J Update

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced that he would freeze the governmental plan to raise expense cap of high-cost medical care, which had been set to start in this August. Although he has been insisting on maintaining the plan, Ishiba finally gave up his idea of the introduction, receiving worries of his party colleagues about negative impact on next election of the House of Councillors this summer. Plan B is going to be presented in this fall or later. While Japan has a universal medical care system, the government has been anxious about financial restriction for maintaining current system. It decided without consultation with patients last December that the upper limit of patients’ payment for expensive medical care, such as advanced treatment for cancer, would be raised with three phases between August 2025 and August 2027. For a family with average income, it was estimated that the cap for monthly payment would rise from 80 thousand yen to 139 thousand yen.   The expense cap...

Prince Hisahito of Akishino had his ever first   press conference   on March 3 rd , taking opportunity of coming of age of 18. Recognizing his position as the second in line to the throne, Hisahito showed his willingness to take responsibility as a member of the imperial family. The topic extended from his personal interests to his future including marriage. Born on September 6 th , 2006, Hisahito was raised as the third child, and also as the first son, of Prince Akishino who is the younger brother of current Emperor Naruhito. As Naruhito does not have any male child, Hisahito is ranked as the second position to succeed to the throne, next to his father Akishino. The Article 1 of  Imperial House Law  determines that “ The Imperial Throne shall be succeeded to by a male offspring in the male line belonging to the Imperial Lineage. ”   Hisahito already had the eighteenth birthday in September 2024. It was the time for him to study very hard for college entrance e...

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....