J Update

The special investigative committee of Hyogo Prefectural Assembly unanimously adopted a report on whistleblowing by an official of Hyogo Prefectural Government, who charged against Governor of Hyogo, Mitohiko Saito, of his misconducts in his worktime. Saito expressed his intention that he would not accept what the report said about his behavior. Hostility between the assembly and the governor continues. The special committee was established to investigate Saito’s harassment in June 2024, based on Article 100 of Local Autonomy Law which gives local assembly power of legally forcible investigation. After investigation for nine months, the special committee concluded that measures taken by Saito on this issue had been largely problematic, indicating possibility of violation against Whistleblower Protection Act. An officer of Hyogo government disseminated an anonymous document which accused  of Saito’s coercive attitude on his staffs or reception of gift from a private company. Sai...

The House of Representatives passed FY 2025 budget bill with approval of the Liberal Democratic Party (DPJ), Komeito and Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin-no Kai). Although it had not determined its attitude toward the budget bill, Ishin abruptly decided to support for the revised bill submitted by the leading coalition. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the head of his minority government, finally achieved a simple majority in the Lower House, which he deadly wanted to achieve. Although Ishin had reached a deal with the LDP and Komeito to include financial support for high school tuition in the budget bill, the party was still skeptical for approving the bill, given a relatively small revision on raising threshold for imposing income tax from 1.03 million yen to 1.6 million yen. The Democratic Party for the People (DPP) refused that revision in the policy talk with the LDP and Komeito.   Anxious about consistently low public approval rate since the Lower House election last Octobe...

  The Prosecutor General of Public Prosecutors Office Japan, Naomi Unemoto,  announced  that the office would record its interrogation on criminal suspects for preserving transparency of the investigation, even if it is done at home. There appeared some cases in which public prosecutors made offensive interrogation on the suspects these recent years. It has been demanded for public prosecutors, who have great power to indict people, to reform their coercive investigation.   Transparency of interrogation has been a great concern for the public prosecutors offices since the prosecutors in Osaka Public Prosecutors Office fabricated the data of a suspect in 2012. In the case, the prosecutors made false data about the crime of an officer with Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The Supreme Prosecutors Office indicted the prosecutors in Osaka office and the MHLW officer was found not guilty.   Although the prosecutors office introduced new system of recording voic...

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released   the vital statistics   in 2024. Japan marked the fewest live births and biggest number of deaths last year, causing ever largest natural decrease of its population. Although the government of Japan has been taking intensive policy to deal with decline of young population, the newest statistics showed insufficiency of governmental support for young generation. The total live births in Japan in 2024 was 720,988. It was 37,643 lesser than 2023, marking 5.0 percent of decrease from the previous year. The deaths increased by 28,181 from 2023 to 1,618,684. More than two people died while a new baby was born. It indicates that more old agers died in this highly aged society and young people do not increase to recover the decline of population.   Natural change shows serious situation of Japanese population. Natural decrease of population, which means gap between live births and deaths, was 897,696 in 2024, marking the highest rec...

Shigeru Ishiba Cabinet made a decision on the   draft   of Japan’s first legislation for artificial intelligence (AI) and submitted it to the Diet for further discussion. While the draft vests the government a power for investigation on operations of AI, it meanwhile promotes development and use of AI for industrial profits. The Japanese government hopes to catch up with the development of AI regulation in the world.   The government has been discussing the risk of AI, which may cause dissemination of fake information by generative AI. “While AI can contribute to the development of our country, various risks have been appearing,” says the  interim report of AI Strategy Council in Cabinet Office in February. Considering delay of technological development of AI in Japan, the government realized the necessity of promotion of AI in “an appropriate way.” It rather focuses on promotion rather than regulation.   The draft of AI Act stipulates the  purpose  of...

The leading coalition, the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, submitted a revised version of FY 2025 budget bill to the Diet. Although those two parties reduced 343.7 billion yen from the budget, accepting requests from the opposition parties, the total amount maintains the record high beyond 115 trillion yen.   While it included some requests from Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin-no Kai) and the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) to the revised budget, Shigeru Ishiba administration turned little attention to demands of the biggest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ). The revised budget bill indicates the distance between the leading parties and each opposition powers.   It is the first time in these twenty-nine years for the parties in the Diet resubmit an annual budget bill, which had once been formulated by the Ministry of Finance. There has been no example for these seventy years that the Diet parties reduce the amount of budget....

Committee on Budget of the House of Representatives made a hearing, closed to the press, to former accounting manager of Abe faction in the Liberal Democratic Party, Jun-ichiro Matsumoto, on secret fund scandal of the faction. While Matsumoto did not reveal who resumed the kickback system in 2022, it was reported that he told the public prosecutors about who asked Matsumoto for that resumption. It was likely that former Minister of Education, Hakubun Shimomura, effectively requested to maintain the system of returning sales of fundraising parties. Although some lawmakers with former Abe and Nikai faction were indicted by the public prosecutors, there remains two big questions unsolved. One is when and who started the system of secretly returning sales of fundraising party ticket to the members of faction. Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori was doubted as the leader who created the system, former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida did not make detailed interview to Mori. This doubt is not rem...

The Policy talk between the leading coalition, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito, and the Democratic Party for the People (DPP)   ended up   without reaching a deal. LDP and Komeito submitted a revised bill for raising threshold of annual income for imposing income tax without consent of the DPP. Although the leading coalition does not have a majority in the House of Representatives, it expects Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin-no Kai) to approve the bill. In the current taxation system, a person with 1.03 million of annual income (including salary) or less will not be imposed income tax. The DPP demanded that threshold be raised up to 1.78 million yen to include more people who are exempted from any income tax. The leading coalition raised the current threshold to 1.23 million yen and submitted FY 2025 bill for that policy. The DPP refused that offer, considering it as insufficient.   The leading coalition brought revised version of tax reduction. To mini...

While the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant keeps on discharging “processed water” to the Pacific Ocean, radioactive contaminated soil has been accumulated in a site close to the plant. Although the government of Japan has guaranteed to remove the soil from Fukushima within thirty years, there is no fixed plan to finalize it by then. A serious concern is raised from the people around the site.   Three nuclear reactors of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant exploded in the severe accident in 2011. They emitted 500 petabecquerel of radiation into the air and it landed on the broad area around the plant. The residents scraped the contaminated soil and kept it in their backyard. Recognizing such situation would disturb reconstruction of devastated area, the government of Japan decided that the contaminated soil should be treated by each prefecture.   The soil in Fukushima prefecture, which occupies most share of all, was collected and temporarily kept in an interim ...

As appealing his achievement with US President Donald Trump to build a “golden age” of Japan-US relationship, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is focusing his diplomacy on improvement of bilateral relations with China. He and his staffs accumulate sessions with Chinese officials to normalize trade between both sides of the sea. It is likely that Japan is preparing for possible trade war, invoked by the “tariff man” in America.   While seeking early meeting with Trump, Ishiba took opportunities to meet with Chinese leaders. Following a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in the backdrop of ASEAN leaders meeting at Laos last October, Ishiba had his first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Peru last November, where a summit meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was held. Ishiba  reconfirmed  with Xi to maintain “mutual beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests.”   Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya visited China in Decemb...

The Cabinet Office released National Accounts of Japan on February 17 th . According to the statistics,  the nominal gross domestic products (GDP) , which represents size of the economy, in 2024 was 609.3 trillion yen, exceeding 600 trillion yen for the first time. The new record was mainly supported by consumers’ price inflation. The real GDP, which excludes impact of the price hike, remained 557 trillion yen, showing still slow growth of Japanese economy.   The nominal GDP exceeded 100 trillion yen for the first time in 1973, and increased by 100 trillion yen almost every five years. It marked 500 trillion yen in 1992 just before when the bubble economy led by price inflation of real estate burst. The growth slowed down after 1990s and declined under 500 trillion yen at the time of Lehman shock and East Japan Great Earthquake.   600 trillion of GDP was the target upheld by Shinzo Abe administration, which sought strong economy with a slogan called Abenomics, which was b...

Following the cabinet decision of the 7 th  Strategic Energy Plan, the government of Japan submitted its  nationally determined contribution  (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The target set by Japan was reduction of greenhouse gasses by 60 percent compared to the level in 2013 in fiscal year 2035 (between April 2035 and March 2036). But it was proved to be falling short of the target set by the international body for tackling global warming. The 28 th  UNFDCC conference of the parties (COP 28) held in United Arab Emirates in 2023  concluded  that global greenhouse gas emissions needed to be cut 43 percent by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, to limit global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius, which was the target set in the Paris Agreement in 2015. Paris Agreement requires each party to renew its original NDC in 2015 every five years and the members are supposed to submit their climate actions through 2035 by 2025.  ...

The leading coalition looks like having paved the way for passing FY 2025 budget bill in the Diet, in which it does not have a simple majority at one of two Houses. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito on February 20 th   reached a basic agreement with Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin-no Kai) on “free education,” which Ishin upholds as its main political agenda. Ishin is supposed to vote for the budget bill in the Diet. The LDP, Komeito and Ishin wrapped up a draft to remove the threshold set at 9.1 million yen of annual income to receive 118 thousand yen of support for high school tuition. To the students going to private high school, which generally is more expensive than public high school, the government pays additional 457 thousand yen at most, regardless the amount of annual income.   The cost for those changes is estimated to be 550 billion yen. The leading coalition is going to include that cost in FY 2025 budget bill and it will be approved by the House ...

It was found that a controversial campaign in the gubernatorial election of Hyogo last November was supported by some Hyogo assembly members affiliated with Japan Innovation Party, or Nippon Ishin-no Kai. Those members with Ishin  admitted  that they had handed out document or video footage to an internet extremist, Takashi Tachibana. The leaked information was about the activities of another committee members who were critical on the scandal of incumbent governor. One of those members accused by Tachibana reportedly killed himself in January. The governor of Hyogo, Motohiko Saito, was accused of his power harassment on his staff and Hyogo Prefectural Assembly established an investigation committee. Saito chose the way to resign and run again for the election to supplement his seat by himself. The election was held in November 2024, and Saito won. Tachibana ran for the same election with a strange campaign in which he did not seek his winning but firmly recommended the voters ...

Wakayama District Court sentenced ten years in prison to a defendant, Ryuji Kimura, who hurled an explosive device to then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during an election campaign in the city of Wakayama in April 2023. Although Kimura argued that he did not have intention to kill Kishida, the court recognized the significance of interfering election which consists an important basis of democracy. Kimura has not decided whether he would appeal to the upper court.   Kimura, 24 years old at the time, threw a pipe bomb to Kishida when the prime minister was making a speech to support a candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party in a by-election of Wakayama 1st district of the House of Representatives in a building of a fishery port in the city. While Kishida managed to escape from the explosion, the bomb caused injury of an audience and a policeman guarding Kishida.   The court realized that the bomb was a handmade device which would scatter around with its fragments with expl...