Japan's era of political instability is just getting started
Tobias Harris is the founder of Japan Foresight LLC. He is the author of "The Iconoclast: Shinzo Abe and the New Japan."
Japan's Golden Week holidays have afforded Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his government an opportunity to step back from the domestic fray and devote their energies to bolstering Japan's international partnerships amid global turbulence. But with the holidays coming to a close, he now faces a sprint to the upper house elections in July that will determine the fate of his premiership.
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Kyodo News
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Japan, EU eye launch of "competitive alliance" scheme to boost trade
KYODO NEWS - 2 hours ago - 21:04 | Japan, All, World Japan and the European Union are preparing to launch an "alliance" framework to beef up their companies' competitiveness by promoting trade and economic security cooperation, diplomatic sources said Saturday, facing concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and Chinese trade practices. The creation of the "Japan-EU Competitiveness Alliance" is expected to be announced at a regular summit meeting being arranged for July, when Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is likely to host European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, they said. The move will further align both sides' efforts to uphold a rules-based economic order, building on cooperation through a free trade agreement that removes tariffs and other trade barriers between the two economies, which account for 20 percent of the world's gross domestic product. Under the framework, Japan and the EU will work together to diversify supply chains for rare earth minerals in the face of China's export restrictions on the elements crucial for the production of smartphones and other high-tech products, according to the sources. They will also align subsidy conditions for environmental technology such as electric vehicle and hydrogen production to promote fair competition for manufacturers and reduce development costs. On the trade front, the two sides will seek to promote reform of the World Trade Organization that is deemed dysfunctional, with the United States dissatisfied with the global body's response to addressing Chinese trade practices and other issues. They will also seek to collaborate with the "Global South" emerging and developing economies as partners sharing values of free and fair trade as well as the rule of law, the sources said. The EU is also eager to cooperate with a vast trans-Pacific free trade agreement involving Japan and 10 other nations, plus Britain that joined the accord in 2023. Some inside the bloc have called for joining efforts in rulemaking, as members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership weigh better business environment for digital trade and climate change countermeasures.


Kyodo News
3 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Japan, EU eyes launch of "competitive alliance" scheme to boost trade
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Japan Times
3 hours ago
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Ishiba vows to set up council for regional revitalization
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Saturday that he plans to establish a council tasked with helping promote regional revitalization led by the private sector. He hopes to include the plan, unveiled in talks with reporters during his visit to Maebashi, the capital of Gunma Prefecture, in a basic concept of his signature "Regional Revitalization 2.0" program. The envisaged council will be directly supervised by Ishiba. The basic concept is expected to be compiled this summer. "We'll consider the possibility of revising related laws while learning from the efforts being made in Maebashi" in order to help accelerate community building through public-private cooperation, Ishiba said. In Maebashi, Ishiba visited Jins Park, a regional interaction hub, which also includes an eyeglasses store. At the complex, set up by glasses chain Jins Holdings, the prime minister tried on Jins brand glasses and tasted pastries sold at the facility. He smiled and said, "This is a very nice facility." Jins Holdings has built a new office in Maebashi, using the government's tax incentive program designed to facilitate business relocations to rural areas as part of regional revitalization. Ishiba also held talks with Jins founder Hitoshi Tanaka and others, and visited a shopping district in the city.