J Update

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released   Vital Statistics   in 2025, in which annual births in Japan marked the lowest record for ten consecutive years. Total fertility rate also showed new low, giving evidence that Japanese society still in a trend of being aged. Although the government delivered policies to support young people, it is proved that they have not sufficiently working.   The number of babies born in Japan in 2025 was 671,236, reduced by 14,937 from the previous year. Total fertility rate, which means the number of babies from a mother in her lifetime, was 1.14, slightly declined from 1.15 in 2024. The average age of first marriage was as late as 31 years old with no change for three years. Although a national institute once predicted that it would be 2040 when births in Japan declines as low as 670 thousand, Japan has reached it 15 years earlier. The ministry recognizes that multiple reasons are interconnected and admits that fertility decline in J...

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi   considers  introducing new consumption tax rate for foods in April 2027, just before nationwide local elections. Although Takaichi promised 0 percent of consumption tax on foods in the Lower House election in February, it is likely that the rate will be determined at 1 percent, by seven percentage points down from current 8 percent. Takaichi administration is still looking for fiscal resource for the tax cut. When Takaichi announced her intention to have a snap election of the Lower House in January, some opposition parties embraced consumption tax cut in their campaign platform. Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA) argued that they could permanently eliminate consumption tax for foods. As a competitive policy against CRA, Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party, as one of the ruling parties,  raised  0 percent of consumption tax for foods limited to two years.   After a sweeping victory in the election, Takaichi started discussion for cons...

Bereaved family of a staff of Kinki Finance Bureau (KFB), Toshio Akagi, who was involved in falsification of official documents and killed himself in 2018,   decided  to file another lawsuit, demanding further disclosure of documents related to the falsification. Although the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has disclosed 146,000 pages of copy, some important documents were dropped. Akagi’s wife hopes to know why her husband had to die. An educational corporation, Moritomo Gakuen, obtained a government-owned land for building a new elementary school in Toyonaka city, Osaka, in 2016. While appraised value of the land was 956 million yen, it was sold at as low price as 134 million yen. The reason of the discount was explained as discovery of a large amount of debris underground. However, it was obvious that the price was regarded as extremely low price.   As wife of then prime minister, Akie Abe, was expected to be assuming the principal emeritus of the elementary school, it was s...

President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, made a state visit to Japan on May 28 th   and had a   summit meeting  with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Both leaders agreed on enhancing security relationship between their governments, including protection of classified military information. Sharing common interest to counter advance of China to the Western Pacific, the Philippines is getting the closest like-minded country for Japan in Southeast Asia.   The Philippines and Japan have been suffering from maritime advance of China in their territorial seas. China promotes landfill in the Spratly Islands of the Philippines to build military bases. It’s vessels frequently appear around Senkaku Islands of Japan to appeal its control. Both governments recently strengthen their security ties, including reciprocal access agreement (RAA) for simplifying immigration of military personnel last September and acquisition and cross-servicing agreement (ACSA) for support on foods...

Osaka City Assembly, dominated by Osaka Ishin-no Kai,   approved  a proposal to establish a statutory council for referendum over reforming the City of Osaka and some neighbor cities into a special district, modeling the current system in Tokyo. If the initiative is approved, Osaka will be called “Osaka Metropolitan District,” indicating as if Japan has two capitals. Other local parties including the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are opposing the proposal, which is driven by local organization of Japan Innovation Party (JIP=Nippon Ishin-no Kai).   The proposal to make the second capital in Osaka is called Osaka Capital Initiative, originated by former governor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, in 2010. The governor of Osaka Prefecture and mayor of Osaka City had two referendums in 2015 and 2020 to introduce special wards in Osaka. The proposal was rejected in each referendum. As Osaka Ishin seriously poured its political energy into this issue, governors of Osaka, Hashimoto and ...

It is usual for political agenda of the top leader to be diminished in the process of implementation. One of the most prioritized policies to support low-income families by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, refundable tax credit, is going to be degraded into a temporary relief of refunding. The consultative conference of Takaichi seems to have concluded that tax credit was too complicated to introduce as an achievement of Takaichi’s tax and social security reform.   Takaichi proposed two-year moratorium of consumption tax on foods and introduction of refundable tax credit thereafter as her campaign policy as the president of Liberal Democratic Party in February election of the Lower House. Following the election, she launched National Council on Social Security to implement her policy. The council has been discussing how the system of refundable tax credit should be look like.   In the meeting on May 20 th , the government of Japan, mainly led by Ministry of Finance (MOF),  ...

The Diet   enacted   a bill for installing National Intelligence Council in the government at a plenary sittings of the House of Councilors on May 27 th . Not only the leading coalition, some opposition parties approved the bill, recognizing necessity to have stricter regulation for securing sensitive information. Leaving concern on violating individual privacy behind, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi looks to have a further intelligence reform, including anti-espionage law.   The National Intelligence Council will integrate fragmented organizations that deal with intelligence in ministries of foreign affairs or defense and agencies of national police or public security. The prime minister preside the council and the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office will be upgraded to National Intelligence Bureau as a secretary of the council with 700 staffs.   In the deliberation of the Diet, the opposition parties expressed a concern that the major intelligence organization i...

The Research Commission on Security of Liberal Democratic Party approved their   proposal  to the government of Japan on revision of the three security documents (National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy and Defense Buildup Program), which Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi promotes as one of her main policies in national security. The proposal did not touch on revisioning Japan’s fundamental policy on nuclear weapons, or the three non-nuclear principles, while it encourages building up combat sustainability. The LDP is going to hand the proposal over the government in mid-June. As seen in this kind of security documents, the proposal stresses growingly severe security environment around Japan. It says that China has been weaponizing its economy, indicating effective embargo of its critical minerals, North Korea is developing its nuclear weapons and missiles and Russia is making joint exercises with China around Japan. The proposal demands the reform of Japan’s defense...

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi officially   announced  formulation of FY2026 supplemental budget. The budget is aimed at supporting families and businesses that are suffering from shortage of resources, caused by effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Prolonged war between the United States and Iran forced Takaichi into retracting her policy which would not depend on a supplementary budget. Takaichi told the press in her official residence on May 25 th  that her cabinet would submit a supplemental budget bill with 3 trillion yen of fiscal mobilization in the first week of June. She explained that a supplemental budget was necessary for minimizing risk of uncertainty, because the situation in the Middle East was still unpredictable. She insisted that the budget would be endorsed by sufficient financial resources.   Takaichi will help people’s payment for electric power and gas for this summer. Deaths of the people with a heatstroke is a serious problem in Japan re...

A project team of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)   made  a draft of legislation that punishes a crime of damaging national flag. Although the LDP expects the law to protect people’s sentiment of cherishing national flag, there is no specific example in which most Japanese citizens were hurt their love for flag of Japan. Some lawmakers concern violation of freedom of expression. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi nonetheless promotes this right-wing agenda. The draft is full of unclear concepts. What is national flag? The draft answers that it is “something commonly regarded as national flag.” It would be made of a fabric or paper, shown by hanging on a rod. The draft proposes punishment of two years or less in prison or 200 thousand yen or less of fine to damaging a national flag “in a way which causes extreme uneasiness or dislike of someone.”   The crime of damaging national flag may include destruction of one owned by an individual. Publishing a video of destroying nati...

The 11 th   review conference of the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)   was closed without agreement on the consensus outcome document. Although the president of the conference offered drafts of the outcome document, it was refused by nuclear powers that are engaging wars. Sufferers from atomic bombs in Japan at the end of World War II were deeply disappointed with the conclusion of the conference.   The conference has been held mostly every five years for implementing the NPT which is aimed at preventing spread of nuclear weapons, advancing nuclear disarmament and promoting peaceful use of nuclear energy. However, the parties failed in concluding a consensus outcome document in the last two meetings. The United States and the United Kingdom refused an initiative of nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle East in 2015 and Russia opposed description on Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine in 2022.   At the beginning of 11 th...

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)   released   a report on an accident of overturn of two boats in offshore Henoko, Okinawa, in which one of the passengers who were students of Doshisha International High School died on March 16 th . The ministry recognized that the program of the high school violated Basic Act of Education which prohibited schools to have political activity. It is concerned that the decision discourages schools to have a program related to political issues. The accident occurred when two boats cruised the sea area where construction of new military base of the United States Force. Twenty-one passengers on the boats, including eighteen students, fell into the sea. A female student and a captain of one of two boats were found dead, while others were rescued.   The boats were usually used for protesting activity against building a new base in Henoko. While the government of Japan started the landfill in 2018, the governor...

Eleven lawmakers in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) launched a study group called National Power Research Group with participation of over eighty percent of LDP lawmakers on May 21 st . While the leaders insist that the group is genuinely for policy research, no news report   took  it as it is. The group is regarded as supporters for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi who keeps high popularity. Most members joined it not to be left behind. Some take distance from it, finding a taste of fascism in it.   Takaichi published  a book  titled “Study of National Power” in August 2024, just before LDP presidential election in which Takaichi ran. The book describes her policies to strengthen Japan both in terms of national security and economy, which may consist her platform for the presidential campaign that would lead to the prime minister of Japan. Those policies are succeeded to current Takaichi administration.   The study group was established for implementing Ta...

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi visited Andong, the Republic of Korea, and had a summit meeting with ROK President Lee Jae Myung on May 19 th . It marked continuance of frequent visits by both leaders in the context of “shuttle diplomacy.” Takaichi and Lee  stressed  importance of cooperation for maintaining supply chains in an unusually volatile international situation brought by the war in Iran.   Takaichi expressed her pleasure of practicing shuttle diplomacy which both leaders concurred to promote at their first meting in October 2025. Initiated by Jun-ichiro Koizumi and Roh Moo-hyun in 2004, the shuttle diplomacy between Japan and ROK symbolized stable relations of both government with some intermissions by distrust between leaders. Takaichi has been showing her willingness to build a close relationship with Lee.   In the  last meeting  when Lee visited Tokyo in January, they had a general discussion on strategic importance of their bilateral relations, ...

The Diet held a debate between Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and opposition leaders, or Question Time (QT), for the first time in current session on May 20 th . Asked about measures for relief on recent economic difficulty with shortage of resource and price inflation, Takaichi unequivocally   announced  that she would deliver a supplementary budget, on which she had once been negative. She argued that she had been preparing for it.   Following the result of the Lower House election in February, the roster of opposition leaders has significantly been changed. Although the first questioner had been the leader of Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) in the last session or before, it was replaced by the leader of Democratic Party for the People (DPP).   As CDPJ formed Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA) with merging with Komeito in the Lower House in January, and CDPJ and Komeito remains as themselves in the Upper House, the leaders of CRA, CDPJ and Komeito respec...

The Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA)   reached   a consensus on ensuring number of the imperial family members and submitted their conclusion to a commission of party representatives in the Diet on May 15 th . The discussion on stable imperial succession is supposed to be accelerated with two options: female members remain in the family after marriage and adoption of male members in the paternal line of former family branches. With leadership of conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the discussion is leaning on the right side.   In the last meeting of the commission a month ago, all the parties except CRA have submitted their opinion. Since then, the CRA continued internal discussion and concluded to approve two options, although some were still negative on adoption of former imperial family members. The CRA expressed its conclusion that adoption of them “can be considered.”   When Yoshihiko Noda was the prime minister in 2012, the government  wrapped up ...

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi   announced   that she would consider formulating a FY2026 supplemental budget for coming summer in a meeting of leaders of leading coalition on May 18 th . Although she has been reluctant to having a supplemental budget, Takaichi is turning around, facing economic difficulty stemming from prolonged war in Iran or other international relations. Concerning possible mobilization of governmental spendings, interest rate of long-term bond showed steep hike which implied decline of bond values. No supplemental budget has been Takaichi’s one of the pillars for her economic policy titled “responsible and proactive public finances.” “We will make a clean break from our current budget formulation process in which it is assumed that a supplementary budget will be compiled each fiscal year,” said Takaichi in her  policy speech  at the beginning of current session of the Diet in February.   Takaichi’s budget reform plan was aimed at enhancing p...