Latest news with #Diet
NHK
16 hours ago
- Business
- NHK
Japan ponders JGB restructuring amid super-long bond slump
The Finance Ministry is considering ways to deal with a slump in Japan's super-long bonds, or those with maturities of more than 10 years. It's planning a meeting of financial institutions this month to discuss a possible review of their maturities. The yields on super-long bonds have been surging recently. The yield on the 30-year debt temporarily rose to a record 3.185 percent on May 21. The 40-year yield soared to an all-time high of 3.675 percent the following day. When long-term government bonds are sold, their prices drop and yields go up. The May 20 auction for 20-year bonds saw the weakest demand since 2012. A separate sale of 40-year bonds last Wednesday drew the lowest bid-to-cover ratio since July 2024. The ministry is studying whether to trim issuance of super-long bonds and focus more on shorter-term debt. Market sources say investors are paying greater attention to fiscal policies as US President Donald Trump aims to reduce taxes. They are also looking at Japan's fiscal condition, since debate over a consumption tax cut between the ruling and the opposition parties in the Diet is heating up.
Asahi Shimbun
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
Ishiba might call election to avoid no-confidence vote in the Diet
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba appears willing to dissolve the Lower House and call a snap election before opposition parties can vote on a no-confidence motion against his Cabinet, several senior officials said June 2. Ishiba has shared this idea with Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the sources said. Debate between the ruling and opposition parties is intensifying as the regular Diet session nears its close on June 22. Ishiba is apparently preparing for a no-confidence motion submitted to the Lower House by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. The ruling coalition lost its Lower House majority in the election last autumn. Therefore, a no-confidence motion will be passed if all opposition parties vote in favor of it. And if that happens, the prime minister must dissolve the Lower House within 10 days or have the Cabinet resign en masse under Article 69 of the Constitution. Therefore, Ishiba has informed those around him of his intention to dissolve the Lower House without waiting for a vote on a no-confidence motion, according to sources. There are two reasons behind Ishiba's thinking. First, Ishiba wants to prevent the CDP from submitting the no-confidence motion in the first place by threatening to dissolve the Lower House for a snap election. He believes the CDP is not prepared for such an election and would want more time before such a poll, the sources said. Ishiba could also appeal to public opinion by saying the CDP has forced his hand and is trying to create a 'political vacuum' while his government is trying to deal with soaring rice prices and U.S. tariffs. Second, the slumping approval ratings of the Ishiba Cabinet are showing signs of bottoming out. If he decides to call a snap election, his LDP might have a chance to regain its majority in the Diet chamber. Approval from at least 51 Lower House members is required for the submission of a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet. Currently, the CDP is the only opposition party with the numbers to independently submit such a motion. But within the CDP's executive committee, there is a strong belief that the prime minister will choose dissolution over resignation, sources said. However, some CDP executives are worried that the party will be seen as 'weak-kneed' if it does not submit a no-confidence motion. CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda is carefully considering how to handle the no-confidence motion while keeping a close eye on the other opposition parties. (This article was written by Kohei Morioka and Takahiro Okubo.)
2 days ago
- Politics
Groundbreaking Ceremony Held for New National Archives in Tokyo
News from Japan Politics Jun 2, 2025 19:39 (JST) Tokyo, June 2 (Jiji Press)--A groundbreaking ceremony was held at a site near the Diet, Japan's parliament, in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Monday for the new National Archives of Japan, which is expected to open at the end of fiscal 2029. The new facility was initially planned to open in fiscal 2026, but the opening was delayed due to research on culturally important burial grounds and a difficult bidding process. The Parliamentary Museum, which previously stood on the site, will also be rebuilt. The new archives will have three stories above ground and four underground levels. Including the new museum, the total area will be 42,400 square meters. The total construction cost is estimated at about 48.89 billion yen. The current main building of the archives, located in Kitanomaru Garden, north of the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo, was built in 1971. In light of the aging facility and the prospect of the stacks there becoming full, the government started discussing reconstruction in 2014. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Yomiuri Shimbun
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Diet Panel Starts Deliberations on Dual Surname Bills
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo The Diet Building in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo Tokyo (Jiji Press) — A committee of the House of Representatives on Friday began deliberations on three bills submitted by opposition parties related to a selective dual surname system for married couples. At the day's meeting of the lower house's Judicial Affairs Committee, the leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Japan Innovation Party and the Democratic Party for the People respectively gave summaries of their bills. This was the first deliberation in 28 years at the committee on legislation for a selective dual surname system for married couples. The bills submitted respectively by the CDP and the DPP are designed to revise the Civil Code to allow married couples in the country to choose the same or different surnames. As ways to decide children's surnames, the CDP bill calls on married couples to decide these at the time of their marriage. The DPP bill proposes that children have the same surnames as the first registrants on the family register, which parents would select at the time of their marriage. JIP's bill is aimed at revising the family register law to introduce a system in which maiden names are recorded in the family register as commonly used names. None of the three bills are expected to be passed during the current Diet session, as they are unlikely to gain majority support at parliamentary votes. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party skipped submission of its own bill in the current Diet session, as the party contains supporters and opponents of a selective dual surname system and did not reach a conclusion on whether to introduce it.
Japan Today
4 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Today
Diet begins debate on dual surname bill for 1st time in 28 years
The Diet on Friday began its first deliberations in 28 years on legislation that would give married couples the option of keeping different surnames. The passage of any of the three bills submitted separately by three opposition parties, however, looks unlikely during the current Diet session through late June, despite growing public acceptance of their push to change the longstanding rule requiring married couples to share a single family name. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads a minority government, remains reluctant to allow the change, with some within the party concerned that it would hurt family cohesion and traditional values. A revision to the Civil Code is required to enable couples to keep different family names after marriage. Up to now, it is mostly women who abandon their maiden names. Among the vocal supporters of introducing a dual family-name system, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan seeks to allow people to choose whether to retain their family name or change it to their partner's. The couples would be required to decide, upon marriage, which of their family names their children will use. The Democratic Party for the People also wants to allow separate family names, but, according to its bill, children should automatically use the family name of the head of the household couples designated in their family register. The Japan Innovation Party, meanwhile, is sticking to the principle of one family name for each household. But it aims to give legal status when a person uses their premarriage name even after wedlock by allowing it to be specified in the family register. In 1996, the Justice Ministry's legal counsel recommended that couples should be able to choose to keep different family names upon marriage and decide in advance which family name will identify their children, although the same name should be used by all offspring. The following year, parliament deliberated on an opposition-submitted bill to revise the Civil Code that would have opened the way for the dual surname system. Since then, Japan has made little headway in making the change. In recent years, business leaders have been stepping up calls for introducing the system of different surnames, and the public has warmed to the idea. In a Kyodo News poll, 71 percent of respondents supported the dual family-name system, while 27 percent were opposed. Ishiba has stressed the need for the LDP to deepen internal debate on the issue, but the ruling party has yet to reach a consensus ahead of the House of Councillors election. © KYODO
