Tag - ishiba

 
 

ISHIBA

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed support for allowing for married couples to retain different surnames. 
JAPAN / Society
Jan 3, 2025
Japan's dual-surname option could see turning point in 2025
Support for allowing spouses to retain separate surnames is strong among the opposition, and even within the Liberal Democratic Party, which rules as a minority government.
People pray on the first day of the new year at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. Japan’s economy is set for modest growth in 2025 supported by wage increases and stimulus, but faces risks from political instability and global challenges.
EDITORIALS
Jan 3, 2025
Hope for the economy in 2025, but dangers loom
Political uncertainty at home and a tumultuous international environment pose real risks for the nation’s economy.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said forming a grand coalition of major ruling and opposition parties to stabilize his administration will likely be an option.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 2, 2025
Grand coalition of ruling and opposition parties likely an option, Ishiba says
The prime minster said forming a grand coalition of major ruling and opposition parties may be an option to stabilize his administration.
After a dramatic 2024, where Japan saw political upheaval, a record stock market, a major quake and a plane crash and dramatic escape, 2025, with events like major anime sequels, the Osaka World Expo, rising foreign acquisitions, we should expect a transformative year.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 2, 2025
Anime, M&A and the expo: What to watch for in Japan’s 2025
No doubt 2025 has more surprises in store for Japan after an unusually intense 12 months.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba must get cooperation from at least one opposition party to ensure passage of the 2025 fiscal year budget. He must also show he is capable of a smooth working relationship with the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 1, 2025
Three tests Ishiba must pass to survive in 2025
Overcoming the challenges that lay ahead will require the prime minister to make the best use of his political and diplomatic negotiating skills.
A voter casts a ballot at a polling station in Tokyo on Oct. 27. Last year, incumbents in every major country that held a national election lost that vote, the first time that has happened in almost 120 years.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2024
The world is ever more angry. That is not good.
Hostility toward existing leadership stems from the belief that lives aren't improving and future generations will have fewer opportunities than previous ones.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 24. Ishiba has, unsuccessfully, sought to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump since November, with Trump’s team saying at the time that no meetings with foreign leaders would take place before his January inauguration.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2024
Ishiba rules out pre-inauguration meeting with Trump
Ishiba had sought a mid-January meeting with Trump but said over the weekend that sooner didn't necessarily mean better when it came to talks with the incoming U.S. president.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a meeting in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 28, 2024
Ishiba hints at possibility of double election next summer
An Upper House poll is scheduled for next July, and Ishiba hinted at the possibility that a Lower House election might coincide with that poll.
Cabinet ministers at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 27, 2024
Japan's Cabinet approves ¥115.5 trillion budget
The proposal exceeded ¥110 trillion for the third consecutive year in order to increase spending on defense and social welfare costs.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shakes hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Nov. 15 during their meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 26, 2024
Japan and China to continue delicate diplomatic dance in 2025
While Tokyo and Beijing have touted the importance of thawing ties, experts say a number of issues are likely to mean continued hedging by both sides.
A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Type 10 main battle tank fires ammunition during a live fire exercise at the JGSDF's training grounds in the East Fuji Maneuver Area in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 26, 2024
Japan set to approve record budget, spending more on defense and regions
While the government will have to lean heavily on debt issuance, record tax receipts will enable the cutting back of fresh bond issuance by almost a fifth.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 25, 2024
Ishiba aims for agreement on corporate political donations by March
While opposition parties are pushing for a ban on such donations, Ishiba has reiterated his opposition to such a move.
Japan, which relied on coal and natural gas for more than 60% of electricity generation last year, has been slow to shift to lower-emission energy sources.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2024
Japan aims for 60% emissions cut by 2035 in target seen as lax
The target was proposed last month, and was criticized by experts who said the plans don’t align with international ambitions to curb global warming.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (second from the left) making a statement at a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 24, 2024
Japan eyes regional revitalization and economic growth
A basic concept for the promotion of regional revitalization was drawn up to promote economic growth and address the issue of overcrowding in Tokyo.
Steam rises from a geothermal plan in Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture. Despite its long history and potential, geothermal provided just 0.3% of Japan's overall energy mix in the fiscal year from April 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Dec 22, 2024
Is Japan finally ready to tap its abundant geothermal energy potential?
Japan boasts the world’s third-largest potential supply of geothermal energy, but this renewable energy resource has mostly been untapped.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 20, 2024
Ishiba may visit U.S. in mid-January for talks with Trump
Ishiba hopes to build a personal relationship of trust with the president-elect and confirm the significance of the Japan-U.S. alliance.
Businessman George Glass has been selected by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to be the next ambassador to Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2024
Trump picks businessman George Glass as Japan ambassador
Glass, who served as ambassador to Portugal during Trump's first administration, is known as one of the biggest fundraisers for his reelection bid.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (right) delivers remarks at a news conference alongside Howard Lutnik, his pick for commerce secretary, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2024
Trump says he's open to meeting Ishiba before inauguration
The U.S. president-elect says it's up to Tokyo to make the meeting happen.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (left) and his wife, Melania (right), pose for a photo with Akie Abe, the widow of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday in this image posted on Melania Trump's X social media account.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 16, 2024
Akie Abe, widow of slain prime minister, meets with Trump
Her meeting has raised some eyebrows for coming before that of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who was unable to meet Trump last month despite numerous requests.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks with students from Okayama University about the issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese citizens decades ago, in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 14, 2024
Japan ready to team up with Trump over North Korea abduction issue
In a symposium on the issue held by the Japanese government in Tokyo, Hayashi condemned North Korea, saying, "In essence, it is an infringement of national sovereignty."

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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