News On Japan

Takaichi Launches Into First Major Diet Battle After 3 a.m. Study Session

TOKYO, Nov 08 (News On Japan) - The Budget Committee of the House of Representatives opened on November 7th, with Prime Minister Takaichi facing her first full-scale debate since taking office.

Reporting live from the National Diet Press Center, Fuji TV political correspondent Mako Fukuda said Takaichi entered the session after holding an intensive study meeting starting at 3 a.m., reflecting the administration’s view that “the first round is critical” in setting the tone for her leadership.

During the session, Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Masahiro Takamura asked about the government’s approach to responsible fiscal expansion to boost economic recovery. Takaichi responded: “Our top priority is securing people’s livelihoods and tackling rising prices. When households are struggling, the economy cannot become strong.”

Emphasizing the need for growth as the foundation for fiscal sustainability, Takaichi reiterated, “Without growth, we cannot secure the sustainability of public finances. We must build a strong economy at all costs.”

Addressing ongoing bear attacks across the country, she added, “This is a matter of life and death. We will act swiftly and implement necessary measures step by step.”

In the afternoon, the Constitutional Democratic Party is set to take the floor, preparing to intensify its questioning over corporate and organizational political donations, signaling a heated exchange ahead.

Source: FNN

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

A rapidly developing low-pressure system brought record snowfall to eastern Hokkaido on December 15th, with travel, coastal communities and local services all experiencing significant disruption as wet, heavy snow and powerful winds swept across northern Japan.

A fire broke out inside a private sauna facility in Tokyo’s Akasaka district, leaving a man and a woman in their 30s—believed to be customers—dead as investigators began examining how the blaze started and why the pair were unable to escape.

Otsu’s centuries-old festival tradition has been approved for inscription on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, marking a significant recognition of the cultural and communal value of the Otsu Festival’s Hikiyama parade.

A train running on the Akita Nairiku Jukan Railway derailed and overturned near Kayakusa Station in Kitaakita City on the morning of December 12th, with the incident reported to police and fire authorities shortly before 6:50 a.m.

The Nobel Prize award ceremony was held on the evening of December 10th, or early on December 11th in Japan, at the Stockholm Concert Hall, where King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden presented the highest honors — the medal and certificate — to Osaka University specially appointed professor Shimon Sakaguchi, 74, the recipient of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and Kyoto University distinguished professor Susumu Kitagawa, 74, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Politics NEWS

The Japanese government is preparing to end support for new large-scale solar power projects starting in fiscal 2027, as policymakers move to revise the framework used to promote renewable energy in the years following the Fukushima Daiichi accident.

Belarus carried out a large-scale amnesty on December 13th, releasing 123 detainees that included a Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights activist and a Japanese national.

China’s Foreign Ministry issued a renewed advisory on December 11th urging Chinese nationals to avoid non-essential travel to Japan, reiterating a call made nearly one month ago but this time citing a series of earthquakes observed off the eastern coast of Honshu as the reason for heightened caution.

America’s business magazine Forbes announced on December 10th that Prime Minister Takaichi has been ranked third on its list of the “World’s Most Powerful Women,” placing the Japanese leader near the top of a global ranking of 100 figures across politics, business, and culture, and marking a prominent acknowledgment of Japan’s first female prime minister.

A supplementary budget worth 18.3 trillion yen for the current fiscal year was approved by a majority vote in the Lower House Budget Committee on December 11th, backed by the ruling coalition and part of the opposition, and is expected to pass the upcoming plenary session before being sent to the Upper House.

Abe Akie appeared at the Nara District Court on December 3rd for the lay judge trial of the shooting that killed former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, marking the first time she has attended proceedings in person. Akie arrived in the courtroom shortly after 1 p.m. wearing a navy jacket and bowed toward the gallery as she entered, while the court continued a scheduled witness examination of Sakurai Yoshihide, a religious scholar and specially appointed professor at Hokkaido University.

The Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin have agreed on a framework to ensure the effectiveness of legislation aimed at reducing the number of seats in the House of Representatives, deciding that if no conclusion is reached within one year, roughly 10 percent of seats across both single-member districts and proportional representation blocs will be cut.

Komeito leader Saito told senior members of the party’s regional organizations that, following the party’s departure from its coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party, he intends to establish a new party vision centered on centrist reform by the time of the party convention next autumn, saying in the meeting that he is determined to raise the banner of centrist reform high within Japanese politics and open up a new horizon by serving as a unifying axis across the ruling and opposition blocs.