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July 04, 2026
 

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DIET

Junya Ogawa, who became head of the Centrist Reform Alliance a month ago, is seeking to rebuild Japan’s opposition after last month’s election defeat while focusing on policy debate.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 13, 2026
CRA leader Junya Ogawa faces host of challenges, one month after election defeat
Junya Ogawa has held back on grilling government leaders, something that opposition parties usually prefer doing, and instead tried to focus on policy debate.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at parliament on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 13, 2026
Ruling bloc pushes fiscal 2026 budget through Lower House in supermajority flex
Opposition parties voted against the budget in a plenary session on the argument that it needs more time for deliberations.
Lower House member Ryota Takeda (center) speaks at the parliamentary building on Tuesday after being elected as head of Japan-South Korea parliamentarians' union.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2026
LDP’s Takeda to chair Japan-South Korea parliamentarians’ union
Liberal Democratic Party member Ryota Takeda told members of the group that exchanges between Japanese and South Korean lawmakers have helped sustain bilateral ties.
Members of the Lower House Budget Committee meet in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 5, 2026
LDP drops proposal to conduct fiscal 2026 budget deliberations on Saturday
The ruling party had proposed the weekend session in response to opposition concerns that time spent deliberating the fiscal 2026 budget bill had been insufficient.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a news conference at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on Feb. 18. Takaichi has repeatedly stressed her focus on boosting investment in growth, especially in technologies vital to Japan’s food, energy and economic security.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 3, 2026
Takaichi takes aim at Japan’s supplementary budgets
The prime minister wants to push as much spending as possible into the initial budget.
Smoke rises after coordinated U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in Tehran on Sunday, as joint military operations hit targets in the capital.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 2, 2026
Trump’s Iran attacks put Japan in tough spot as it emphasizes rules-based order
Japan is seeking to balance its strong support for the rule of law with its need to maintain its robust alliance with the U.S.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responds to questions from Centrist Reform Alliance leader Junya Ogawa (left) at a Lower House Budget Committee session on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 1, 2026
Government and ruling bloc adamant about passing budget before fiscal 2026
The ruling bloc of the LDP and the Japan Innovation Party is aiming to pass the draft budget through the Lower House on March 13.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a parliamentary session on Thursday. While Takaichi wants to use a nonpartisan panel to achieve consensus across party lines on how to pause consumption tax on groceries for two years, opposition parties are concerned about the political fallout of being seen as agreeing too much, or not enough, with her effort.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 26, 2026
Consumption tax panel kicks off without two opposition parties
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had hoped to use the panel to achieve consensus across parties on how to lift the tax for two years.
The Nikkei 225 stock average nears 60,000 on Thursday as analysts revise up their estimates.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 26, 2026
Nikkei 225 index forecasts revised upward after LDP’s big win
Analysts are looking for 60,000, and that level is already near.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks in parliament in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2026
Scrutiny of Takaichi’s gift catalogs for LDP lawmakers could delay budget debate
The prime minister said she gave gift catalogs to 315 lawmakers to celebrate their election on Feb. 8, saying she believes the move is above board.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi looks toward Centrist Reform Alliance leader Junya Ogawa during a parliamentary session in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 24, 2026
Despite Lower House dominance, Takaichi puts emphasis on cooperation
The prime minister urged opposition parties to work with her coalition to get the fiscal 2026 budget passed before the end of March, when the current fiscal year concludes.
Japan’s newly convened special session of the Diet is set to debate legislation criminalizing damage to the national flag, strongly backed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and the opposition party Sanseito.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 24, 2026
Parliamentary debate grows over move to criminalize flag desecration
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed a strong desire to enact a flag desecration ban, which is also supported by the opposition party Sanseito.
Ghost Robotics Vision 60 takes part in an annual New Year's military drill by the Ground Self-Defense Force's 1st Airborne Brigade at Narashino exercise field in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, on Jan. 11.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 22, 2026
With fresh mandate, Japan’s Takaichi sets sights on divisive security goals
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s election victory has empowered her to push forward with security and defense goals that, just a decade ago, would have been all but unattainable.
Taro Aso, head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Aso faction, enters a meeting on Thursday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2026
LDP’s Aso faction grows to record 60 members
The Aso faction is the only one remaining in the party, after all other factions disbanded in the wake of a high-profile slush fund scandal.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is applauded after being reelected as prime minister in the Lower House on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2026
Takaichi heads into parliament with key agenda points in mind
Passing the budget, setting up an intelligence agency, and cutting the consumption tax are all top priorities for Sanae Takaichi, who was reelected as prime minister.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a Liberal Democratic Party executive meeting at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2026
Time for Takaichi to tackle Japan’s political taboos
How Takaichi spends her political capital will define her prime ministership, and she may very well be in a position to finally tackle some unresolved voting issues.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a news conference at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on Feb. 9
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 17, 2026
As parliament reconvenes, Takaichi faces a balancing act
The upcoming budget debate is a test of whether the prime minister can balance her promise to work with the opposition with the need to move quickly to get it approved.
Lawmakers leave a plenary session of the Lower House on Jan. 23 following its dissolution for a snap election. A proposal to reduce the number of seats in the chamber may be put on hold following the landslide victory of the Liberal Democratic Party in the Feb. 8 election.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 17, 2026
Momentum for Lower House seat cut stalls after LDP’s election win
The Japan Innovation Party had demanded a reduction in the size of the Lower House as a prerequisite for joining the Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 14, 2026
Takaichi still wants budget to pass parliament before fiscal 2026
In order to speed up deliberations, the Liberal Democratic Party may shorten the time for questions from lawmakers in the ruling coalition.
Nobuyasu Nikai, the Liberal Democratic Party's candidate for the October 2024 Lower House election, shakes hands with supporters in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics / First person
Feb 13, 2026
Looking at politics from a different perspective
Three campaigns in 15 months showed how fragile support can be — and how national power begins far from Tokyo.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
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.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan's renewable goals.
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.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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