Japan Digest
Japan Digest · 2026/01/10
Prime Minister Takaichi Continues To Receive High Approval Ratings The Yomiuri Shimbun conducted a nationwide public opinion survey from the 19th to the 21st. The approval rating for the Takaichi Cabinet stood at 73%, virtually unchanged from the previous survey (conducted November 21–23, when it was 72%), but marking the highest level since the cabinet was formed in October. The disapproval rating was 14% (down from 17%). Maintaining an approval rating of over 70% two months after a...
Japan Digest · 2026/01/10
Prime Minister Takaichi Continues To Receive High Approval Ratings Nikkei Inc. and TV Tokyo conducted a public opinion poll from the 28th to the 30th. Approval rating of the Sanae Takaichi Cabinet stood at 75%, remaining virtually unchanged from 74% in the previous survey conducted in October. The share of respondents who said they “do not approve” the Cabinet was limited to 18%. Since its inauguration in October, the Cabinet has maintained approval ratings in the 70% range for two...
Japan Digest · 2026/01/10
Takaichi Cabinet Approval Rating at 66% Highest Since Koizumi and Hatoyama Cabinets According to NHK’s latest public opinion poll, 66% of respondents said they “support” the Takaichi Cabinet, which was launched in October, while 15% said they “do not support” it. Although the survey methods differ and the figures cannot be directly compared, the cabinet’s approval rating at the time of its inauguration is the highest since the Koizumi Cabinet and the Hatoyama Cabinet. Prime Minister...
Japan Digest · 2026/01/10
PM Takaichi Enjoys Honeymoon Period As The First Female Prime Minister Persuading the Japan Innovation Party and successfully inviting them into coalition, the Sanae Takaichi (President of the Liberal Democratic Party) was selected as the 104th Prime Minister last week in the extraordinary Diet session with the support of the Japan Innovation Party. She immediately formed her Cabinet. In the LDP leadership election, her rivals — Shinjirō Koizumi was appointed Defense Minister, Yoshimasa...
Japan Digest · 2026/01/10
Ms. Takaichi Elected As LDP President, Yet It Doesn’t Necessarily Assure Prime Minister Position In the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential election held on October 4, the runoff came down to former Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Sanae Takaichi and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi. As the Aso faction had issued a policy that its members should support the candidate who won more party member votes in the first round, its support shifted...
Japan Digest · 2025/10/04
The Five LDP Presidential Candidates’ Stance Vis-à-vis Trump Administration President Trump has been pressing its allies and partners to increase defense spending. The Japanese government has already announced plans to raise security-related expenditures to 2% of GDP, but the Trump administration might demand even further increases. According to Nikkei, following are the individual stances of the five LDP Presidential candidates that were revealed a Japan National Press Club debate on the...
Japan Digest · 2025/10/04
New LDP Leadership Election Was Set To Be Held on October 4 As a result of the Liberal Democratic Party’s defeat in the recent House of Councillors election, internal pressure mounted to choose a new party president. A decision on whether to hold a leadership election was scheduled for September 8, based on the declarations of intent from the 47 prefectural party branches and incumbent LDP lawmakers. However, on the day before, September 7, Prime Minister Ishiba announced his resignation as...
Japan Digest · 2025/10/04
Ishiba Cabinet’s Approval Rating Sharply Increased To 39% Yomiuri conducted a nationwide opinion poll from the 22nd to the 24th of this month. The approval rating for the Ishiba Cabinet stood at 39%, up 17 points from the previous emergency survey in July (22%), which was carried out immediately after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito suffered a crushing defeat in the House of Councillors election. The disapproval rating was 50% (down from 67% in the...
Japan Digest · 2025/10/04
Australia Announced Its Decision on New Naval Vessel Based on Modified Japanese Mogami-Class Frigate On August 5, the Japanese and Australian governments jointly announced that Australia has selected a new naval vessel based on a modified version of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) Mogami-class frigate, Yomiuri reported. This ship will serve as the foundation for the Royal Australian Navy’s planned fleet upgrade. For Japan, this marks the second case of exporting completed defense...
Japan Digest · 2025/10/04
Ruling Coalition Suffers Major Defeat in Upper House Election – Prime Minister Ishiba Vows to Stay On The House of Councillors (Upper House) election was held on the 20th, resulting in a major setback for the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito. The coalition lost a significant number of seats and failed to capture 50 seats to secure a majority, including those not up for re-election — the threshold Prime Minister Ishiba had set as a benchmark for victory....