51³Ô¹ÏÍø

Tag - shigeru-ishiba

 
Menu
Search
 
July 24, 2026
 

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

SHIGERU ISHIBA

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Rome on June 15. The prime minister is entering the finals days of the current parliamentary session without a serious dent in her approval.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 14, 2026
Takaichi Cabinet retains high approval ratings despite challenges
Latest polls from NHK and JNN show support declining just 1 and 5.9 percentage points, respectively, compared to polls from March.
Japan¡¯s role as a steadfast U.S. partner is reflected in its Indian Ocean support for Afghanistan?related naval operations and its reconstruction work in Iraq during the U.S.-led interventions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 21, 2026
Tell the U.S. that Japan is America¡¯s indispensable ally
Japan in recent decades has proven itself to be a reliable U.S. ally, ready to assist when needed without being overly obtrusive.
Former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) meets with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the presidential office in Seoul on Wednesday.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
Apr 8, 2026
Former prime minister Ishiba meets with South Korean president in Seoul
During their 90-minute meeting, Ishiba and Lee agreed to expand bilateral cooperation in various fields such as the economy and security.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi¡¯s landslide win gives her power but risks internal strife unless she builds alliances and new party structures to manage rivals within the Liberal Democratic Party¡¯s ranks.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 17, 2026
The trouble with winning big for Takaichi and the LDP
Landslide victories in Japanese politics can conceal fragility within the ruling party.
Nobuyasu Nikai, the Liberal Democratic Party's candidate for the October 2024 Lower House election, shakes hands with supporters in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Politics / First person
Feb 13, 2026
Looking at politics from a different perspective
Three campaigns in 15 months showed how fragile support can be ¡ª and how national power begins far from Tokyo.
Sanai Takaichi and the Liberal Democratic Party¡¯s landslide victory demonstrated that when candidates find compelling issues that affect their lives, young people show up.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 10, 2026
Japan¡¯s youth are quietly securing their nation¡¯s future
Young voters didn¡¯t just express opinions in polls, they showed up at voting stations in increased numbers, many for the first time.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and other LDP leaders celebrate at the Diet after the dissolution of the House of Representatives on Jan. 23, days after calling for a snap election.
EDITORIALS
Feb 6, 2026
Takaichi and the LDP appear poised for a big win
Takaichi¡¯s performance has surprised most observers. Not only did she take office with sky-high approval ratings, but she has maintained them since October.
DF-41 nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles are paraded in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in October 2019. Some analysts and even lawmakers are urging Japan and other countries to consider developing their own nuclear weapons.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 5, 2026
The unthinkable is on the list of Japanese security options
In the 2016 campaign, then-candidate Trump suggested that both Japan and South Korea should consider the acquisition of nuclear weapons to counter the North Korean threat.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi holds talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Nara on Jan. 13. Once a central diplomatic actor, Japan is increasingly absent as global power rivalries intensify.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 30, 2026
The cost of silence: Japan¡¯s diminishing relevance
This diplomatic fade is more than a temporary slump. Japan is experiencing a crisis of international relevance at precisely the moment when the rules-based order is fracturing.
Sohei Kamiya, leader of the Sanseito party, delivers a campaign speech in Tokyo on Tuesday.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Politics
Jan 29, 2026
Sanseito aims to win favor with conservative voters by aligning with Takaichi
The party plans to deliver on policy by positioning itself as an ally to the prime minister while targeting her left-leaning party colleagues at the ballot box.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda (left) and his Komeito counterpart, Tetsuo Saito, announce their coalition's new name, the Centrist Reform Alliance, at a joint news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 18, 2026
Komeito and CDP form new party, but doubts linger over political viability
The new party, the Centrist Reform Alliance, has an uninspired name and logo, suggesting a rushed and unconvincing partnership.
Liberal Democratic Party leader and the current prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, meets with Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of the Japan Innovation Party, at the national Diet building in Tokyo in late October.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2026
Why Takaichi would call a snap election
Takaichi may dissolving the Lower House of the parliament upon its mandatory convocation later this month, which would prompt a general election sometime in February.
Since leaving office, former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) has been openly critical of his successor, Sanae Takaichi.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Politics
Dec 31, 2025
Critics within LDP hold fire on popular chief Takaichi
Few dare to openly criticize the prime minister, but this may change once her approval ratings decline.
Although the Year of the Wood Snake promised subtlety and adaptation, the U.S., China and Japan delivered strategic blundering, authoritarian overreach and geopolitical instability instead.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2025
Good riddance to the year of the serpent that roared
As 2025 comes to a close, the Indo-Pacific¡¯s three great powers have delivered the exact opposite: strategic blundering, diplomatic bombast and economic turbulence.
Japan¡¯s JS Hyuga helicopter destroyer leads the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald (center-right), the Indian Navy Shivalik-class frigate INS Sahyadri (center-left) and the Royal Australian Navy Anzac-class frigate HMAS Ballarat during the Malabar 2025 naval exercise off Guam last month.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 9, 2025
Japan-India defense in a fragmenting Indo-Pacific
For Tokyo, sustaining India¡¯s participation is strategically vital ¡ª not only for Indo-Pacific¡¯s balance-of-power, but also ensuring China-resilient supply chains.
The navies of Japan, the U.S. and South Korea take part in a combined anti-submarine exercise in waters off South Korea's Jeju Island in April 2023. The Takaichi administration is looking to strengthen alliances to coordinate responses and mitigate regional threats under a collective deterrence approach.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 26, 2025
The argument for Indo-Pacific ¡®collective deterrence¡¯
Japan¡¯s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is boosting defense, alliances and collective deterrence to protect Japan, support allies and maintain Indo-Pacific stability.
China is using threats, diplomatic pressure, economic measures and manufactured media narratives to attack new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and influence Japanese politics.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 20, 2025
Seeking good relations with Xi¡¯s CCP is a fool¡¯s errand
China has a history of favoring Japanese leaders, going back at least to Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka in the 1970s, who are inclined to comply with its ¡°red lines.¡±
French President Emmanuel Macron addresses a plenary session at the COP30 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil, on Thursday. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is skipping the event to focus on domestic political issues.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2025
Want to fight climate change? Fight ¡®climate fatigue¡¯
The public is concerned but disengaged in the lead up to this week¡¯s U.N. climate meeting.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 30, 2025
How is Takaichi doing after a week at the helm?
The Japanese public¡¯s reaction to her first week as prime minister has been overwhelmingly positive.
National security adviser Keiichi Ichikawa (fourth from right) is seen as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump review an honor guard of the Self-Defense Forces at the Akasaka State Guesthouse in Tokyo on Tuesday.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 30, 2025
Who is Keiichi Ichikawa, Takaichi¡¯s new national security adviser?
Ichikawa is expected to play a leading role in the prime minister¡¯s ambitious endeavors on the diplomatic and security front.
Japan scientists identify clusters of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer¡¯s disease
A team of researchers said they found a ¡°seed¡± that accelerates the amyloid beta accumulation process in the brain, naming it ¡°Peak 1 amyloid beta,¡± as seen in a mouse's brain.
Indian brothers make manga debut in Japan
Two Indian brothers made their manga debut in Japan with "Kung Fu Kung Fool" ¡ª an action-comedy series that follows the adventures of a notorious thief and a young boy.
Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania
A Pokemon event is held in Jakarta on July 11
Low-income families in Japan cut food and air conditioning during summer break
Yumiko Watanabe, the chairperson of nonprofit Kidsdoor, explains the results of a survey in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on July 1.
Iran strikes on CIA facilities prompt questions about possible Russian role
Iranian drones are displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on Jan. 13, 2025.U.S. officials have acknowledged that Russia has ?provided targeting ?and other support for Iran in its drone strikes on U.S. targets in the Persian Gulf region.
The sci-fi sensibilities of electronic trio Black Boboi
Black Boboi was formed in 2018 when solo artists Julia Shortreed, Utena Kobayashi and Ermhoi came together under Kobayashi¡¯s newly founded label, Bindividual.
A perfect storm: Kaze Fujii fans flock to Fuji Rock
Okayama-born singer-songwriter Kaze Fujii has carved out a distinctive place in Japanese pop since his major-label debut in 2019.
Can Japanese comedy get laughs in English? Yoshimoto Kogyo lets the jokes rip
Wes-P has millions of followers and his viral clips made him recognizable out of Japan.
The 180-day locals: Life on Japan¡¯s digital nomad visa
Christopher Flinn works remotely from Tokyo earlier this month. Japan issued 646 digital nomad visas in 2025, but tourism officials are hoping to increase that figure in the coming years, with Japan's relatively cheap cost of living and the weak yen seen as potential draws for young professionals.
Japan reveals hint of new defense spending target in fiscal blueprint
The Self-Defense Forces' Type 16 mobile combat vehicle fires during a joint live-fire drill with U.S. Marines as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercises in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on June 28.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE 51³Ô¹ÏÍø

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER