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Japan Times
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Frustration simmers in LDP as Ishiba clings to post after election defeat
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama's decision to stay on after the ruling LDP-Komeito coalition lost its majority in Sunday's Upper House election is stirring frustration in the LDP amid growing calls for the party's leadership to take responsibility. Former digital minister Taro Kono, who submitted his resignation as deputy chair of the party's election committee, has been one of the most vocal critics so far, calling for Moriyama, the party's executive in charge of elections, to resign. 'Even if the prime minister has a reason to not resign in the middle of tariff talks, it's absurd that the secretary-general, who is responsible for the election, hasn't resigned yet,' Kono wrote Monday on X. "Unless the party fixes this, the LDP won't recover."
Yomiuri Shimbun
15-07-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Osaka Expo Boosts Diplomacy, Tourism, Business Growth; Prefecture Logged 4.99 Million Overnight Guests in April
The Osaka-Kansai Expo, in which 158 countries and regions are participating, has become a stage for diplomacy. On Friday, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who came to Japan to attend China's national day at the Expo, met with Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama. He reported that China had completed domestic preliminary procedures for implementing an agreement to resume imports of Japanese beef. He also discussed possibly lending out giant pandas. Kings, presidents and other important figures have been arriving one after another to attend their countries' respective national days — events in which each country showcases its traditions and culture — and by Sunday the number of dignitaries who had visited the Expo had reached 31. Some royals and heads of state have also made side trips to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. According to the City of Hiroshima, five dignitaries, including the King of Denmark and the President of Hungary, have visited so far. Business exchanges have been brisk as well. By the end of June, the Japan External Trade Organization had been asked by roughly 80 countries and regions to help arrange a total of 185 business seminars and meetings, a figure expected to approach 400 by the Expo's close. The economic benefits are already visible in the region. In April, Osaka Prefecture logged 4.99 million overnight guests — an increase of 3.2% over the same month last year — and its hotel room occupancy rate hit 81.3%, the highest in Japan.
13-07-2025
- Politics
Japan Ruling, Opposition Parties Discuss Dual Surname System
News from Japan Politics Jul 13, 2025 13:45 (JST) Tokyo, July 13 (Jiji Press)--Senior officials from Japan's ruling and opposition parties discussed whether the country should introduce a selective dual surname system for married couples, in a television program on Sunday, a week ahead of a key parliamentary election. "A careful discussion is necessary on the matter because it involves the concept of family," Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said. Junya Ogawa, secretary-general of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, showed the party's stance of aiming to enact a bill for allowing married couples to have different surnames during an extraordinary session of the Diet, the country's parliament, seen to be convened in autumn. "We hope to create a society that provides options," he said. Whether Japan should introduce the system is believed to be among major issues for the July 20 election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Japan Times
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
LDP lawmaker to quit as parliamentary committee chief over Noto quake gaffe
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Yosuke Tsuruho plans to resign as chairman of a parliamentary committee to take responsibility for a gaffe about a powerful earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula in central Japan last year, sources said Saturday. According to a senior official of the ruling LDP, Tsuruho is poised to step down from the post of chairman of the Budget Committee in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament, following criticisms of the verbal blunder from both the ruling and opposition sides as well as by people affected by the Jan. 1, 2024, temblor. Tsuruho has already submitted a letter of resignation as Budget Committee chairman to Upper House President Masakazu Sekiguchi, the senior party official said. Tsuruho said in the city of Wakayama on Tuesday, during a campaign speech for an LDP candidate in the July 20 Upper House election, that "it was lucky that the earthquake occurred in Noto." The remark came as Tsuruho expressed hopes that the temblor would facilitate dual residency, or a lifestyle in which people have two bases of living — one typically in an urban area and the other in a rural location. Tsuruho withdrew the remark and apologized later Tuesday, saying that he lacked consideration for the disaster victims. He offered an apology again at a news conference Wednesday, and LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama gave him a stern warning. But the criticisms did not subside. Tsuruho is believed to have decided on his resignation to reduce the adverse impact on the LDP in the upcoming election. On Saturday, Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, renewed his criticism of Tsuruho, stating, "I have kept saying that (the remark in question) was beyond a slip of the tongue." Tsuruho "has finally made up his mind," Noda told reporters in the city of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture. "It is natural for him to quit." Also on Saturday, the Ishikawa prefectural chapters of the CDP and two other opposition parties, the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Party for the people, sent a letter to Prime Minister and LDP President Shigeru Ishiba, in which they accused Tsuruho's gaffe and sought a severe punishment against him. On Friday, the assemblies of four municipalities on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture sent a letter of protest to Tsuruho over the controversial remark. The letter demanded that he step down from "a key post."
Asahi Shimbun
12-07-2025
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
Still no inkling on when beef exports to China will resume
Hiroshi Moriyama, center, the secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, greets Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Osaka on July 11. (Yoshinori Mizuno) Although Japan and China have cleared hurdles for a resumption of Japanese beef exports after a 24-year hiatus, it remains unclear when shipments will start. The two countries finally activated a key animal health and quarantine agreement on July 11. They ratified the accord in 2019. Officials in Tokyo noted that Beijing could yet again delay negotiations for political reasons. Thus, the latest development will only remove one major hurdle to the resumption of exports that have been stopped since 2001 following an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), popularly known as mad cow disease. Hiroshi Moriyama, the secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, met on July 11 in Osaka with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who said the animal quarantine agreement would go into effect that day. Moriyama also heads a multi-partisan group of lawmakers focused on Japan-China relations and after his meeting with He played up the agreement in a speech for an LDP candidate running in the July 20 Upper House election. '(The quarantine agreement) will lead to the resumption of exports to China for the first time in 24 years,' Moriyama said. Government sources said the LDP and prime minister's office had been pushing for diplomatic results that could help the party in the Upper House election campaign. China in late June agreed to resume seafood imports from Japan, except for 10 prefectures including Fukushima. It slapped a ban on imports in August 2023 after Japan began releasing tons of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean. On July 11, Beijing approved the registration of three Japanese companies for exporting seafood to China. Government sources also said He provided an optimistic appraisal to Moriyama about future loans of giant pandas to Japan. China's push to improve ties with Japan is clearly linked with the increasing confrontation orchestrated by U.S. President Donald Trump with his tariff trade wars. A former ambassador to China speculated that Beijing was attempting to pull Japan away from the U.S. orbit because of uncertainties surrounding the direction of U.S. policy toward China. But with surveys showing the LDP facing a drubbing in the Upper House election, China might have to recalibrate its policy toward Japan if the ruling coalition loses its majority in the Upper House and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is forced to resign. And with this year marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, China is planning to hold a range of events to mark its victory over Japan, which inevitably will be used for propaganda purposes. That could unleash another round of anti-Japan sentiment lingering from the country's military aggression in China in the years leading up to and during the war. (This article was written by Nen Satomi and Haruka Suzuki in Tokyo and Ryo Inoue in Beijing.)
