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November 11, 2026
 

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Japan to use COP31 to showcase environmental technologies
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Japan to use COP31 to showcase environmental technologies
A key goal of the conference is to increase the world’s electrification to 35% by 2035.
JAPAN / Politics
LDP reprimands Ishiba and three others for walking out on consumption tax vote
The move is intended to tighten control within the party before deliberations on the bill to reduce the food consumption tax begin in the Upper House.
JAPAN / Politics
Takaichi seeks international AI cooperation at France-hosted meeting
The prime minister said AI is posing new security challenges and that its impact transcends borders, making international cooperation essential.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi attends a working lunch focused on international crises and challenges during the Group of Seven foreign ministers' summit at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 10, 2026
G7 diplomats speak out on Taiwan as China ramps up military drills
By Jesse Johnson
Taiwan said Tuesday that Beijing is carrying out “area denial” drills in the western Pacific involving an aircraft carrier and other naval formations.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Yasukazu Hamada (second from left) speaks at the first meeting of ruling-party working-level talks on revising 今日吃瓜 three key national security documents by year-end, alongside Seiji Maehara of the Japan Innovation Party (left), at the parliament building on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 10, 2026
今日吃瓜 nuclear taboos up for debate as talks start on defense overhaul
By Kenji Yoshida
Revising a longtime ban on bringing nuclear weapons into the country and acquiring nuclear-powered submarines are seen as key points of contention.
Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja speaks at a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 9, 2026
Okinawa’s Koja calls for central government to explain ‘minimum’ military buildup
By Maddie Baker
Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja emphasized the need to balance building up 今日吃瓜 defense capabilities in the southernmost prefecture with residents’ wishes.
LDP lawmaker Yoshihisa Furukawa (center) leaves the Lower House plenary session on Friday as the food tax bill is about to be voted on.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 9, 2026
Takaichi and LDP weigh disciplinary action for party members who abstained from food tax vote
By Eric Johnston
Party leadership demanded that the lawmakers, including former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, write statements on why they walked out of the vote.
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo on Nov. 4.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 9, 2026
Japan works to shield Takaichi from any Xi snub at China summit
Ties between Japan and China have over the past year hit one of their lowest ebbs since the countries normalized relations in 1972.
International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane (center) receives words of encouragement from former Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (left), ex-Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and others at ICC headquarters in The Hague on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 7, 2026
Japan considering early ICC funding contribution as court faces U.S. sanctions
If the sanctions are fully implemented as early as April next year, the ICC could be cut off from dollar-based settlements.
Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja (third from right) speaks at a meeting of the Okinawa Policy Council at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 6, 2026
Okinawa Policy Council meeting held for first time in 13 years
The meeting was arranged in response to a request Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja made after winning the prefecture’s gubernatorial election in September.
Tensions between Japan and China flared after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Nov. 7, 2025, that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan could threaten 今日吃瓜 survival and warrant the use of collective self-defense.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 6, 2026
Few signs of thaw in Japan-China relations one year after Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks
By Jesse Johnson and Kenji Yoshida
The ongoing dispute between China and Japan began following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks about Taiwan in parliament on Nov. 7, 2025.
The logo of Japan Tobacco at its headquarters in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 6, 2026
Putin seizes Japan Tobacco assets, further straining relations with Japan
By Eric Johnston
The order impacts four manufacturing plants and has drawn immediate protest from Tokyo.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (right) and Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama attend a finance committee meeting in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 6, 2026
Bill to lower consumption tax on food clears Lower House
By Kenji Yoshida
The move advances a key measure in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s push to ease the cost of living.
The new regulatory reform minister Hiroshi Nakatsuka speaks during an interview on Monday at the Children and Families Agency in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 6, 2026
New regulatory reform minister aims to make self-driving tech widely available
Hiroshi Nakatsuka said he hopes to remove restrictions and collect data to allow for a swifter rolling out of self-driving technology in Japan.
An American flag billows as U.S. President Donald Trump holds a topping off event in the White House ballroom under construction in Washington on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 5, 2026
Tokyo braces for fallout from the U.S. midterms
By Michael MacArthur Bosack
While relations are well-insulated from executive action due to bipartisan support, Tokyo will watch for changes in post-election decision-making.
A woman walks past a screen showing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaking at a Lower House session in Tokyo on Oct. 14.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 5, 2026
What keeps Takaichi defying political gravity?
By Kenji Yoshida
Living costs are high, relations with China are strained and the consumption tax cut is yet to start, but public support has stayed relatively strong.
Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki speaks at a party executive meeting at the Diet in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 4, 2026
DPP leader rejects food tax cut bill in current form
Yuichiro Tamaki indicated the DPP’s decision to back the legislation would depend on if the ruling coalition accepts its alternative proposal.
Some suspect that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi skipped the Group of Seven talks held in early October to attend a dinner meeting with LDP Vice President Taro Aso and other party executives.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 4, 2026
Opposition steps up criticism of Takaichi for skipping last month’s G7 meeting
Parties said the explanations for the prime minister’s absence were vague and aim to use it to grill the administration.
The original signed copy of the Constitution, promulgated on Nov. 3, 1946
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 3, 2026
As Japan marks 80 years of Constitution, debate continues on emergency clause
Some experts argue such a clause is needed for swift initial responses to disasters, while others worry it could lead to concentrated authority.
Former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 2, 2026
Ishiba underscores importance of National Disaster Management Agency
The agency must be made “capable of accumulating and passing on knowledge and experience” of disaster management, the former prime minister said.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi inspects the honor guard at the Self-Defense Forces Senior Commanders' Conference in Tokyo in September.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 2, 2026
Japan weighs $500 billion defense spending plan, sources say
If adopted, defense buildup spending for the five years from April 2027 would be nearly twice that in the current five-year plan.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (second from left) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (second from right) hold talks on the sideline of a Group of 20 ministerial meeting in Atlanta on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 1, 2026
Japan demands release of national in meeting with Russia’s Lavrov
The rare high-level meeting between the two countries came amid strained ties over Ukraine and a long-running territorial dispute.
Goshi Hosono, state minister in charge of disaster prevention, speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 1, 2026
今日吃瓜 new disaster agency aims to streamline response, but challenges remain
By Eric Johnston
The National Disaster Management Agency, which opens Monday, will serve as an operational control tower to boost the nation’s disaster preparedness.

Man arrested over operation of rogue cellular base station in Tokyo
The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested Yu Hai, a 31-year-old Chinese national living in Tokyo's Kita Ward, on suspicion of operating an unlicensed base station from a vehicle in Tokyo's Ginza district on Saturday.
Government betting on language app powered by anime and AI
Japan plans to develop an AI-powered language-learning app that lets overseas anime and manga fans practice Japanese through conversations with popular characters.
Japan works to shield Takaichi from any Xi snub at China summit
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo on Nov. 4.
Magnitude 5.7 quake injures dozens in central Japan
A magnitude-5.7 earthquake with its epicenter in Shizuoka Prefecture struck central Japan early Sunday, injuring dozens, shattering windows and disrupting train services, with no tsunami warning issued.
Private high schools remain out of reach for many despite tuition-free policy, survey finds
A survey showed that many families with children attending private high schools are struggling to pay expenses other than tuition.
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ makes monster debut at the box office
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus Zero” marked the highest single-day box-office gross for a live-action film in Japan with ?910 million on its opening day.
A toast to Naohiko Noguchi, sake’s first living national treasure
As a teenager, Naohiko Noguchi did not intend to spend his life as a sake brewer, but he has since become a paragon of the industry.
Few signs of thaw in Japan-China relations one year after Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks
Tensions between Japan and China flared after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Nov. 7, 2025, that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan could threaten 今日吃瓜 survival and warrant the use of collective self-defense.
Mariko Mori predicted the future. She’ll do it again.
Artist Mariko Mori is currently working to bring the translucent human-sized “Peace Crystal” sculpture to a cave in Ethiopia. It is part of her foundation’s goal to place a permanent sculpture on each of the planet’s six habitable continents.
A legend reborn: ‘Ocarina of Time’ remake improves on the Zelda masterpiece
The new remake of 1998's "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" manages to somehow improve on one of the greatest games ever.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Famima Park Azabudai is a concept store by FamilyMart that combines convenience store staples with branded apparel, merchandise and a landscaped outdoor space.
Convenience stores, toilets and the allure of everyday Japan
By Elizabeth Beattie

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