J Update

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reportedly   decided   to reshuffle board members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and her cabinet ministers on September 16 th . Overall speculation of news media is that Takaichi will not change most core members of her team. It can simply be a reshuffle for including Japan Innovation Party (JIP) in her cabinet to reinforce her leading coalition. It is unclear whether approval rate for her cabinet will show a boost.   It is ordinary for an LDP administration to simultaneously renew members of LDP board and cabinet, because the prime minister casts political power through both of them. In 2022, the LDP revised its  constitution  that the term of board members would be one year and they cannot stay the same position beyond three years. It was to keep the party refreshed and avoid concentration of political power. Because the term of LDP board members expire every year, the cabinet is also reshuffled at the same time.   Tak...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)   announced  that it would buy back the rice for national reserve, which had been released to stabilize rice trade in 2025. Realizing that the farmers will harvest certain amount of rice this fall, the ministry decided to increase national reserve, meanwhile expecting to stop decline of rice price. It is questioned, however, whether the policy may cause rice price hike in the time of prolonged price inflation.   In February 2025, the government decided to release national rice reserve to settle price increase of rice. As release of national reserve had been limited for recovery from unexpected natural disaster, the release in 2025 made the first example of release for stabilizing rice trade.   The MAFF released 590 thousand tons of rice out of 960 thousand tons of the national reserve. Currently the reserve was reduced to as low as 320 thousand tons. The ministry found that 24 prefectures out of 47 expected t...

The biggest opposition party in the Diet, the Central Reform Alliance (CRA), is destined to   separate  into two with former party line between the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) and Komeito. The movement to construct a major group as the alternative of ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) came to an end in seven months. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi seems to be obtaining further arbitrary power in politics with fragmentation of opposition powers.   In the trilateral meeting of leaders with CRA, CDPJ and Komeito on August 31 st , they reconfirmed that CDPJ will not join the CRA. Although Komeito had been willing to join the CRA, even if the CDPJ would be delayed in the merger, it changed its stance when it realized the reluctance of the CDPJ. Komeito dismissed a proposal from the CDPJ to form a parliamentary group in the Upper House.   When the CRA is divided into two parties, governmental subsidy for the party would evenly be divided. But if they t...

The average of minimum wage in Japan in 2026 was   settled  at 1,177 yen per hour, increasing by 56 yen from the previous year. While it marked the second largest hike, following 66 yen of the plus in 2025, the result in negotiation in 2026 showed a possibility that the trend of large increase has peaked out. It partly reflects political stance of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who stands closer to the mangers than workers.   Minimum wage is set for each company to guarantee its workers minimum hourly payment. This benchmark works to raise workers’ wages in every workplace, because every company hopes to obtain better workforce than others by raising payment for their work. If minimum wage of a company increases, other companies also need to distinguish themselves with higher wage than the lowest payment which is catching up with them.   The minimum wage is decided in every prefecture. Each prefecture is categorized in one of three groups from A to C. Six urban prefe...

The Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA), the greatest power among the opposition parties in Lower House of the Diet, is destined to be divided into two with a failure in integrating their former colleagues in the Upper House. Their attempt to build a major power against Sanae Takaichi administration was deadlocked, with internal discordance over policies and elections. Absence of powerful opposition power encourages Takaichi to promote her own agenda which may not be preferrable to majority of the people.   The CRA was established in January with merger by Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) and Komeito to counter ruling coalition by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Japan Innovation Party (JIP). Although the new party was formed by the Lower House members of CDPJ and Komeito, who were preparing for the election, the CRA leaders expected that Upper House members of both parties would join the new party later.   However, serious setback in the election urged those U...

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) on August 31st closed   budget requests  from other ministries for fiscal year 2027. As Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi removed the limit of request to encourage investment for economic security, the total amount of the requests far exceeded that of last year, leaving concern on fiscal resource. Reflecting that concern, long-term bond yieald immediately showed steep hike.   The MOF pulls each ministry’s budget request together for next fiscal year in every August. It examines those requests between September and December, and some projects which is not necessary in terms of national interest are removed. This has been recognized as an exclusive authority given to the MOF. With detailed examination by the MOF, a draft of annual budget is formulated in late December and it will be submitted to and discussed by the Diet from January to March. With approval of both chambers of Diet, the budget plan will be applied to new fiscal year starting April....

Japan 10-year governmental bond yield   hit   a benchmark 3 percent on September 1 st , for the first time in these thirty years. Since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took her seat in October 2025, the yield has been hiking, as she delivers messages for active investment without reliable fiscal resource. Not only her fiscal policy, prolonged inflation caused by unstable international security situation and pressures for raising interest rate of the central bank, mainly from the United States, can further raise the yield, adding concern on Japanese economy.   The bond market in Japan marked 3.005 percent of yield for 10-year governmental bond in September 1 st . According to a brokage firm, this is the highest level since September 1996 when the bubble economy had burst a few years before and concern on health of fiscal balance of the government of Japan was swelling. The direct reason of the yield rising was a speculation that the central banks of Japan and the United Stat...

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)   requested  the city of Hitachi-Omiya, Ibaraki, to accept a literature survey for selection of the site of high-level nuclear waste disposal. If Hitachi-Omiya accept the survey, it will be the fifth municipality which approves to join the process of selection. It also will be the closest city to Tokyo among those five. As other frontrunners, the residents in Hitachi-Omiya started protesting the decision of the city. The government of Japan decided in 2000 to bury highly radioactive nuclear wastes, including used fuel rods produced from nuclear power plants, in the deep underground, which method was named “geological disposal.” It is estimated that those wastes take one hundred thousand years to be harmless. METI released  a nationwide map  of “scientific features” relevant for geological disposal in 2017.   Designated as an area where was assumable to be preferable, Hitachi-Omiya was picked as a possible region for...

Chubu Electric Power (CEP)   announced   on August 27 th  that it had made false reports on their decommissioning of two used reactors in its Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant. It fabricated the data of decommissioning to pretend that they were making progress along with its plan, in which the process would be finished by the first half of 2040s. Other false managements had been revealed in the Hamaoka plant. The consecutive scandals erode confidence on nuclear power generation.   The reactor #1 of Hamaoka plant started its operation in 1976 and the #2 in 1978. Those two reactors finished its operation in 2009 and entered the process of decommissioning. CEP made a plan to decommission them by the first half of 2040s. The process for decommissioning has four phases. They are in the third phase from 2024.   While power companies in Japan had been reserving fund for decommissioning, the system was changed in 2024. Each company deposited its fund to a governmental authori...

Mayor of Yokohama City, Takeharu Yamanaka,   announced  on August 28 th  that he would step down, taking responsibility of his power harassment on his staff. Although he had been refusing his resignation, the major parties in the city assembly requested him to leave. It is not unusual for a leader of local government resigns with scandal of harassment on the staffs. Yamanaka has not decided to run for the election to fulfill the vacant seat of the mayor.   In January 2026, an officer of Yokohama city government held a press conference and asserted that he had suffered from power harassment by Yamanaka. He argued that he was personally insulted by Yamanaka on his management of his job. With a resolution of its city assembly, Yokohama city government launched a third-party committee for investigation.   According to the report of the committee in July, Yamanaka was involved in seven types of harassment on his staffs. They  included  barking, hitting desk...

The leader of Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), Shun-ichi Mizuoka,   announced   that his party would not join the Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA) in a meeting with the leaders of CRA and Komeito on August 28 th . Instead, Mizuoka proposed forming an integrated parliamentary group in the Upper House, but Komeito unequivocally rejected it. It is possible that Komeito will leave the CRA to seal its fate.   When the CDPJ and Komeito established the CRA in January for Lower House snap election initiated by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the Upper House members of the CDPJ and Komeito did not join the new party. Result of the election was fatal for the CRA, having lost significant number of the seats. Criticisms on merger of two parties without integration on basic policies damaged mainly former-CDPJ candidates in single-seat districts.   The CDPJ and Komeito in the Upper House accumulated discussions over when they would join the CRA, setting a time limit a...

Gubernatorial election of Okinawa was officially   announced  on August 27 th . The voting day is September 13 th . Six candidates ran for the governor and embarked on their campaign. The race is effectively an one-on-one battle between incumbent Denny Tamaki on the liberal side and Genta Koja from conservative group. While Tamaki appeals stopping construction of a military base in Henoko area, Koja advocates promotion of economic policies, not focusing on the base issue.   Tamaki achieved victories in two previous elections, upholding firm opposition to building a military base of the United States Force in Henoko. But his efforts to block the construction by the government of Japan have been defeated. Although Tamaki refused the construction plan with concern about the seabed as soft as mayonnaise, the government of Japan filed a lawsuit against Tamaki’s decision. The Supreme Court approved the argument of the national government in 2023.   Making peace is the main...

The president of International Criminal Court (ICC), Tomoko Akane, held   a press conference   on the sanction of the United States to her and another ICC staff at Japan National Press Club on August 26 th . Akane accused the decision of the U.S. and insisted on her determination to implement rule of law, while thanking support from Japan. However, a discussion about weakness of the government of Japan on this issue arose among political parties.   The U.S. Department of State issued a  statement  on August 18 th  which imposed sanction on Akane and an ICC Trial Lawyer. “The ICC is a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate,” says the statement in the name of Rubio. The U.S. is not a member country of ICC, not having ratified Rome Statute which is the treaty for establishing the ICC.   In her web press conference connecting Hague with Tokyo, Akane refuted argument of the U.S....

It has been   three years  since Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) started discharging “processed water,” which means allegedly purified radioactive water, from crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) into the Pacific Ocean. Although TEPCO kept on making effort of increasing water to be discharged, the stock of contaminated water has been reduced by 7 percent. It is estimated that the tanks with contaminated water will not be empty by the targeted year of 2051.   FDNPP lost its electricity when it was soaked in seawater of tsunami woken by East Japan Great Earthquake on March 11, 2011. Reactors #1, #3 and #4 had hydrogen explosion and meltdown of nuclear fuel occurred in reactors #1, #2 and #3. TEPCO, with advice of the government of Japan, decided to cool down the radioactive debris with water, which would produce contaminated water.   While it stocked that water in 1,046 of tanks built on the FDNPP site, it increased to a limit. Then, it started d...

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi promotes revising three security documents by the end of this year. Experts of this issue have been accumulating discussion for enhancing Japan’s defense capability in the time security environment around Japan is increasingly unstable. Takaichi hopes to connect investment in defense equipment or related productions with economic growth, the policy which is criticized as new militarism by China.   Takaichi launched in April  an experts’ council  to discuss the direction of revision of three security documents: National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy and Defense Buildup Program. Although they were renewed by former prime minister Fumio Kishida in 2022, Takaichi has been arguing that they would need to be revised, considering pressure from Donald Trump administration of the United States to accumulate defense budget. The U.S. demands Japan to increase defense budget from current 2 percent of its GDP to 3.5 percent.   The expe...

Takaichi seems to have gone through this hot summer without obvious loss of her popularity. Polls conducted by news organizations in mid-August showed mostly the same approval rate for Takaichi Cabinet as it had been in the previous month. While she refrained from visiting Yasukuni Shrine on August 15 th  to avoid accusations from neighbor countries, natural disaster did not damaged Takaichi administration. However, consumption tax cut imposes uneasiness on the people, indicating slight decline in her approval rate. August is the month when the Japanese people remember the devastation of the World War II on the day of atomic bombing in Hiroshima on 6 th  and in Nagasaki on 9 th , and unconditional surrender with announcement of the Emperor on 15 th . Although Takaichi had been advocating prime minister’s visit to Yasukuni on August 15 th  to comfort souls of war dead, she refrained from it, considering protest from China.   33 percent of respondents in the poll of...

Encouraged by the policy for active investment by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the ministries are making active request for FY2027 budget. It is likely that the total amount of all the requests   will exceed  130 trillion yen for the first time. As Takaichi removed limit of budget request from each ministry, a great question remains: How the government can find the resource for the requests.   Every ministry makes budget request to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) by the end of August every year. The MOF examines details of the request through the fall and formulate a budget draft in December. The budget plan made by the MOF is submitted to ordinary session of the Diet, which is ordinarily convoked in January, and the budget bill is discussed in both chambers of the Diet. The leading parties make effort to pass the bill by the end of March, because new fiscal year starts in April.   The total amount of request in 2025 was 122 trillion yen, marking the record high. But...