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Gabriele Ninivaggi

Nobuyasu Nikai, the Liberal Democratic Party's candidate for the October 2024 Lower House election, shakes hands with supporters in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture.

JAPAN / Politics / First person

Feb 13, 2026

Looking at politics from a different perspective

Three campaigns in 15 months showed how fragile support can be — and how national power begins far from Tokyo.

Centrist Reform Alliance co-leader Yoshihiko Noda (right) speaks at the party's plenary assembly in Tokyo on Wednesday.

JAPAN / Politics

Feb 11, 2026

CRA soul-searching begins with vote to elect new leader

After its disastrous defeat on Sunday, the fledgling Centrist Reform Alliance is hoping a new face at the top will help it find its bearings.

Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People, poses with his supporters during an election campaign event on the first day of campaigning for the Feb. 8 snap election, in Tokyo, Japan, Jan. 27.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Feb 10, 2026

Takaichi’s big win leaves opposition dividing unequal shares of the pie

Right-leaning parties and those with fresh ideas gained some ground, while those seen as touting the ‘same-old’ politics saw their fortunes decline.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who also serves as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, stands next to LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki (left) and party Election Strategy Chief Keiji Furuya, placing a red paper rose on the name of an elected candidate at LDP headquarters in Tokyo during the Lower House election on Sunday.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Feb 9, 2026

It’s Sanae Takaichi’s Japan, as PM’s persona powers LDP to electoral success

Sunday’s electoral triumph by the Liberal Democratic Party is less a master stroke of the party than a success of its indisputable architect: Takaichi herself.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday night

JAPAN / Politics

Feb 9, 2026

LDP secures two-thirds supermajority in Lower House election victory

Results early Monday showed the LDP had won 316 seats, giving it a higher proportion of representatives in the body than any other party in postwar Japan.

People gather at an election campaign event on Tuesday in Higashimatsuyama, Saitama Prefecture.

JAPAN / Politics

Feb 8, 2026

Voting kicks off for Lower House election seen as referendum on Takaichi

The prime minister’s Liberal Democratic Party has kept the make-or-break line low, saying its coalition with the Japan Innovation Party is aiming for a simple majority.

Centrist Reform Alliance candidate in Hyogo’s No. 8 district, Yoshie Hirokawa (center), stands on the stage after pitching her candidacy to Komeito’s supporters in the Sonoda district of Amagasaki together with members of Hyogo Prefectural Assembly and Amagasaki City Assembly.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Feb 5, 2026

Where will Komeito’s votes go? The answer might come from this Hyogo district

Amagasaki is now a heated battleground as campaign teams rush to woo supporters of the ruling party’s former coalition partner.

The Centrist Reform Alliance’s Yosuke Suzuki speaks to his supporters in Otsuka, Toshima Ward, Tokyo, on Tuesday.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Feb 1, 2026

A tale of two Suzukis: Lower House election sets up fourth duel between Tokyo candidates

The Liberal Democratic Party’s Hayato Suzuki has been beating the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s Yosuke Suzuki since 2017, but new party backing could turn the tables.

Centrist Reform Alliance co-leaders Yoshihiko Noda (second from left) and Tetsuo Saito (third from left) cheer at the launch of their party at the parliament building in Tokyo on Thursday.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Jan 26, 2026

Centrists vs. conservatives? It’s not that simple.

Beyond the labels that they use for themselves, the policy proposals of candidates and their parties show that their differences are more nuanced — and confusing.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gestures during the Panel Discussion by the Leaders of 7 Parties at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Monday.

JAPAN / Politics

Jan 26, 2026

Takaichi fends off criticism over snap election goal

The prime minister argues that the ruling coalition’s razor-thin majority in the Lower House made it difficult to pass crucial bills.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announces her will to dissolve the Lower House in Tokyo on Monday.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Jan 20, 2026

In calling a snap election this soon, Takaichi is making it personal

The prime minister enjoys a level of popularity that appears to be unrivalled by any other political leader.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a news conference at the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Jan 19, 2026

Will Takaichi’s carpe diem moment pay off?

The prime minister said the snap poll will essentially be a referendum on who leads the country — herself or an opposition chief.

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda (right) and Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito hold a meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.

JAPAN / Politics

Jan 15, 2026

CDP and Komeito agree to form new centrist party

The move, coming ahead of a snap election likely to take place in February, is set to remodel Japan’s political landscape.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the start of their meeting in the city of Nara on Tuesday.

JAPAN / Politics

Jan 13, 2026

Takaichi and South Korea’s Lee to take ties to ‘new heights’ amid Japan-China rift

The two leaders agreed to boost cooperation on economic security and reached a deal on DNA testing for Korean wartime laborers who perished in Japan.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party head Hirofumi Yoshimura speak to reporters in Tokyo on Dec. 16, 2025.

JAPAN / Politics

Jan 8, 2026

Speculation over potential snap election resurfaces

Recent remarks of senior members of the ruling coalition appear to have gotten many talking again about the possibility of a dissolution of the Lower House in the near future.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 17.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Jan 1, 2026

Will tailwinds become headwinds for Takaichi in 2026?

This year the prime minister must show the electorate she can meet its expectations, with steady leadership and tangible answers to the country’s challenges.

Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito says the party's rupture with the Liberal Democratic Party has given new life to its support base.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Dec 29, 2025

Komeito forced to chart new path after divorce from LDP

The party faces an urgent need to redefine its identity and set itself apart from its competitors.

Itsunori Onodera (center right), the chief of the Liberal Democratic Party’s tax committee, and Japan Innovation Party counterpart Satoshi Umemura (center left) hold up the two party's tax reform proposal in Tokyo on Friday.

JAPAN / Politics

Dec 19, 2025

Tax reform proposal lifts income tax threshold and reroutes funding to defense

The ruling coalition’s proposal includes using a levy once used to fund reconstruction work in the Tohoku region to now fund defense spending.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura hold a joint news conference in parliament in Tokyo on Tuesday.

JAPAN / Politics

Dec 16, 2025

Decision on Lower House seat-reduction bill postponed to next year

The delay could impact the ruling coalition, as the JIP had made passing the bill this year a key plank of its October tie-up with the LDP.

Under a new law, Google and Apple will have to allow third parties to run independent app stores and offer their own payment options.

BUSINESS / Tech

Dec 15, 2025

What will change with Japan’s first attempt at regulating Big Tech?

While a previous law urged platforms to improve business practices and regularly report their endeavors, the new bill may alter the rules of the game.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

As Japan accelerates AI adoption, policymakers and corporations frame the technology as essential to offsetting a projected labor shortfall of 11 million workers by 2040.

Japan is betting big on AI. Few workers have used it.

By Eric Margolis

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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