Nipponica

So why has his approval rating failed to rise? Kishida needs to address the problem in good faith. Although Kishida has demonstrated his ability to resolve issues that were obvious even before he came to power, he has been beset by a reputation for lacking any real agenda of his own. Kishida is also notable for taking an evasive political stance. In the area of measures to combat the declining birth rate, Kishida has ducked discussions on increasing the painful burden on the people. A fixed-amount tax cut, intended to boost his Cabinet’s approval rating, was also unpopular.

This is the key point to not only Kishida's unpopularity but also to the unpopularity of many political leaders worldwide. No agenda, no hope, no idea for the future.

The vice governor of the western Japan prefecture of Hyogo said Friday that he will resign over the death of a prefectural government official who created and distributed a document about alleged harassment and other problems with Governor Motohiko Saito.

Vice Governor Yasutaka Katayama submitted a letter of resignation on Friday and will leave office at the end of this month. Since assuming his current post in 2021, Katayama has been supporting the 46-year-old governor.

Following on from the initial story, the Vice Governor is taking the fall for the alleged harassment that led to the death of a prefectural employee. Governor Saito refused to resign.

"Working with Pacific island nations, Japan wants to further contribute to the promotion of the rule of law in the region," Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi said at the beginning of the meeting.

Japan venturing back out into the Pacific to be a balance against Chinese influence in the region.

The trip to Etorofu Island by Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev was the first visit to the four Russian-held, Japanese-claimed islands by a Russian minister since President Vladimir Putin's fifth term in office began in May.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry said it has lodged a protest with the Russian Embassy in Tokyo over the visit.

This is the border dispute that is the last existing conflict of the Second World War. Japan and Russia never signed a peace treaty and there any movement towards one has stalled after the beginning of the 2022 Ukraine War.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced in March 2023 that Japan would seek to accept 400,000 international students by 2033. Speaking at a meeting of the government’s Council for the Creation of Future Education, Kishida emphasized that “it is important to make further investments in people to realize a new form of capitalism.” In other words, the goal of accepting 400,000 foreign students can be regarded as part of his "new capitalism" policy.

In a related development, in February this year, the Kishida government decided to expand employment opportunities for foreign students who graduate from certified vocational schools in Japan by granting them a residency status equal to university graduates.

Interesting article that goes into the history of the Japanese government's push for more international students beginning in the 1980s. These various government programs, including the one that originally brought me to the country (Global 30), are something that I would like to cover more of and how these targets of hundreds of thousands of international students just don't mesh with the graduation prospects these students would likely have. More to come.

A Japanese high court on Wednesday approved an official gender change for a transgender woman who has not undergone confirmation surgery as legally required, in a rare decision.

The clause requiring gender confirmation surgery is "suspected of being unconstitutional" as it forces an individual to choose between undergoing surgery or giving up on gender change, the Hiroshima High Court said.

One more step. Also major props to all these Japanese courts that have been delivering similar ruling and pressuring the central government to act and legalized LGBT rights nationwide.

A record 56 people filed their candidacies for the July 7 gubernatorial election, but only 48 posters could be displayed on each of the official election campaign boards erected around Tokyo. The commission instructed the 49th person to file their candidacy and those that followed to attach their posters outside of the campaign board frame using plastic file folders.

Kawai, 43, argued, "The gubernatorial election, where not all candidates could display posters under the same conditions, was unfair and should be nullified." He stated that if his objection is rejected, he will pursue legal action.

Death to the stupid election poster boards already.

Saito's refusal came after the prefectural employee union submitted a complaint to the prefectural government earlier on Wednesday effectively demanding his resignation over the death of the official.

The late official, a former head of a regional branch of the prefectural government, created a document claiming that gifts from Hyogo Prefecture companies are piled up at the governor's home and that his power harassment is exceeding what officials can handle.

Pretty damning accusations by the union and the official that passed away.

The meeting is being backed by the cross-party Japan-Tibet Parliamentary Association, which is headed by former education minister Hakubun Shimomura and aims to boost support for Tibet.

The legislative body of Tibet’s government in exile will run the meeting, with around 90 people including lawmakers and scholars to come from 26 countries. The Dalai Lama, exiled supreme leader of Tibetan Buddhism, is planned to deliver a speech online

In an effort to support local and surrounding residents who wish to get married, this north Japan city has opened an online marriage support center. The service is like a local government-run "dating app," so to speak, and requires an interview and photo ID to join.

A city official in charge of the service said, "We hope that many men and women will use this service as it provides a safe and secure environment for their partner hunting activities." According to the Sapporo Municipal Government, this is the first such service among local governments in Hokkaido.

Insert Grindr joke here.