Tag - ldp

 
 

LDP

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives for a tour of a new Toyota battery factory in Liberty, North Carolina, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 13, 2024
Kishida touts U.S. visit success, saying snap election not on his mind
The prime minister, who is due to fly back on Saturday, will be hoping the diplomatic success can translate into a bump in his low approval ratings.
Author Hirotada Ototake declares his candidacy for the April 28 House of Representatives by-election in the Tokyo No. 15 constituency during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 12, 2024
LDP won't endorse author Hirotada Ototake in Tokyo by-election
The by-election for the lower chamber of parliament will be held to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of ex-LDP member Mito Kakizawa.
Emperor Naruhito at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo on Tuesday
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2024
Japan to launch full-scale talks over shrinking imperial family
Japan's ruling and opposition parties are set to start talks on measures to address the shrinking number of imperial family members.
Approval rate for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet hit a new low of 16.6% in April since its launch in October 2021.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 11, 2024
Support for Kishida Cabinet sinks to fresh low of 16.6%, poll shows
The approval rate fell 1.4 percentage points from the previous month, while the disapproval rate climbed 2.0 points to 59.4%.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is interviewed Tokyo on April 5. Kishida left for the U.S. on Monday amid record low poll numbers due to his handling of the political funds scandal that has rocked the LDP.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 10, 2024
Will Kishida dissolve parliament in June?
Speculation has been fueled by comments from Kishida’s fellow Liberal Democratic Party members and the prime minister himself.
Author Hirotada Ototake declares his candidacy for the April 28 House of Representatives by-election in the Tokyo No. 15 constituency during a news conference in Tokyo Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 8, 2024
Japanese author Ototake to run in Lower House by-election
Ototake, who was born without arms or legs, says he wants to "help people in need through the power of politics."
Toshimitsu Motegi
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 7, 2024
LDP's Motegi vows to promote party reforms after money scandal
"The party takes the problem seriously and I want related lawmakers to work hard so that something like this will never happen again," said Motegi.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (center) listens to participants of the regional roundtable dialogue session on political reform held in the city of Kumamoto on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 7, 2024
Kishida eyes stricter political funds control law and aims to restore trust
"By enacting a strict law, we hope to restore public trust," the prime minister said during a dialogue session in Kumamoto.
LDP Upper House lawmaker Hiroshige Seko announces his exit from the party in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 5, 2024
Kishida sought scapegoats and allies with LDP reprimands, experts say
Despite Kishida’s hopes, however, the results are unlikely to raise his support rate or strengthen his position within the party.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a meeting of the Lower House Cabinet Committee on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 5, 2024
Kishida denies ex-PM Mori's involvement in LDP fund scandal
Many believe that Mori was involved in the scandal, as he had previously served as head of the Abe faction.
Hiroshige Seko, former Liberal Democratic Party Upper House secretary-general, announces Thursday his intention to leave the LDP after receiving an official recommendation he do so following the party's political funds scandal.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 5, 2024
Five takeaways from the funding scandal punishments
Political compromise was involved in the LDP punishment process, with many politicians caught up in the scandal remaining in relatively good positions.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (left) attends a disciplinary panel in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 4, 2024
LDP announces formal punishment for scandal-tainted lawmakers
An LDP disciplinary panel handed down the reprimands following weeks of debate among the leadership and several rounds of internal investigations.
Toshimitsu Motegi, secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 3, 2024
LDP not to field candidates in two Lower House by-elections
The ruling party will not field candidates in two of three upcoming by-elections amid headwinds the party faces over a slush fund scandal.
Former Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Hakubun Shimomura attends a Lower House plenary session on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 3, 2024
LDP eyes membership suspension for Shimomura and Nishimura
It also plans to ask Shionoya and Seko to leave the party over the slush funds scandal involving certain factions.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (left), Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (center), and Taro Aso, the party's vice president, meet in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 2, 2024
LDP’s formal punishment likely to spark discontent
Exempting Kishida and Nikai from any reprimands over the slush funds scandal will likely deepen rifts within the party, experts say.
A boy watches Self-Defense Forces live-fire drills in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in 2017. Japan’s defense posture is shifting, as the government’s recent approval of new arms export regulations signals.  
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 1, 2024
Is Japan leaving pacifism behind?
How a previous generation of Japanese leaders, those who made defense budget and arms export limits a national credo, would view the current shift.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may recommend some members of the LDP to leave the party because of a political funds scandal.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 31, 2024
Kishida seen urging scandal-mired LDP members to leave party
The recommendation is the second harshest of the eight penalties under the party's disciplinary rules.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has expressed his eagerness to revise the political funds law in the current session of parliament, slated to end on June 23.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 29, 2024
Spotlight on political reform after budget clears Japan's parliament
Ruling and opposition parties are eager to outline a bolder plan for reform to raise their profile among voters amid growing political disenchantment.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends an Upper House Budget Committee session on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 28, 2024
Ex-PM Yoshiro Mori may face LDP probe over kickback scheme
The target and scope of such an investigation has yet to be decided, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says.
Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Toshihiro Nikai addresses a news conference Monday after he announced that he will not run in the next general election amid the political funds scandal engulfing his party.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 28, 2024
Why LDP elder Nikai's announcement is a big deal (and isn't)
Despite portraying it as a move to preserve Nikai's legacy, it's seen as a proactive attempt to insulate himself and his associates from further scrutiny.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.