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July 03, 2026
 

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BUDGETS

Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighter jets tasked with operations against airspace violations
JAPAN / FOCUS
Dec 26, 2025
Amid China tensions, Japan’s defense budget tops ¥9 trillion for first time
The request includes ¥100 billion to build a drone “shield” to help defend the country’s southwestern periphery amid rising concerns over Chinese military moves in the area.
Rescue boats provided by Japan to Malaysia under the official security assistance program
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2025
Japan to expand military aid as OSA budget more than doubles
The Cabinet agreed on a 125% — or ¥10 billion — year-on-year increase in military aid funding, raising the budget to ¥18.1 billion ($116 million) for fiscal 2026.
A prototype of a Rapidus 300mm wafer displayed at the Semicon Japan exhibition. The industry ministry has earmarked ¥150 billion for state-backed chip venture Rapidus, bringing the cumulative government investment in the venture to ¥250 billion.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2025
Japan to quadruple spending support for chips and AI in budget
The jump in chips and AI spending comes at as Japan is trying to strengthen its capacities in frontier technology, and the U.S. and China race ahead.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 25, 2025
Private sector supports multiyear approach to primary budget balance
Members from the private sector supported the envisaged abolition of the current method and called on the government to check the primary balance over several fiscal years instead.
Japan's economic growth is expected to accelerate to ‌1.3% in fiscal 2026 as robust consumption and capital expenditure offset soft overseas demand.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 25, 2025
Japan expects growth to accelerate next year with fiscal stimulus
The projections are the first ​to be compiled under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration, which ‍has ⁠announced big spending plans.
The Finance Ministry in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 24, 2025
Japan budgeting for bond payments at 3% as debt servicing soars
The Finance Ministry will set a key rate used to calculate the country’s likely interest payments on bonds next fiscal year at 3.0%, the highest in nearly three decades
Yuko Obuchi, head of the Liberal Democratic Party's panel on Okinawa promotion, speaks at the panel's meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2025
Okinawa development funds to see first rise in 10 years
The planned increase comes as the LDP aims to win the next Okinawa gubernatorial election, expected next summer.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Aegis destroyer Chokai at its Sasebo base in Nagasaki Prefecture in January
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2025
U.S. approves aid for upgrading MSDF’s Aegis destroyers
The estimated total cost for the Japanese government is $100.2 million.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama delivers a fiscal policy speech at a Lower House plenary session in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 8, 2025
Katayama urges lawmakers to cooperate to pass supplementary budget bill
The finance minister says the bill should be passed as soon as possible to “bring back a strong economy to Japan.”
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has made measures against high prices her top priority while pledging strategic fiscal outlays to build a stronger economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 8, 2025
Takaichi government submits ¥18.3 trillion supplementary budget to parliament
The budget is mainly to finance the first comprehensive economic package under the administration of the recently elected prime minister.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during the Reagan National Defense Forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2025
‘Free-riding’ U.S. allies that don’t step up ‘will face consequences,’ Hegseth warns
In an apparent jab at Japan, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington is “optimistic” that Indo-Pacific allies will ramp up defense spending “in a few years.”
U.S. President Donald Trump makes a speech aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier during his visit to the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Oct. 28.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 6, 2025
Trump strategy demands more of Japan as U.S. unveils ‘burden-sharing network’
The strategy, the first of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, reflects his longstanding view that the American system of alliances is “one-sided” in favor of allies.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi shakes hands with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Oct. 29.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 6, 2025
Defense Minister Koizumi set for U.S. visit next month
The defense chief is expected to explain Japan’s efforts to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP and revisions to its three key national security documents.
International Monetary Fund spokesperson Julie Kozack
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2025
IMF spokesperson welcomes Japan’s draft extra budget
Backed by strong economic growth, the ratio of Japan’s debt to its gross domestic product “will be on a declining path next year,” the spokesperson said.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama (fourth from left) delivers a greeting at the first ministerial meeting on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office to review tax measures, subsidies and funds, in an effort inspired by the U.S. "department of government efficiency."
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 2, 2025
Japan holds first meeting on DOGE-inspired waste cut
The government has established a department of about 30 people in the Cabinet Secretariat to find and eliminate wasteful spending in a DOGE-inspired style.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 28, 2025
Japan to issue more short-term debt to fund Takaichi’s stimulus
The Cabinet has approved a ¥18.3 trillion extra budget to fund the largest round of fresh spending in a stimulus package since the scaling back of pandemic restrictions.
The Upper House passed and enacted a bill to scrap the provisional tax surcharges for gasoline and diesel fuel at its plenary session on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 28, 2025
Japan enacts bill to abolish add-on gasoline tax
The bill’s supplementary clause urges the central government to work out concrete measures to make up for an estimated overall annual tax revenue shortfall of ¥1.5 trillion.
The extra budget, totaling about ¥18.3 trillion ($117 billion), will be funded by ¥11.7 trillion in additional bond issuance, according to a document seen Thursday.
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2025
Japan to issue $75 billion in new bonds to fund stimulus
The extra budget, totaling about ¥18.3 trillion ($117 billion), will be funded by ¥11.7 trillion in additional bond issuance.
The Prime Minister's Office, in Tokyo. The administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is developing the fiscal year 2026 budget as inflation remains high and markets are on edge about fiscal spending.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 27, 2025
2026 budget should take inflation into account: private-sector advisers
Their recommendation comes as prices rise rapidly and markets remain skittish.
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is now the most unpopular finance minister since records began, according to pollster IPSOS.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 27, 2025
U.K. tax hikes to placate bond markets likely to be costly for Reeves
Hemmed in by the need to raise taxes to tackle public finances, the finance minister had few giveaways, opting instead to make small measures to try and lower the cost of living.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Why is the yen so weak and what can Japan do about it?
Japan spent ¥11.7 trillion ($73 billion) between late April and late May to prop up the weak yen.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.

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