2025-03-25 22:45:00
With a so-called "Taiwan emergency" in mind, the government has drawn up an evacuation plan for the first time from Okinawa's remote islands. It calls for the evacuation of about 120,000 residents over a six-day period, and for them to be accommodated in a total of 32 cities and towns in Kyushu and Yamaguchi Prefecture.
2025-03-25 21:25:00
Prime Minister Ishiba met with Komeito leader Saito and conveyed his intention to introduce strong measures to address rising prices, taking into account rising prices of rice and gasoline, after the new fiscal year budget bill is passed.
2025-03-25 20:41:00
Prime Minister Ishiba met with Komeito leader Saito and conveyed his intention to introduce strong measures to address rising prices, taking into account rising prices of rice and gasoline, after the new fiscal year budget bill is passed.
2025-03-25 19:30:00
Prime Minister Ishiba met with Komeito leader Saito and conveyed his intention to introduce strong measures to address rising prices, taking into account rising prices of rice and gasoline, after the new fiscal year budget bill is passed.
2025-03-25 19:02:00
The Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan held discussions regarding the schedule for deliberation on the new fiscal year budget proposal, and agreed to hold a House of Councillors Budget Committee meeting in the morning of the 27th, with Prime Minister Ishiba in attendance, to hold intensive deliberations.
2025-03-25 18:29:00
Regarding the issue of Prime Minister Ishiba and others distributing gift certificates, LDP Secretary-General Moriyama said he was not aware that it had been a long-standing practice, and added that the party is "not considering" conducting an investigation at this time.
2025-03-25 17:29:00
Regarding the issue of Prime Minister Ishiba and others distributing gift certificates, LDP Secretary-General Moriyama said he was not aware that it had been a long-standing practice, and added that the party is "not considering" conducting an investigation at this time.
2025-03-25 17:17:00
Prime Minister Ishiba met with Komeito leader Saito and conveyed his intention to introduce strong measures to address rising prices, taking into account rising prices of rice and gasoline, after the new fiscal year budget bill is passed.
2025-03-25 15:56:00
The Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan held discussions on the schedule for deliberation on the new fiscal year budget bill, and in order to enrich the deliberations, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan called for an additional intensive deliberation to be held before the vote in the Budget Committee, with Prime Minister Ishiba also in attendance.
2025-03-25 15:38:00
Prime Minister Ishiba met with Komeito leader Saito and conveyed his intention to introduce strong measures to address rising prices, taking into account rising prices of rice and gasoline, after the new fiscal year budget bill is passed.
2025-03-25 15:35:00
Regarding the age at which people can run for election, the Liberal Democratic Party working group is considering lowering it, citing the need to reflect the voices of younger generations in politics, and has decided to compile a proposal by May of this year.
2025-03-25 14:52:00
During a Diet session on the 24th, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Abe made a response while referring to the appearance of the female lawmaker who had asked the question. On the 25th, Minister Abe apologized for causing discomfort to the woman and many others with his inappropriate remarks, and indicated his intention to retract them.
2025-03-25 14:35:00
The Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan held discussions on the schedule for deliberation on the new fiscal year budget bill, and in order to enrich the deliberations, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan called for an additional intensive deliberation to be held before the vote in the Budget Committee, with Prime Minister Ishiba also in attendance.
2025-03-25 14:14:00
A bill to amend the Public Offices Election Act to prohibit the inclusion of content that damages dignity in election posters was put to a vote in a special committee of the House of Councillors, and was passed with a majority in favor from the Liberal Democratic Party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and other parties. It is expected to be passed at the House of Councillors plenary session on the 26th and become law.
2025-03-25 14:09:00
Last year, the Ministry of Justice investigated just over 8,900 cases of suspected human rights violations, remaining roughly the same as the previous year.
2025-03-25 14:08:00
Regarding this summer's House of Councillors election, Democratic Party for the People leader Tamaki has indicated that, in light of the party's rising approval rating in various opinion polls, he intends to field as many candidates as possible in single-seat districts, in addition to proportional representation.
2025-03-25 13:44:00
The government has decided to provisionally impose anti-dumping tariffs on a product called "graphite electrodes," which is essential for steelmaking in electric furnaces, for four months from March 29, claiming that China has been exporting them at unfairly cheap prices, causing harm to Japanese companies.
2025-03-25 13:05:00
On the 24th, the Financial Services Agency issued an order to improve business practices to four major non-life insurance companies over the leak of customer information at insurance agencies. In response to this, Minister of Financial Services Katsuyuki Kato stated at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting that he was "deeply sorry" about the matter, and emphasized his intention to call for fundamental improvements, including in systems for complying with laws and regulations.
2025-03-25 13:03:00
Defense Minister Nakatani revealed that U.S. Secretary of Defense Hegseth is visiting Japan this week and is scheduled to meet with him on the 30th of this month, and expressed his intention to exchange views on specific efforts to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance.
2025-03-25 13:00:00
Regarding the issue of Prime Minister Ishiba and others distributing gift certificates, LDP Secretary-General Moriyama said he was not aware that it had been a long-standing practice, and added that the party is "not considering" conducting an investigation at this time.
2025-03-25 12:29:00
At a cabinet meeting on the 25th, the government approved the appointment of Kazuto Uchida, who has served as a director and executive officer at Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, as the new chairman of GPIF (Government Pension Investment Fund), which manages public pension reserves.
2025-03-25 11:58:00
The Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan held discussions on the schedule for deliberation on the new fiscal year budget bill, and in order to enrich the deliberations, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan called for an additional intensive deliberation to be held before the vote in the Budget Committee, with Prime Minister Ishiba also in attendance.
2025-03-25 11:04:00
As rice prices continue to rise, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Eto has indicated that he will consider whether to release additional government rice stockpiles after assessing the situation after the second release, which will be put up for auction from the 26th.
2025-03-25 08:30:00
(March 24th) 08:45 Departure from the Prime Minister's Residence on foot 08:46 Arrived at the Prime Minister's Residence 09:00 Met with Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya, Director-General of the National Security Secretariat Masatake Okano, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Hiroyuki Namazu, and Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Masaaki Kanai (until 09:32) 09:33 Met with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries Keiichiro Tachibana and Fumitoshi Sato, Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Wataru Sakata, Secretary-General of the Cabinet Secretariat Headquarters for Revitalizing New Regional Economies and Living Environments Satoshi, Counselor for Regional Strength Creation at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Akio Mochizuki, and Vice-Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Akio Fujiwara (until 09:52) 09:53 Met with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries Tachibana, Kazuhiko Aoki, and Sato, Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Sakata, Secretary-General of the Cabinet Secretariat Headquarters for Revitalizing New Regional Economies and Living Environments Ebiwara, and Vice-Minister of the Environment Yarimizu Hiroshi (until 10:12) 10:13 Meetings with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries Aoki and Sato, Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Sakata, and Secretary-General of the Cabinet Secretariat's Headquarters for Revitalizing New Local Economies and Living Environments Ebiwara (until 10:26) 10:35 Meetings with Hayashi Yoshimasa, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Aoki Tadashi, Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Sakata, Administrative Vice-Minister Iida Yuji of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Counselor for Policy Planning Motegi Tadashi, and Director-General of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's Civil Aviation Bureau Hiraoka Shigeaki (until 10:56) 10:57 Meetings with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Aoki, Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Sakata, Administrative Vice-Minister Iida of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Counselor for Policy Planning Motegi, and Director-General of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's Civil Aviation Bureau Hiraoka (until 11:07) 11:56 Departure from the Prime Minister's Office 11:57 Arrives at the House of Representatives' First Members' Building 12:01 General meeting of the all-party parliamentary league for the Osaka-Kansai Expo (until 12:17) 12:20 Departure from the same building 12:21 Arrives at the Prime Minister's Office 14:00 Meets with Director-General of the National Security Secretariat Okano and Director-General of Cabinet Intelligence Hara Kazuya (until 14:18) 14:19 Meets with Director-General of Cabinet Intelligence Hara (until 14:24) 14:40 Meets with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tachibana, Director-General of the National Security Secretariat Okano, Cabinet Public Relations Secretary Kobayashi Maki, Brazilian Ambassador Hayashi Teiji, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Director-General for Foreign Affairs Namazu, Director-General of the Latin America and Caribbean Affairs Bureau Noguchi Yasushi, Director-General of the Economic Affairs Bureau Katahira Satoshi, Deputy Director-General for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Watanabe Yoichi, and Deputy Director-General for Economy, Trade and Industry Matsuo Takehiko (until 15:25) 15:33 Meets with Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Director-General for Foreign Affairs Namazu and Director-General for Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Nakamura Hitoshi (until 15:47) 15:59 Meets with Deputy Chief of the Defense Ministry's Joint Staff Office Ono Isao (until 16:28) 16:56 Leaves the Prime Minister's Office 16:58 Arrives at the National Diet 16:59 Enters the LDP President's room 17:00 Party executive meeting (until 17:12) 17:13 Leaves the room 17:14 Enters the LDP Secretary-General's conference room 17:15 Met with LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Itsunori Onodera (until 17:34) 17:35 Leaves the room 17:36 Leaves the Diet 17:38 Arrives at the Prime Minister's Office 18:00 Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (until 18:41) 18:58 Leaves the Prime Minister's Office 19:04 Arrives at the Le Port Kojimachi Hotel in Hirakawa-cho, Tokyo. Dins with Yoshimura Takeshi, Mayor of Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture, and others at the Topaz banquet hall 20:47 Leaves the same place 20:51 Arrives at the Prime Minister's Office
2025-03-25 07:21:00
In the national policy-making process, there have been a number of cases where public comments, which solicit opinions from the public, have received more than 10,000 opinions. In response to the increasing burden on staff handling these comments, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which oversees the system, has decided to consider measures such as using AI to organize opinions.
2025-03-25 05:02:00
Regarding the new fiscal year budget, the opposition parties have called for sufficient deliberation time, pointing out the need to compile a provisional budget. In response, the ruling parties are aiming to pass the budget by the end of the fiscal year, with one week left, after revising it again in line with the review of the high-cost medical care system, and negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties are continuing.
