The transport ministry will likely delay starting work to extend the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train line to link Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture and Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka Prefecture, sources said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/09/japan/hokuriku-shinkansen-extension-delay/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #mlit #hokurikushinkansen #bullettrains #rail #fukui #osaka #kyoto #ldp #nipponishinnokai #environment
The government, in its sixth basic program for promoting gender equality, will stipulate that it will consider legislation to legalize the use of pre-marriage family names. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/06/japan/society/japan-surname-gender-equality-program/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #society #familyregistry #familylaw #marriage #names #nipponishinnokai #ldp #women039sissues #diet
The Japanese government plans to establish a national intelligence bureau as early as July 2026, sources said Friday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/05/japan/politics/intelligence-bureau-planned/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #diet #ldp #espionage #publicsecurityintelligenceagency #defenseministry #foreignministry #cabinet
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, earned the most among leaders of political parties in the country in 2024, annual political funds reports showed Friday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/05/japan/politics/takaichi-revenue-party-leaders/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #sanaetakaichi #ldp #yuichirotamaki #dpp
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has begun discussions on increasing the income tax rate in 2027 as part of efforts to secure financial resources for a hike in the country’s defense spending. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/05/japan/ldp-income-tax-hike-defense-spending/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #defense #ldp #taxes
After a bumpy negotiation process, the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, submitted a bill that would cut at least 45 Lower House seats by the end of next year. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/05/japan/politics/seat-reduction-bill-submitted/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #sanaetakaichi #katsunobukato #hirofumiyoshimura #ldp #nipponishinnokai #diet #lowerhouse
In Japan’s political heart of Nagatacho, a question swirls: Will Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi bank on her popularity and call a snap election ahead of next year’s parliamentary session? https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/05/japan/politics/takaichi-risks-snap-election/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #sanaetakaichi #ldp #komeito #taroaso #toshimitsumotegi #shunichisuzuki
Japan should cut Upper House seats and expand the Lower House to 550 single-seat districts to end voter disparity and consolidate the 47 prefectures into nine regional blocks to make government more efficient. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/12/05/japan/right-sizing-the-diet/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #ldp #jip #komeito #sanseito #japanesecommunistparty #constitutionaldemocraticpartyofjapan #democraticpartyforthepeople #sanaetakaichi
The government and ruling parties have begun discussions on correcting what they say is an imbalance in tax revenues favoring Tokyo, which has led to widening regional disparities in administrative services. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/04/japan/tax-revenue-gap-regions/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #taxes #ldp #jip #tokyometropolitangovernment #yurikokoike
Japan’s parliament has started deliberations on three bills related to the reform of political donations from companies and other organizations. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/04/japan/politics/japan-corporate-donation-reform-bill/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #ldp #jip #komeito #lowerhouse
A proposed reduction in Lower House seats in a draft bill could affect single-seat constituencies in 20 prefectures, including Tokyo, Osaka, Gunma and Nagano, an estimate by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party found. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/04/japan/politics/lower-house-cut-effects/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #ldp #jip #lowerhouse
Japan is considering launching a new investment program for children under the country's new Nippon Individual Savings Account tax-exemption framework with the aim to expand eligibility to those under 18. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/02/nisa-program-children/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #nisa #taxes #children #investments #ldp #nipponishinnokai
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura agreed to submit a bill during the current parliamentary session that will reduce the number of Lower House seats by 10%. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/01/japan/politics/seats-reduction-ldp-jip-agreement/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #ldp #nipponishinnokai #lowerhouse #diet #hirofumiyoshimura #komeito #koichihagiuda
Dark clouds are hanging over the ruling coalition's plan to cut the number of seats in the House of Representatives. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/01/japan/politics/japan-lower-house-seat-cut-talks-uncertain/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #ldp #jip #lowerhouse
Takayuki Kobayashi said in a television program on Sunday that Japan should work on making its economic structure self-reliant, advocating for breaking away from dependence on China. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/30/japan/politics/japans-economic-independence-from-china/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #takayukikobayashi #chinajapanrelations #japaneseeconomy #chineseeconomy #trade #ldp #sanaetakaichi #taiwan
Japanese political parties are boosting spending on online outreach, with upstart Sanseito marking a fourteenfold jump in expenditures for Google advertisements in 2024. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/28/japan/politics/political-parties-online-outreach/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #2025upperhouseelection #sanseito #ldp #cdp #internet #google
The Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition has regained its majority in the Lower House, with three lawmakers agreeing to support the passage of key budget bills. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/28/japan/politics/ldp-majority/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #ldp #nipponishinnokai #sanaetakaichi #diet
The Japanese government is considering raising the fee for permanent residency to as high as ¥300,000 and that for changing or extending one’s residential status to ¥100,000. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/28/japan/politics/foreigners-policy-fee/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #expats #immigration #ldp #sanaetakaichi #nipponishinnokai
The Japan Innovation Party's parliamentary affairs chief warned that his party may leave the ruling coalition if talks on reducing the number of House of Representatives seats falter. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/28/japan/politics/jip-coalition-lower-house-seats-cut/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #ldp #jip #lowerhouse #diet
In Japan, political parties’ origins and backers are more consistent indicators of their leanings, rather than the left-right labels that apply more conveniently in the U.S. and Europe. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/27/japan/politics/explainer-political-parties-labeling/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #ldp #cdp #nipponishin #jcp #dpp #komeito #sanseito #sanaetakaichi #yoshihikonoda #yuichirotamaki #tetsuosaito #fumitakefujita #tomokotamura #soheikamiya