J Update

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) submitted a proposal for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to revise the regulation of working time of employees, which sets limitations of hours for working. Takaichi is supposed to be willing to remove those regulations to raise productivity of companies in Japan to implement her agenda for a strong Japanese economy. Labor unions are basically negative on excessive work beyond workers’ capacity. This is a traditional dispute between conservative parties and progressive ones.   Article 32 of  Labor Standards Act  (LSA) provides that an employer must not have workers work more than 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, excluding break period. The law has another provision to have overtime work. Article 36 allows an employer having workers work for 45 hours a month and 360 hours a year or less. To let the workers have that extended work, the employer needs to conclude a written agreement with labor union. This is called “36 Employee-Employer Agr...

Ministry of Environment (MOE) released   data  on appearance of wild bears in human residential area in fiscal year 2025. It indicated rapid increase of bears, greatly exceeding the previous year. Number of people who suffered from assault of bears also rose significantly. Although the government of Japan is considering measures against damages by wild bears, no viable measure has been discovered, as it meanwhile seeks protection of wildlife. According to the record of MOE, appearance of wild bear counted 50,776 times between April 2025 and March 2026. The cases in the previous fiscal year were 20.513. the number does not include the data in Hokkaido, where the greatest number of wild bears are inhabiting. The appearances gradually increased year by year and doubled from FY2024 to FY2025.   The number of captured bears, including those killed, rose to 14,720 in FY 2025, from 5,345 in the previous year. The people who were injured by wild bear counted 238 in FY2025 and 13 ...

The momentum for reform of political funds is significantly lost in current session of the Diet. While opposition parties submitted a bill for restricting political donation from companies or organizations to parties, the leading coalition by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Japan Innovation Party (JIP) does not show willingness to implement more transparent politics. A scandal over inappropriate donation to Takaichi does not make a major difference in Diet discussion.   The slush fund scandal in factions of LDP ignited discussion for making party politics more transparent. The opposition parties demanded complete prohibition of donation from private companies or organizations such as labor union to political parties. The LDP has been highly reluctant to abolish them, arguing that the abolition may obstruct people’s participation to politics.   The Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA) and Democratic Party for the People (DPP)  cosponsored  a bill to restrict donation...

Minister of Defense, Shinjiro Koizumi, visited Manila, Philippines, and had a meeting with Filipino Secretry of National Defense, Gilberto Teodoro on May 5 th . Both ministers signed on a statement in which both countries reached a deal to export used Japanese Abukuma-class destroyer to Philippines.  It is expected that the contract will make the first case for Japan to export its lethal defense equipment after it removed restriction of weapons sales in April.   Sanae Takaichi administration in April abolished five categories for exporting defense equipment, which had been rescue, transport, vigilance, surveillance and mine-sweeping. The decision enabled Japan to export lethal weapons for the first time in post-World War II era, leaving concern on weakening Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan, which renounces war as a solution of international conflicts.   The  statement  signed by Koizumi and Teodoro directed bilateral discussion on exporting Abukuma-class d...

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi issued a joint declaration on cooperation in economic security with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra on May 4 th . Both leaders signed a document for cooperation in securing supply chains of energy and critical minerals, which Japan seriously needed to maintain its economy. Believing that national security can be achieved through business context, Takaichi hopes to build a network for procurement of important materials without relying on China.   Japan-Australia Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation  recognized that economic and technological resilience was a foundation to national security, evaluating their relations “special strategic partnership.” Takaichi  called bilateral relations with Australia a “quasi-alliance” in a joint press conference held after the meeting with Albanese.   “We are committed to sharing information and consulting with each other on economic security contingencies, including ...

Six months have passed since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi commented in the Diet last November that a contingency in Taiwan could consist of Japan’s survival threatening situation in which it could lawfully use its force. Bilateral relations between Japan and China have been deteriorated, compared to the situation in the time of a couple of her predecessors. Takaichi has shown no serious effort to rebuild normality in the relations with China.   Answering to a question of opposition lawmaker, former foreign minister Katsuya Okada, at the Committee on Budget in the Lowr House in November 7 th  2025, Takaichi  argued  that it would be a survival threatening situation around Taiwan, if the case would be accompanied with use of force by a battle ship. Previous prime ministers had not made clear how Japan would react in a contingency around Taiwan.   China immediately responded to the explicit comment of new Japanese prime minister who was recognized as a hardliner a...

Construction of Japan’s rapid train system using magnetic levitation (maglev) received a green light with basic approval from a local government. Shizuoka prefecture, which is one of the seven prefectures the train will run through, has   approved  a plan of Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) to conserve environment in late March. It is expected that the construction of the system will start in Shizuoka section within fiscal year 2026, hoping to finish it in FY2036.   The government of Japan decided a plan in 2011 to build a maglev train system that would connect two biggest cities, Tokyo and Osaka. In 2014, it embarked on construction of the eastern half of the system between Tokyo and Nagoya. Although it was expected to finish in 2027, the ex-governor of Shizuoka, Heita Kawakatsu, firmly opposed the construction in the Shizuoka section, because of negative impact on environment.   The people in Shizuoka rely their drinking water on Oi River, which flows fro...

Factions in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) revive. While five major factions out of six had dissolved after the kickback scandal of political funds were revealed and the party received criticisms from voters in 2023 and 2024, they started having meetings without any declaration of reunion of the factions. Newcomers in February Lower House election formed a group supporting Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. As the president of the LDP, Takaichi has taken no action for restricting those activities. It was revealed a number of LDP lawmakers had received political fund from factions as a reward of selling ticket of fundraising parties in 2023. They did not report that income to the government. The LDP found that 85 lawmakers had received the kickback fund and punished 39 members of former Abe faction, led by late Shinzo Abe, in April 2024. All the factions except one led by former prime minister Taro Aso was dissolved to restore transparency of the politics in the leading party.   In ...

The government of Japan accelerate building shelters to protect its citizens against military attack by foreign countries. It revised its guideline for securing shelters against armed attacks in late March. However, the people are skeptical about efficiency of the shelters in a contingency. The government, anyway, does not have a viable plan to effectively deter any armed attack by a foreign country.   The government of Japan enforced in 2005  a law  for protecting Japanese citizens in a case of armed attack by a foreign country. Consecutive appearance of unidentified boats in the sea area around Japan, launches of ballistic missiles by North Korea and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or activities of international terrorist organizations encouraged the government to take measures against them. The law mandates the government to formulate basic plan for protecting the people from armed attack.   The  National Security Strategy  of 2022 requires ...

As a routine diplomacy for the prime minister of Japan in the Golden Week, when the Diet enters short recess, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi visited Hanoi, Vietnam, to have a summit meeting with Vietnamese President, To Lam, on May 2 nd . Vietnam maintains economic relationship with China, while it keeps security cooperation with the Unites States or Japan. Takaichi insisted that she would promote a concept of Free and Open Indo-Pacific which her political mentor, former prime minister Shinzo Abe, had once upheld as Japan’s diplomatic concept toward Asia.   In the  meeting  with Lam, Takaichi focused on economic security, which she had been grappling with for years. In 2023, Japan and Vietnam upgraded their diplomatic relations to “comprehensive strategic partnership,” commemorating 50 th anniversary since the establishment of their diplomatic ties in 1973. The partnership means the highest level of diplomatic relations for Vietnam. Both leaders shared their intention to m...

May 3 rd   marked the 79 th  Constitution Day, since the Constitution of Japan was enforced on this day in 1947. Current polls shows that majority of the people in Japan approve constitutional amendment, while most people are negative against immediate change of provision of the constitution. In the world with consecutive military conflicts, on which Japanese people have a concern to be entangled with, some people reaffirm the value of pacifism written in the constitution. On necessity of constitutional amendment, the majority realizes that the constitution should be changed. In the  poll  of  Kyodo News Agency , 69 percent of the respondents saw necessity of the amendment, while 31 percent did not.  Yomiuri Shimbun   reported  57 percent of approval on the same question with 40 percent of denial.  Asahi Shimbun   recognized  the same trend with 49 percent and 44 percent.   However, the answers on when the amendment would be ma...

Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Bank of Japan (BOJ)   intervened   in foreign exchange to stop depreciation of Japanese yen on April 30 th . It is estimated that the BOJ injected 5 trillion yen into the market and yen immediately appreciated by 5 yen against U.S. dollar. Although the intervention worked for deterring further depreciation, the effect of “decisive measure” is not expected to be lasting long, reflecting weakness of Japanese yen. After the BOJ and U.S. Federal Reserve Bureau refrained from changing its monetary policy in current meetings late April, Japanese yen has been depreciated to the level of mid-160 yen against one USD in April 30 th . The MOF was preparing for the intervention of purchasing Japanese yen and sell USD to protect Japanese currency from speculative trades.   Minister of Finance, Satsuki Katayama, announced that she was ready for intervention. “We are reaching the time for taking a decisive measure,” said Katayama to the press just before 5 ...

Seventy years have passed since the first patient of Minamata Disease, one of the most serious social nuisances in post-war Japan, was discovered in Minamata city, Kumamoto. Not only the company that caused the disease but the government of Japan has been accused of failing in salvaging the sufferers. The patients still demand support from the government.   A health care center in Minamata  received  a report that a patient with unknown brain symptom was hospitalized on May 1 st , 1956. The disease was later identified as neurological paralysis caused by methylmercury. This chemical material was supposed to be brought by fish in the sea, which was polluted by waste water emitted from a company that produced fertilizer, Chisso. The patients ate those fish.   In 1968, Minamata Disease was designated as a public pollution disease which was caused by pollutive material produced by industrial activities. The government had to support the sufferers as a legal obligation. A...

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi promised the voters in the Lower House election in February that she would eliminate consumption tax on foods. As she still hopes to start that reduction of consumption tax by the end of March 2027, the members of national conference on social security are pessimistic for the implementation. There came up   an option  to reduce the tax rate not from current 8 percent to 0, but to 1 percent.   “It has been my long-cherished wish,” said Takaichi on elimination of consumption tax cut in her press conference on January 19 th , when she announced dissolution of the Lower House and ensuing election in February. At the time she ran for presidential election of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in last October, Takaichi was negative on the issue, because of complication in system reform and low efficiency for low-income families. Takaichi’s attitude has occasionally been changed several times.   After a sweeping victory in the Lower House elect...

The 11 th   Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) started at headquarters of the United Nations on April 27 th . The conference is held in the time when international security faces a major uncertainty with military attacks on sovereign states by countries which have nuclear weapons. Japan is tested whether it can play a proper role as the only country in the world which had suffered from nuclear bombs.   NPT Review Conference had been held in every five years until 2015 and 2020 conference was delayed to 2022 due to COVID-19. Article 6 of  the treaty  mandates the parties to pursue negotiations “in good faith on effective measures” relating to nuclear disarmament. Nevertheless, nuclear disarmament has not been accelerated and the review conference failed in having a common document as the outcome in latest two meetings.   In his  opening remarks  of the 11 th  review conference, U.N. Secretary General, ...

The Council on Election System in the House of Representatives held a meeting with participation of representatives of each party on April 16 th . It was the first meeting since the general election in February, in which the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) achieved a sweeping victory. Pushed by its coalition partner Japan Innovation Party (JIP), the LDP proposed adding reduction of seats in the House to the council’s agenda. The opposition parties are not willing to discuss it, because they do not know why they needed to discuss it right now.   The council is one of the regular discussion bodies in the House, established every time when the members are refreshed in an election. In the  outlines  for the discussion when the council was established on April 9 th , the council determined that the parties would discuss how to draw the line of electoral districts to assure parity in value of one vote.   Chairman of the council from LDP, Keisuke Suzuki, proposed in the Apri...

Governor of Okinawa, Denny Tamaki,   announced   his candidacy for gubernatorial election on April 25 th . The election is scheduled on September 13 th . To the election, Genta Koja, vice-mayor of Naha city supported by Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), will also run. It is expected that the race will be the contest over promotion of building new military base in Henoko, the issue which divided the people in Okinawa in two for decades. Tamaki has won two consecutive elections in 2018 and 2022 as the candidate of All Okinawa group, which is formed by protesters against building the base in Henoko as the alternative facility to Futenma Air Base of U.S. Force in Okinawa. For his third term as the governor, Tamaki is going to run with support of All Okinawa, which includes opposition parties such as Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Japan Communist Party.   As the governor of Okinawa, Tamaki has been opposing building the base in Henoko by mobilizing his power to app...

The company of railway service in Hokkaido island, JR Hokkaido,   proposed   separation of its management of its eight lines on April 15 th . According to its idea, JR Hokkaido will focus on operation of train service in those lines. Maintenance of railway will be made by newly established company, including local governments. Accumulated deficit made JR Hokkaido unable to continue comprehensive management of railway business.   Except some private railway companies in urban area, the railway service in Japan had been maintained by the government of Japan since it started railway business in 1880s. As families with automobile increased in the era of rapid economic growth in 1960s, passengers of train services significantly decreased and government-owned Japan National Railway (JNR)yielded a great amount of deficit. Former prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone privatized JNR and separated it into six regional companies and one freight company in 1987. JR Hokkaido is one of thos...