J Update

The Cabinet led by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba   approved  a “roadmap” to final disposal of decontaminated soil produced by a severe accident in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) in 2011. The roadmap aims at starting selection of location for final disposal site for the soil in anywhere in Japan except Fukushima by the end of 2030. The government of Japan needs to remove the decontaminated soil from intermediate stockyard in Fukushima by 2045.   The ash emitted from broken nuclear reactors in the FDNPP and fell on the soil in Fukushima and other prefectures around it created contaminated soil to be disposed in 2011. The government built in 2015 a temporary disposal site in Fukushima, against concern of the people there, and stockpiled contaminated soil gathered from land surface in Fukushima. It promised that it would remove the soil from Fukushima within thirty years. However, the government has no plan so far to build a final disposal site to remove the so...

The investigation team of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and other prefectural police offices arrested six managers of pachinko business with suspicion of violating Public Offices Election Act. They are suspected to have paid their employees reward on voting for specific candidate in the Upper House election in July, who were supposed to represent interest of their business. The candidate was on the slate of leading Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).   Pachinko, or upright pinball, is a form of gamble in Japan. Players get prize from pachinko parlor and there are dealers around the parlor who exchange those prizes into cash. About 67 hundred  pachinko parlors  are in Japan, which  annual sales  amount 15 trillion yen. It is  estimated  that 80 percent of pachinko halls are run by Korean-Japanese or their descendants.   Lee Changbeom, the president of Derupara Group with nationality of South Korea, and other managers  are arrested  wit...

The Cabinet Office (CO) released its   estimation  that indicated about 516 thousand people alongside Pacific Coast in Japan would need to evacuate in advance, in case Nankai Trough Great Earthquake occurs, to escape from huge tsunami. A large number of people who need to evacuate is aged or disabled ones. It is expected that the number of evacuees will increase as study for the great earthquake.   The CO has a recommendation of evacuation when Nankai Trough Great Earthquake, which is expected to cause great tsunami on the coastal area from Kanto to Kyushu, is supposed to be applied to the people in specific area before tsunami arrives at their region. Those people are required to leave their place before the earthquake occurs, when the national government issues “temporary earthquake information” to warn a huge earthquake.   The local governments  has designated  some area for evacuation in advance to protect people who are supposed to be difficult in agil...

While some new small parties achieved significant victories, traditional opposition parties resulted in certain defeats in the Upper House election in July. As leading Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) reviews its miserable setback, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin-no Kai) and Japan Communist Party (JCP) respectively discuss who in the party are responsible for their unpopularity to the voters.   Although the LDP and its coalition partner Komeito  reduced  their seats to lose its majority in the Upper House, the top opposition party, CDPJ, failed in gaining surge, obtaining the same 22 seats as the number it had before the election. Although Ishin added one seat, it was not recognized as satisfactory result, not taking good opportunity for the opposition parties. The JCP had 7 seats to be reelected, it won only 3 seats in the election. The votes left the leading coalition went to two relatively conservative opposition ...

The President of Republic of Korea, Lee Jae-myung, visited Japan and   had a summit meeting   with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at Prime Minister’s Official Residence in Tokyo on August 23 rd . Both leaders agreed on promoting “cooperation of future-looking” in the time they need to share common views on growing security concern imposed by neighboring countries and economic pressure by Donald Trump administration of the United States. Lee chose Japan as the first destination for his first foreign visit since his inauguration as the president in June. Although he has been known as one of the fundamental critics against Japan, as seen in opposition to discharge of contaminated water from crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to the Pacific Ocean, Lee takes softer position toward Japan after winning the presidential election in June, upholding “pragmatic diplomacy.”   In a joint press conference after the meeting, Ishiba welcomed Lee’s visit of Japan as the first f...

Japan and African countries reached an agreement called “ Yokohama Declaration ,” which would promote further economic cooperation between them, in the 9 th   Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) held in Yokohama during August 20 th   to 22 nd . Japan tried to pave the way for a shift from aid to investment in relation with Africa. However, it showed its limit to reach the African market, which is called the last frontier.   TICAD is a framework for development, established by initiative of Japan in 1993, when its prime minister was Morihiro Hosokawa. The biggest goal at the time was to get support from African countries to Japan’s possible candidacy for permanent membership in the Security Council of the United Nations. While the conference had been held in Japan every five years, the pace was accelerated to once in three years alternately in Japan and Africa from 2013.   Yokohama Declaration sets three pillars for development in Africa. One...

Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo)   released   its draft of summary on its campaign in the Upper House election voted on July 20 th , 2025. The biggest organization of labor union in Japan welcomed decline of power of the leading coalition to less than majority, as well as in the Lower House. However, the confederation regretted that the opposition parties upheld a policy of consumption tax cut, which was different from Rengo’s basic stance.   In the time of post war confrontation between employers and employees, as reflecting basic structure of capitalism vs. socialism in the Cold War, Rengo had been supportive for the labor side, making a contrast against Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) which supported the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). After Japan Socialist Party disappeared in 1996, Rengo has mainly been supportive for the opposition parties, including Democratic Party of Japan which led its government between 2009 and 2012.   Currently, Rengo is ...

The Liberal Democratic Party   entered  in a process to decide whether it would have an early presidential election before the term is expired. The party has no precedent of having a presidential election without voluntary announcement of an incumbent president to step down. The election committee considers how it can confirm the intention of party members on whether they should have this unusual election.   The LDP party platform provides that a presidential election should be held when majority of its members requested it. The majority is fulfilled with over the half requests of the sum of all the lawmakers and its prefectural branches. Since the rule was introduced in 2002, when replacement of former prime minister Yoshiro Mori took long period of time, there is no example that it was applied to a presidential election. All the early presidential elections have been held with announcement of resignation by the president.   The LDP lost majority of the Lower House ...

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba eventually restores support for his Cabinet in mid-August. In the   poll   of   Asahi Shimbun , the responders who thought the prime minister did not have to resign increased, as approval rate showed certain rise from the previous month. The trend of public support for Ishiba may have impact on the struggle for replacing Ishiba with early presidential election. Since the Liberal Democratic Party suffered from serious defeat in the Upper House election in July, public support for Ishiba declined, accelerating argument in the LDP to seek replacement of Ishiba as the president. However, Ishiba insisted on remaining the seat to deal with tariff negotiation with the United States, or to deliver message for 80 th  anniversary of Hiroshina, Nagasaki and the end of the war.   Asahi poll, conducted on August 16 th  and 17 th  showed that who thought Ishiba should resign was 36 percent, declining by 5 percentage points from July, an...

A holding company of one of the major newspapers in Japan, Yomiuri Shimbun,  filed a lawsuit  to Tokyo District Court against a startup on artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the United States. Yomiuri argues that Perplexity AI of the United States caused damages by using Yomiuri’s articles without authority in search services, taking advantage of generative AI. It marked the first case for Japanese press organization to sue AI technology company.   Yomiuri  demanded  Perplexity to stop using its articles and 2.168 billion yen of compensation for damages. The newspaper company calculated that 119,467 articles were used without authority between February and June in 2025, each of which worth 16,500 yen based on ordinary price of an article. Yomiuri argues that Perplexity violated copyright and the right of public transmission.   In addition, Yomiuri focused on its damage on advertisement, which income would have been received by Yomiuri through its we...

The Special Investigation Division of Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office   made a summary indictment   against former secretary of a member of House of Representatives, Koichi Hagiuda, with charge of violation of Political Funds Control Act on August 15 th . The secretary is suspected to have failed in reporting sales of ticket for fundraising parties, which consists of a typical case in the slush fund scandal of some factions in the Liberal Democratic Party, Hagiuda issued a comment to apologize on the case, refusing to resign as a lawmaker. The secretary, who had been in charge of managing political funds of Hagiuda, did not report 19.52 million yen of income from the sales of tickets for fundraising parties between 2020 and 2022. The fund was returned from Abe faction, as the reward of ticket sales beyond the quota allocated to each lawmaker. Statute of limitation was applied to 8 million yen between 2018 and 2019.   In the investigation of the LDP, it was found that the ...

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba   announced  that the government of Japan would make a historical change in rice production policy. Although it has been restricting rice products to maintain price to be affordable for farmers, the government begins to increase total production with lessons of rice shortage continuing from last year. It marks a turning point of Japan’s post-war rice policy by ending reducing rice paddies. Suffering from shortage of rice through the time of the World War II and its post-war reconstruction period, the government of Japan maintained highly  protectionist policy  on production of rice which is the staple food for the Japanese. It was 1970s when the government introduced the policy of reducing rice production to prevent decline of rice price caused by overproduction. With dietary change of the Japanese from rice to breads, consumer’s demand of rice eventually dropped down.   When unusual price hike of rice occurred in 2024, the governme...

The government of Japan held National Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead at Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, on August 15 th . In his address to the ceremony, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba   referred to “remorse”   for the war, changing the course from former conservative administrations. While he could not catch up the date of war end, Ishiba still seeks an opportunity to deliver his message to the public as the prime minister at the year of 80 th  anniversary.   “Today, the vast majority of our population belongs to generations that have never experienced war,”  stated  Ishiba in the ceremony. “Now more than ever, we must engrave deeply in our hearts the remorse for and lessons from that war,” he added in his address. It marked Ishiba’s insistence on taking further pacifist stance than previous administrations including one led by his former political rival, Shinzo Abe.   Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama used phrase of “remorse” in the ceremony in 1994....

Osaka Metro Chuo Line, one of the subway lines in Osaka, stopped with trouble of blackout from late night on August 13 th   to early morning of August 14 th . The line is the only public train that connects the site of Osaka Kansai EXPO 2025, which is on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, and downtown Osaka.   About 30 thousand people were left  in the EXPO site and a large number of them stayed until next morning in highly hot and humid environment. The transportive accident revealed vulnerability of international event in a closed land.   It was about half past 9 p.m. on August 13 th  when Chuo Line stopped. Osaka Metro found that electricity for the subway lost power by short circuit on the third rail located between Yumeshima station, where EXPO site was, and Cosmo Square station. The blackout was caused by wrapping sheet covering a connecting point of the third rail. It is supposed that iron powder or dust was attached on the sheet.   The trouble was r...

Japan Air Line marked on August 12 th   the fortieth anniversary of a tragic   accident  of JAL123 crashed on a hill in Gunma prefecture in 1985, in which 520 crews and passengers died. As they have been every year, the families of victims climbed the hill of Mt. Osutaka to remember their loved ones and pray for eternal safety of aviation. However, it is a concern how to maintain memory of the incident with world’s greatest number of victims in one accident.   After 12 minutes from taking off Haneda airport, Tokyo, on August 12 th , 1985, the captain of JAL123 destined for Osaka  heard  a sound of explosion in rear part of the airplane. The plane lost control and disappeared from radar, leaving conversation with the ground control in Tokyo which indicated trying to get back to Tokyo. About 30 minutes later, the airplane is supposed to crash on the ridge of Mt. Osutaka, 120 kilometers away from Tokyo to the northwest. Although the smoke was found from the hi...

The organizations for law enforcement   issued   reports on false investigation on a spray dryer manufacturer, Ohkawara Kakohki, on July 7 th . One of those organizations, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (TMPD) admitted that the investigation toward managers of the company about suspected illegal export of their products was in short of basic principle for investigation, and the top leader of TMPD publicly apologized it. However, it showed certain limit in internal review on false investigation. The police arrested in 2020 three managers of Ohkawara Kakohki, including its president, with suspicion of illegal export of spray dryers which could be developed for weapons. Although the spray dryer was not fulfilling condition of illegal export, the police ignored negative information and maintained the managers in custody, one of whom died in detention.   Tokyo High Court found in May that the investigation by police had been illegal and the decision was fixed with abando...

The Government of Australia   announced  that its Navy would introduce new frigate of Japan. The upgraded Mogami-class frigate made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industry (MHI) will be in operation in 2030. Although Japan had strictly regulated exporting weapons to overseas, the policy was changed by Shinzo Abe administration in 2018. Export of a warship to Australia may accelerate Japan to be involved in international conflicts. Considering maritime advance of China, Australia is promoting renewal of frigates for its Navy, and Mogami-class of MHI and MEKO A-200 of Germany became the last two candidates at the time of last November. After final selection process, the government of Australia decided to appropriate 10 billion Australian dollar for eleven Mogami-class frigates. Japan and Australia will coordinate for developing the vessels.   Australia needs to update its fleet to deal with security challenges in the Pacific Ocean, focusing on China’s advance in South China Sea and ot...

Donald Trump administration of the United States   activated   “reciprocal” tariffs, ranged between 10 percent and 41 percent, on all imported goods on August 7 th . It did not include special measures to mitigate damage on Japanese products, which had been agreed by both sides on July 22 nd . Although Trump administration admitted that the drop of the special measures for Japan from the executive order was a mistake, it is not sure when the executive order will be corrected.   In the agreement on July 22 nd , both government of Japan and the U.S. hit  a deal  that tariffs on all the Japanese products would be reduced from alleged 25 percent to 15 percent, including cars which had been imposed 27.5 percent of tariff. Japanese government explained that the agreement was mostly the same as the deal between the U.S. and European Union, in which the tariff beyond 15 percent will not be changed.   New tariff rate announced by the U.S. administration was imposing...