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Hijackers of Illegal Stock Trades Are Arrested

A joint investigation team of police, including the Metropolitan Police Department,   arrested  two people with Chinese nationality with suspicion of violating Prohibition of Unauthorized Computer Access Act and Financial Instruments and Exchange Act in late November. Those suspects are doubted as having raised price of stock they held by hijacking someone’s online brokerage account. There have been acknowledged by the police 9.3 thousands of cases, in which illegal trades were made, since January, 2025. It is estimated that 710 billion yen was exchanged with those illegal trades. It marked the first case of arresting hijackers in those cases this year, who have been degrading internet stock trade.   Those two Chinese are suspected that they, conspiring with someone, illegally accessed 10 accounts of 10 customers of security companies on March 17 th , 2025. The suspects ordered a large volume of buying or selling shares of a certain company, which was listed on Standard M...
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Implementing Agreement on Income Tax Threshold

Sanae Takaichi administration   considers  raising the threshold of income tax from current annual 160 million yen to 178 million yen. The level of threshold has been proposed by the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), arguing that it is the core issue for the party. Prime Minister Takaichi seems to have made the decision to approach the DPP for further stability of her administration. Income tax on every individual is imposed with rate of 5 to 45 percent, depending on volume of income. Then, certain deduction is applied to the income. 580 thousand yen is basically deducted from annual income. Another 650 thousand yen of deduction is applied to a salary worker. And the government introduced additional 370 thousand yen of special deduction for a salary worker in 2025. Total tax deduction is currently 1.6 million yen.   The current tax deduction system means that a worker who earns 1.6 million yen or less does not need to pay income tax. That is the system of threshold o...
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Approval of Resumption of Nuclear Reactor for Political Survival

The Governor of Hokkaido, Naomichi Suzuki,   announced  in a regular session of Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly that he would approve resumption of reactor #3 in Tomari Nuclear Power Plant in southwest coast of Hokkaido, facing the Japan Sea. The reactor clears all the conditions for the resumption by Suzuki’s approval, and it is supposed to restart as soon as 2027. It will be the first nuclear reactor in Hokkaido to restart since the severe accident in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011. Tomari Nuclear Power Plant is owned by Hokkaido Electric Power Company (HEPCO) and has three nuclear reactors. The reactor #3, with 912 thousand kilowatts of outlet power, started its operation in 2009, which is the newest among those three. Although those three reactors stopped after the accident in Fukushima, reactor #3 passed the examination for resumption in July, 2025.   Suzuki announced his position in late November that he would approve resumption of reactor #3, because t...
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Economic Stimulus Plan Passes Lower House

The FY2025 supplemental budget bill   passed   the House of Representative on December 11 th   and it was sent to the Upper House. The Democratic Party for the People (DPP), an opposition party that takes a stance relatively close to the leading parties, and former coalition partner of the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito, voted for the bill. It is likely that the bill will be enacted within current session of the Diet, which is closing December 17 th . Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, with her minority government, is making a major achievement to stabilize her administration. Since she was elected PM in early October, Takaichi has been reiterated her ambition to make a “strong economy” of Japan. Her first attempt for the agenda was  the supplemental budget  bill with size of 18.3 trillion yen, which included her economic stimulus plan. The budget includes financial support for payment of households in gas or electricity, routine investment on building infrastruc...
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First Subsequent Quake Advisory Is Issued

A major earthquake   hit   northern Japan in late night on December 8 th . Fifty or more people were injured and minor tsunami arrived on the Pacific coast of Hokkaido and northern Honshu islands. People evacuated from their damaged house or possible major tsunami. The government of Japan   issued  a “subsequent quake advisory” for the first time since it established this category of warning in 2022. People in the designated area need to be careful for next earthquake at least for a week.   The earthquake occurred at under the sea eastern offshore Aomori prefecture at 11:15 p.m. The depth of epicenter was 50 kilometers. Estimated magnitude was 7.5 and Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) detected 6+ degree of quake in Aomori city and weaker quake in prefectures in Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi or else. Tsunamis with a meter high or smaller arrived slong the Pacific coast of those area. JMA issued tsunami warning to those area and cancelled it seven hours later. ...
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Majority of Courts Finds Last Upper House Election in Unconstitutional Situation

In their decisions over equality of value of one vote in the election of the Upper House in July, the courts are  divided between the opinions that the election was constitutional and unconstitutional. As sentences of unconstitutionality occupies the greater share of the courts, it is recognized that the parties in the House need to be serious for improving the election system by next election in 2028.   Two groups of lawyers filed 16 lawsuits to 14 high courts or their branches, arguing that 2025 July election of the Upper House had been unconstitutional, because the gap between urban and rural districts was too wide to implement requirement of the Constitution of Japan that guarantees every voters equality under the law. The high court is designated as the first court to decide this issue.   The greatest value of one vote was given to the voters in Fukui district in the election. One seat was allocated to 619 thousand voters in the district. On the other hand, 1.9 milli...
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Chinese Fighter Jets Lock Radar on JSDF Jet

Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi announced on December 7   that Chinese fighter jets aimed their radar at an aircraft of Japan Self-defense Force. Japan made a strong protest to China, as China disputed against it. While China’s motivation is not clear so far, it is recognized in Japan that this military activity of China may reflect China’s frustration with unusual comment of Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Taiwan contingency at the Diet in early November. In an unusual midnight  press conference  at Ministry of Defense, on 2 a.m. of Sunday morning, Koizumi reported that JFDF F-15 fighter jet was exposed to radar shot by J-15 Chinese fighter jets twice in the afternoon of December 6. The aircrafts were flying over international waters southeast of the Okinawa Main Island. Chinese fighter jets were installed on an aircraft carrier, Liaoning, which was in an exercise at the area.   A fighter jet installs two kinds of radar in itself: fire-control radar an...
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Landfill in East Henoko Starts

Ministry of Defense   started   landfill at east district offshore the Camp Schwab of United States Force in Henoko, Okinawa, on November 28 th . Although Governor of Okinawa firmly opposes construction of U.S. Force’s base in Henoko, which will be an alternative facility to Futenma Air Base, the government of Japan and the U.S. keep on building new base as the only choice for removing danger of Futenma Base located in urban area. The governor of Okinawa has an authority to approve building a military base in the prefecture. The landfill  was approved by former governor, Hirokazu Nakaima, in 2013. After Nakaima’s successor, Takeshi Onaga, withdrew the approval in 2015, the government of Japan sued Okinawan government, demanding confirmation that Onaga’s decision was invalid. The Supreme Court supported the argument of national government in 2016.   When national government realized that the seabed for landfilling was as soft as mayonnaise, it submitted revised plan f...
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Seat Reduction Bill Goes to the Diet

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Japan Innovation Party (JIP)   submitted   a bill for reducing seats in the House of Representatives to the Diet on December 5 th . The bill includes certain number of reductions in single-seat districts and proportional district with a clause of “automatic reduction” within a year. The opposition parties oppose the bill, criticizing it as very coercive. It is not sure that the bill will pass the Diet by the end of current session ending on December 17 th .   JIP has insisted on 10 percent reduction in the House that has 465 seats in total. While the party proposed that the reduction should be made only in proportional district with 176 seats, the idea faced firm opposition from opposition parties. Then, the LDP and JIP agreed on reducing 25 seats in single-seat districts out of 289 seats, and 20 seats in proportional district. Those reductions were included in the bill.   The most controversial part of the bill is a provision t...
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Japanese Version of DOGE Established

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi   established  the office in charge of revising special measures on taxation and subsidies in Cabinet Secretariat. Takaichi expects that the office will detect inefficiency of the national government, inspired by Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) of the United States. However, it is skeptical that the organization, which members are basically bureaucrats, can steadily promote reform of current systems in the executive branch.   There are some loopholes in taxation system in Japan for political purposes. To support the people obtaining their own house, the national government applies income tax reduction for certain years to support payment for housing loans. To help companies with a plan of technological research and development or efforts for environmental efficiency, the government also reduces tax on those companies. Such benefits are called “special measures on taxation.” This system sometimes has troubles in transparency. ...
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Introduction of Nickname Considered

Sanae Takaichi administration   starts  discussion for submitting a bill to the Diet to officialize using maiden name as nickname in Japanese society, including residents’ registration. Use of maiden name has been one of the Takaichi’s conservative agenda, as an alternative to introduction of selective separate surnames. Forming a coalition with conservative Japan Innovation Party may enable Takaichi to promote the policy. Current laws in Japan mandates a married couple to choose one of their surnames as their official name for family registration. Most couples use husband’s surnames as their official name. However, as gender equality became prevalent in Japanese society, it became frequent for a business person who has different business surname from official one. Some troubles were found in international businesses, stemming from difference between business name and official name written on passport.   With request from business community, lawmakers have been discussing...
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Defendant Reveals Details of Killing Abe

In the 12 th   trial on assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Nara District Court, the defendant Tetsuya Yamagami   revealed   the details of shooting Abe at election campaign rally in Nara city on July 8 th , 2022. Yamagami told that the reason why he targeted Abe was his vengeance on Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), or former Unification Church. It was because he thought Abe should be the main character in the relationship between the FFWPU and politics.   According to his testimony at the court, Yamagami made a gunshot on the building of FFWPU’s branch in Nara the day before he killed Abe. It was to notice the people realize that shooting of Abe would be related to the religious organization. Although he went to Okayama to shoot Abe in his campaign rally the same day, he could not achieve it due to heavy guard around Abe. On his way back home, he realized that Abe would have another rally in Nara next day. Yamagami recogniz...
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Seat Reduction within One Year

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Japan Innovation Party (JIP)   agreed   on submitting a bill to the Diet to reducing seats of the House of Representatives within a year on December 1 st . The bill would determine that the House reduces its seat by 10 percent and it would cut 25 seats in single-seat districts and 20 seats in proportional district, even if all the parties fail in concluding on the reduction within a year. The opposition parties are not supportive for the plan so far.   In the process of forming coalition, JIP raised “backup capital initiative” and social security reform as the conditions absolutely needed on October 16 th . Then, JIP abruptly added seat reduction in the Diet as the third “absolute condition” on October 17 th . The party had been demanding abolition of donation from companies and organizations to the LDP, it changed its focus in political reform from abolition of the donations to Diet seat reduction. The LDP has fundamentally been neg...
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Income from Fundraising Parties Declines

Ministry for Internal Affairs and Communications released   a report   on the balance of political funds in 2024 on November 28 th . It indicated that income from fundraising parties were significantly decreased, affected by kickback scandal in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), in which lawmakers received sales of party ticket from factions and did not report it. However, the report revealed that the LDP had heavily been relied on donations from business sector.   The total amount of income of political parties or political organizations headed by politicians in 2024 was 4.6 billion yen, declined by 46.7 percent from the previous year. At the end of 2023, the kickback fund scandal was revealed and the parties and politicians became restraint from holding their fundraising parties.   The fundraising parties with 10 million yen of each income or more held by political organizations headed by lawmakers were reduced from 279 to 170 in 2024. Total amount of the income w...
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Cabinet Approves 2025 Supplemental Budget

Sanae Takaichi Cabinet   approved   2025 supplemental budget on November 28 th , which spendings in general account of national budget amounted to 18.3 trillion yen. The defense budget is expected to reach its target of 2 percent of GDP as a sum with main budget activated in the spring 2025. The supplemental budget still relies on 11.6 trillion yen of issuance of new governmental bonds, which covers six-tenths of the spendings. The supplemental budget bill is expected to submit to the Diet and will pass it by the end of the session on December 17 th . The leading coalition by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Japan Innovation Party (JIP) recently achieved a simple majority in the House of Representatives, as the LDP included three independent lawmakers within its parliamentary group. Even though the coalition still does not have a majority in the Upper House, the budget will pass the Diet with constitutional superiority of the Lower House.   Among the spendings, 1.1 ...
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Resumption of Nuclear Reactor in Hokkaido

The Governor of Hokkaido, Naomichi Suzuki,   announced   on November 28 th  that he would approve resumption of reactor #3 in Tomari Nuclera Power Plant in western part of Hokkaido Island. “I think taking advantage of nuclear power plant is one of the realistic choices we can take for the time being,” said Suzuki to Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly. The owner of the plant, Hokkaido Electric Power Company, expects to restart the operation of reactor #3 early in FY 2027. Reactor #1 and #2 in Tomari plant stopped its operation few months after a severe accident in First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in 2011. The reactor #3, the youngest reactor in Japan, stopped in May 2012, making it the last reactor that survived for the longest time since Fukushima accident. The reactor #3 passed the examination of Nuclear Regulation Authority for resumption in July 2025, based on new regulatory standard set after Fukushima accident.   Resumption of a nuclear reactor requires not only p...
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Leading Coalition Reaches Majority in Lower House

Three independent members of the House of Representative   announced   that they would join the parliamentary group of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on November 28 th . With the participation of those three, the leading coalition of the LDP and Japan Innovation Party (JIP) secured a simple majority in the Lower House, salvaging Sanae Takaichi administration from minority government. However, the leading coalition still in short of majority in the Upper House. Representatives Tadashi Morishima (Osaka 2 nd  district), Takeshi Saiki (Hokuriku-Shin-etsu proportional district) and Hiroki Abe (Kyushu proportional district) had a meeting with LDP Secretary General, Shun-ichi Suzuki, and told that they would join LDP group. Suzuki approved their offer. They  told  that it would be important for the government to implement policies or budget bills with their participation.   The Lower House has 465 seats. The LDP had occupied 196 and JIP 34, giving the leading coal...
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Takaichi Attributes Her Comment to Opposition Leader

Both Houses of the Diet held a joint meeting of Committee on Fundamental National Policies, which is called party leaders debate or the Question Time (QT), on November 26 th . In the discussion for the first time since her inauguration, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi   attributed  her careless comment on possible Taiwan contingency to the question by a veteran opposition lawmaker. She also revealed that she did not hope to say about a specific case around Taiwan, indicating that the comment had not been what she meant. In the Committee on Budget of House of Representatives on November 7 th , a lawmaker with the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) and former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Katsuya Okada,  asked  Takaichi whether a blockade on the sea around Taiwan would make a “survival-threatening situation” in which Japan may use its force. Takaichi answered she would decide based on the actual situation.   Okada further introduced an example that the ...
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Trump Involved in Japan-China Dispute

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had  a telephone conversation   with United States President Donald Trump in the morning of November 25 th   (in the evening of November 24 th  in U.S. eastern time), a half day after Trump had talked with Chinese President Xi Jinping through telephone. Although Takaichi refused to reveal the topic of her talk with Trump, it was more than obvious that they discussed Taiwan, over which Japan and China have a diplomatic row.   China has been very swift on taking advantage of Takaichi’s reference to Taiwan contingency, indicating Japan’s possible use of force. China demanded Japan to revise and retract Takaichi’s comment, recommended its citizens not to travel to Japan, resumed ban on importing Japanese seafoods and treated Japanese envoy for explaining Japan’s standpoint with arrogant manner.   Possibly knowing Japan’s sentiment that it did not want the quarrel stemming from careless statement of its prime minister to go beyond a...
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