived the tsunami.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 11, 2025
Japan marks 14 years since 3/11 earthquake, with over 27,000 still displaced
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he will pass down the lessons of the disaster to future generations.
A Vietnamese worker harvests tomatoes at a farm in the city of Asahi, Chiba Prefecture, in 2018.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2025
Amid labor shortage, Japan approves guidelines to upskill foreign workers
The new program aims to nurture trainees into skilled workers to motivate them to remain in the country.
Many in Japan are increasingly concerned that under the Trump administration's shifting policies, the U.S. may no longer be a reliable ally, raising fears of a weakened security partnership amid rising threats from China and Russia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 11, 2025
Japan reels from — and steels for — U.S. policy shifts
“What Japan has learned from the Ukraine war is that the era where we could rely entirely on the U.S. is over.”
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.
Shigeru Ishiba, the prime minister and president of the Liberal Democratic Party, shakes hands with one of the party's candidates for the upcoming Upper House election during the party's annual convention in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 10, 2025
Ishiba vows all-out election fight at LDP convention
The triennial Upper House election comes after the LDP-Komeito ruling coalition lost its majority in the Lower House in last year's general election.
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 (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive for a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 7.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2025
Tokyo responds to Trump remarks on 'interesting' Japan-U.S. security pact
Japan's top government spokesperson underlined the agreement's cooperative element after the U.S. president complained the deal was one-sided.
Firefighters battle a wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2025
Wildfire slows in Iwate as government announces relief support
The city saw 26.5 millimeters of rain on Wednesday, far exceeding the 2.5mm total for the entire month of February.
Nippon Steel is trying to build its business globally with U.S. Steel as a key component.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Mar 5, 2025
U.S. Steel seen as key to Nippon Steel's global strategy
To meet its target of raising its annual crude steel production capacity to over 100 million metric tons, the firm needs to forge ahead into promising foreign markets.
The Lower House Budget Committee votes for the fiscal 2025 budget in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 4, 2025
Budget clears Lower House in key win for Ishiba
The budget’s approval in the Lower House has long been seen as an indispensable requirement for the survival of the Ishiba administration.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba answers questions during a Lower House Budget Committee meeting at parliament on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 3, 2025
Ishiba says Japan won't take sides in U.S. row with Ukraine
The Japanese leader sought to strike a balance for Japan, the sole Asian G7 member, in its alliance with the U.S. and its longstanding support for Kyiv.
The government plans to make it easier for urban workers to get side jobs in regional areas.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 2, 2025
Government to help regional firms hire urban workers for side jobs
The subsidies are part of a program that matches corporate workers with struggling small and midsize companies in regional areas.
The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition said that the same-day tickets for the Osaka Expo will be sold every day in front of the entrance gate.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2025
Same-day tickets to be introduced for Osaka Expo: Ishiba
The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition said that the same-day tickets will be sold every day in front of the entrance gate.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba addresses Group of Seven leaders during a teleconference from the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo late Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2025
Japan urges G7 to avoid 'wrong lessons' in Ukraine peace process
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has urged leaders to be careful in backing any Ukraine peace process that could validate the use of force to change borders.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba replies to a question from Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara at a Lower House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Feb. 17.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 23, 2025
Party heads' love of trains could keep budget talks from derailing
The leaders of Nippon Ishin no Kai and Komeito both share Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's passion for locomotives.
While upholding his "America First" policy and transactional diplomacy, U.S. President Donald Trump has been emphasizing the importance of the U.S.-Japan relationship since his first term, from 2017 to 2021.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025
Marking 80th year since Battle of Iwo Jima, Trump touts U.S.-Japan alliance
The bloody battle fought on the Pacific island between February and March of 1945 claimed some 21,900 lives on the Japanese side and about 6,800 among American forces.
Prime Minister Shiger Ishiba waits for the Lower House Budget Committee session to begin in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025
Dispute over funds scandal questioning delays budget talks as CDP seeks leverage
Veering off schedule, even for a day, is detrimental to securing passage of the fiscal 2025 budget in the Lower House by March 2 — a priority for the government.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba replies to Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara at a Lower House budget committee session in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025
Government makes slow progress on budget concessions
Opposition parties are making known their policy demands, and even seeking legal guarantees, in return for their support in passing the budget for fiscal 2025.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that the situation surrounding Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel has improved under U.S. President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2025
Ishiba questions the politics of Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel deal rejection
The "unjust political interference” was difficult to understand, the prime minister said, but he indicated that the situation has improved under Trump.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba receives fruit from tangerine farmers of Shizuoka Prefecture in Tokyo on Jan. 22. The government's new regional revitalization plan focuses on convincing younger workers to choose a career and life somewhere other than a major urban center such as Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025
Can Ishiba's 'joyful Japan' policy revitalize the nation's rural regions?
The prime minister may be taking cues from the mistakes of past efforts, but ultimately, even the best rural revitalization plan is tough to realize in practice.

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly