The 158th edition of the weekly newsletter aggregating news on Japanese politics. This week focuses on the Ishiba-Trump summit, the GOJ approved “active cyber defense” bill, the Japan-Saudi Foreign Ministerial Dialogue, the visit by Australia’s defense force chief, ongoing negotiations between the ruling parties and opposition parties on budget-related items, a high court ruling on the “Moritomo documents,” SoftBank and OpenAI’s new AI servicing company, the GOJ’s Rapidus support bill, the possibility of further rate hikes, wage statistics, and more.
Tag Archives: Politics
The Weekly Observer: January 27-31
The 157th edition of the weekly newsletter aggregating news on Japanese politics. This week focuses on next month’s Ishiba-Trump summit deliverables, the first Japan-U.S. defense ministers’ phone call under the second Trump administration, the first full week of the Diet session, the indictment of a Tokyo LDP staffer over the local fundraising scandal, the implementation guidelines for the security clearance system, the BOJ and additional interest rate hikes, excess migration to Tokyo, and more.
The Weekly Observer: January 20-24
The 156th edition of the weekly newsletter aggregating news on Japanese politics. This week focuses on the GOJ’s first diplomatic engagements with the new Trump administration, the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting, Iwaya’s foreign policy speech, the delays in deploying advanced stealth fighter jets, Ishiba’s policy speech to the Diet, a preview of the ordinary Diet session, the summer Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, the Rapidus support bill, the GOJ’s proposed pensions system reform, the Monthly Economic Report, and more.
The Weekly Observer: January 13-17
The 155th edition of the weekly newsletter aggregating news on Japanese politics. This week focuses on the Ishiba administration’s preparatory work for Trump 2.0, the ruling party delegation’s visit to China, Foreign Minister Iwaya’s diplomatic engagements with the Philippines and South Korea, Defense Minister Nakatani’s engagements with Indonesia, a brewing new political scandal for the LDP, the GOJ’s planned AI legislation, rumors of the Bank of Japan hiking rates, the current account balance, and more.
The Weekly Observer: January 6-10
The 154th edition of the weekly newsletter aggregating news on Japanese politics. This week focuses on the ruling party delegation heading to China, the appointment of a new national security advisor, Nakatani’s visit to Indonesia, Ishiba’s new year’s press conference, the ruling parties and Ishin’s talks over free high school education, the Nippon Steel saga, METI’s plans to develop an advanced chip testing site, the latest details on the AI legislation, the BOJ’s Sakura Report, and more.
The Weekly Observer: December 30-January 3
The 153rd edition of the weekly newsletter aggregating news on Japanese politics. This week focuses on Ishiba’s likely summit with President-elect Trump after his inauguration, rumors of a new defense equipment export strategy, Ishiba’s domestic political challenges in 2025, the LDP’s presidential election rule changes, Biden rejecting the U.S. Steel buyout, Kumamoto’s request for a third TSMC facility, a new record in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and more.
The Weekly Observer: December 23-27
The 152nd edition of the weekly newsletter aggregating news on Japanese politics. This week focuses on Foreign Minister Iwaya’s visit to China, Ishiba’s scheduled visit to Malaysia and Indonesia next month, the latest developments regarding the JSDF scandals, the FY 2025 budget and tax system reform plan, a summary of the extraordinary Diet session, developments related to the slush fund scandal, the Honda-Nissan merger, the GOJ’s AI legislation, the GOJ’s energy-related documents, average wages in 2024, and more.
The Weekly Observer: December 16-20
The 151st edition of the weekly newsletter aggregating news on Japanese politics. This week focuses on the potential Trump-Ishiba summit in early January, Ishiba’s conversation with acting ROK President Han Duck-soo, Defense Minister Nakatani’s reported visit to the U.K. next month, the FY 2025 tax system reform plan, the political reform legislation, the testimony from slush fund implicated lawmakers, the Bank of Japan’s decision to maintain policy interest rates, details on Japan’s AI legislation, merger talks between Honda and Nissan, the record-high number of tourists traveling to Japan, and more.
The Weekly Observer: December 9-13
The 150th edition of the weekly newsletter aggregating news on Japanese politics. This week focuses on Ishiba’s reported visit to Southeast Asia next year, the inaugural Japan-U.S.-Philippines maritime dialogue, Japan-U.S. engagements in defense, the prospects of FY 2024 supplementary budget passage, the LDP-Komeito-DPFP agreement on tax system reform, progress on political reform legislation, the upcoming Political Ethics Hearing Committee sessions, Nippon Steel’s dilemma over the U.S. Steel deal, Japan’s projected digital deficit, Japan and nuclear power use, the BOJ’s TANKAN survey, and more.
The Weekly Observer: December 2-6
The 149th edition of the weekly newsletter aggregating news on Japanese politics. This week focuses on the GOJ’s reaction to the political crisis in South Korea, signs of improving Japan-PRC relations, new “official security assistance” recipients, the extraordinary Diet session, the deliberations between the ruling parties and DPFP on tax system reform, the prospect of additional Diet testimony on the slush fund scandal, Nippon Steel’s response to President-elect Trump’s opposition to the U.S. Steel buyout, corporate tax reform, Japan’s projected real growth rate in 2024 and 2025, and more.
Rintaro Nishimura 