Japan says strikes show US resolve to stop Iran's nuclear weapons development
Japan's top government spokesperson says the US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities show its determination to prevent Tehran from possessing nuclear weapons.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa told reporters on Monday that the United States has seriously pursued dialogue with Iran amid the difficult situation surrounding its nuclear program and that Washington sought to quickly resolve the issue.
Hayashi said Japan strongly hopes the path to dialogue will be reopened. He said peace and stability in the Middle East is extremely important to Japan and Tokyo will work with the international community in making various diplomatic efforts to that end.
Hayashi said 87 Japanese nationals have evacuated by land from Iran and 21 from Israel.
He also said that two Japan Air Self-Defense Force aircraft are on standby in the African country of Djibouti to evacuate Japanese citizens if airports reopen.
Hayashi said the Japanese government will continue to make the utmost efforts to secure the safety of its nationals in the Middle East region.
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Japan Times
3 hours ago
- Japan Times
Tokyo election results signal uncertainty for LDP ahead of Upper House race
The Liberal Democratic Party suffered a major setback in Sunday's Tokyo assembly election, winning just 21 seats — a record low and down from the 30 it previously held . The most seats went to Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites First), backed by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike. The poor performance raised concerns within Japan's biggest party as it heads into the Upper House election, expected to be held on July 20. 'It was a very tough election,' said Shinji Inoue, head of the LDP's Tokyo chapter, speaking to reporters early Monday morning after the results came in. Although the results from Sunday's polls in the capital do not necessarily directly predict performance in the upcoming Upper House election, they signify an underlying trend in public opinion that affects both contests, says Hanako Ohmura, a professor at Kyoto University who specializes in public opinion and voting behavior. 'I think the trend we are seeing emerge from the Tokyo Assembly election results is that the results are very severe against the LDP,' she said. 'In the broadest terms, it is really their unpopularity.' The results in Tokyo contradict recent public opinion polls, which had suggested the LDP was steadily recovering support since its popularity plunged following the 2023 political funding scandal that put many of the party's key figures in hot water for receiving kickbacks and off-the-book revenue. In the most recent poll compiled by Jiji this month, the LDP was the most popular party in the upcoming Upper House election with 24.5% support, 4.8 percentage points higher than the previous month. Ohmura says the 'very interesting' deviation of the Tokyo election results from the polls may be because the LDP's recent proposal for cash handouts is racking up popularity on a national level but is less of a focal point for Tokyoites. The Democratic Party for the People's Tokyo chapter executives in Tokyo on Sunday night | JIJI 'Cash handouts are a powerful tool, and within the academia of political science, it has been made clear that cash handouts to this day have a very strong effect on garnering support for the incumbent,' said Ohmura. 'I have seen that support for LDP has increased as a result, but the effects of it were not seen as much in the Tokyo Assembly elections — after all, the Tokyo election is a local election, so the markers that voters look at may be different.' Because of this, the results from Sunday may not be a direct reflection of how the LDP will perform in the Upper House election. That said, one thing that the Tokyo assembly election results highlight that may also ring true at a national level is the growth of alternative parties that can take in voters who have deviated from the LDP's support base, particularly on the more conservative side. This was seen in Tokyo with two smaller parties — the Democratic Party for the People and Sanseito — winning seats in the assembly for the first time, having secured nine and three spots, respectively. The more center-left segment of the LDP voter base may have jumped ship to the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. 'Voters are leaving (the LDP) to go both left and right, but I think what is most likely to be found if the results were more closely analyzed is the weight is leaning more towards the right — that's how we have DPP and Sanseito,' Ohmura added, saying a similar phenomenon will most likely be seen in the Upper House election. Additionally, the result from Sunday itself could play a role in shaping how voters cast their ballots next month. 'The voters who saw the LDP's unpopularity in Tokyo could use that as a factor in making their decisions in the next national election,' said Ohmura.
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4 hours ago
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4 hours ago
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Ishiba to skip key NATO summit following Iran strikes
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday abruptly canceled his trip for a NATO leaders' summit this week, a day before his scheduled departure from Tokyo, following U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites Saturday. Citing 'various circumstances,' the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo announced Ishiba's withdrawal but said Japan's top diplomat, Takeshi Iwaya, would attend the summit at The Hague in his place. Asked Monday during an annual memorial service in Okinawa Prefecture if the trip was still happening, Ishiba hinted that his decision would hinge on the participation of other regional countries. Japan is not a member of NATO, but was invited to join the summit along with other so-called IP-4 countries — South Korea, Australia and New Zealand — with deep security ties to the alliance. Already, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and new South Korean President Lee Jae-myung have decided to skip the gathering. The government had previously confirmed Ishiba's attendance at the NATO summit from Tuesday to Thursday. The sudden change in plan came after Tokyo reportedly scrapped annual 'two-plus-two' security talks between the two countries' foreign affairs and defense chiefs after the U.S. asked Japan last week to hike its defense budget even further. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, at a news conference Monday morning, dismissed the report and said the schedule for the next two-plus-two meeting has not been decided. U.S. demands for increased defense spending among its allies and partners is expected to loom large over the NATO summit. The Pentagon had said in a statement to The Japan Times last Friday that Japan should be subject to its 'global standard' for its allies to spend 5% of gross domestic product on defense, though other media reports said Washington was asking Tokyo to dole out 3.5% of GDP. 'The government's stance remains unchanged: what matters is not the amount of money, but the substance of our defense capabilities,' Hayashi said, while declining to comment further on the Pentagon's remarks. Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said in April that the country was zeroing-in on hitting its target of 2% of GDP, with the figure hitting 1.8% this year. Hayashi also repeatedly dodged questions on whether Japan supports the U.S. military's intervention in the Israel-Iran conflict, reiterating only that Tokyo calls for the deescalation of tensions as soon as possible. Japan had previously condemned Israel's surprise attack on Iran. The abrupt cancellation also means that a possible meeting between the prime minister and U.S. President Donald Trump is no longer happening. Observers had anticipated the two would engage in more discussions on unilateral tariffs the U.S. has imposed on Japan since March. A previous meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit last week in Canada failed to deliver an agreement on tariffs or a breakthrough of any kind, despite repeated suggestions that progress was being made in recent trade negotiations.
