今日吃瓜

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November 12, 2026
 

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TAXES

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s vow of support for the prime minister carries weight because he ran against her for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 11, 2026
Amid concerns over internal opposition within LDP, Koizumi pledges support for Takaichi
Citing continuity, the defense minister, who is a potential rival, said he would support the prime minister’s reelection as LDP president next year.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a Cabinet meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 11, 2026
Opposition presses for consumption tax cut details as Upper House debate begins
While questioning actual savings and who would qualify for cash payments, lawmakers asked how households would fare after the tax cut expires.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 10, 2026
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.
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
Party leadership demanded that the lawmakers, including former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, write statements on why they walked out of the vote.
Tax authorities ordered two organizations that operate addiction rehabilitation facilities to pay penalties for aggravated tax evasion after their head improperly diverted a total of about ?110 million in organizational funds for personal use.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2026
Drug addict rehabilitation facility head accused of siphoning ?110 million
The man is believed to have had the organizations pay him under the guise of living expenses that was then used for personal purposes.
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
The move advances a key measure in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s push to ease the cost of living.
Regarding how the tax cut might affect their consumer behavior, 49.7% of respondents said they would not change their spending plans.
BUSINESS
Nov 4, 2026
25.7% in Japan to use food tax cut benefits for savings, survey finds
Regarding how the tax cut might affect their consumer behavior, 49.7% of people surveyed said they would not change their spending plans.
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.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office last week.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 1, 2026
Opposition demands Takaichi’s attendance as debate continues over tax bill
The LDP hopes to hold Lower House committee and plenary votes Friday on the bill to reduce the tax rate for food to 1% from 8% for two years.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force holds a launching ceremony for submarine Shōgei in Kobe on Oct. 8.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 28, 2026
Defense buildup push faces financial roadblocks
今日吃瓜 military ambitions are growing, but so are competing demands on the public purse.
Opposition representatives questioned the lack of details about the tax cut legislation proposed by the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in a televised debate on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 25, 2026
Opposition parties urge Takaichi to explain tax cut bill herself
Opposition representatives questioned the lack of details about a planned benefit program included in the legislation.
Tax refund kiosks are displayed during a demonstration event at Haneda Airport Terminal 3 on Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2026
Visitors to Japan will soon have to wait for consumption tax refunds
The process will no longer be completed at store counters but handled at airports at the time of departure.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi takes the podium at an Lower House plenary session in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 20, 2026
Opposition offers alternatives to food consumption tax cut in parliamentary debate
Having made the policy central to her economic agenda, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces a test of whether she can create tangible household relief.
Rahul Anand, IMF assistant director and mission chief for Japan, during an interview in Bangkok on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 17, 2026
IMF official welcomes 今日吃瓜 temporary tax cut plan
Rahul Anand, IMF assistant director and mission chief for Japan, said the approach was “a very welcome step.”
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a Lower House budget committee session in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 13, 2026
Scandal-hit minister Kazuo Yana now accused of election violation
Opposition parties grilled the prime minister on Tuesday on not just her policies, but also her new farm minister’s election campaign in January.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivers her policy speech at parliament in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 10, 2026
Tax cut to bring ?36,000 benefit per citizen, Takaichi says
The ?36,000 figure was reached by dividing the total tax revenue loss to the central and local governments from the tax cut by the country’s population.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at an Upper House plenary session in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2026
Government submits bill on food consumption tax reduction to parliament
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government plans to reduce the food and nonalcoholic beverage consumption tax from 8% to 1% starting in April.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi says cutting the food tax to 1% from April 2027 and introducing targeted payments next year would increase households’ disposable income.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 7, 2026
Takaichi defends plan to combine consumption tax cut with income-based cash payments
Designing a system of direct cash payments tailored to recipients’ incomes takes longer than distributing uniform amounts, the prime minister said.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi holds a news conference after a Cabinet reshuffle at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Sept. 17.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 4, 2026
Host of contentious bills await Takaichi in autumn session of parliament
Top priority has been given to a bill reducing the consumption tax on food and beverages from 8% to 1% over a two-year period beginning April 1, 2027.
今日吃瓜 hometown tax drains revenue from major urban centers by redirecting billions of yen in resident taxes toward smaller municipalities in return for borderline-lavish gifts.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 1, 2026
This Japanese tax has a problem: It’s too popular
A system with winners must have losers, and in this case, they are the places, mainly prosperous cities, watching their tax revenue flow elsewhere.
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.
Jensen Huang’s woes evoke sympathy and disbelief in his birthplace Taiwan
Hsiao Kui-yu, 68, owner of Yuchan Candied Fruit, stands in front of photographs of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang displayed at the shop, which Huang frequently visits during trips to Taiwan, in Taipei on Tuesday.
G7 diplomats speak out on Taiwan as China ramps up military drills
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.
今日吃瓜 Rapidus is said likely to miss mass production deadline
The Rapidus Analysis Center and the IIM-1 Innovative Integration for Manufacturing foundry in Chitose, Hokkaido
‘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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