Nipponica

The LDP vote is expected in early October, with the winner almost certain to become prime minister.

No one has announced their intention to run, but there are three names that have emerged as possible contenders.

They are: Shinjiro Koizumi, the agricultural minister and son of a popular former prime minister; Yoshimasa Hayashi, the chief cabinet secretary; and Sanae Takaichi, who would be Japan's first female prime minister if she won.

A good summary of the next candidates for LDP leadership. Personally hoping for a dark horse to rise from the south and have Kumamon take the reigns and steer society towards the light.

The Japan Coast Guard's large patrol vessels will start using Space X's Starlink satellite service to enhance their communications capability, Nikkei has learned.

The plan is to have 66 large patrol ships adopt the service in fiscal 2025, which ends March 31, and another 16 vessels the following year. Those ships patrol waters near the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, which China claims as the Diaoyu.

Going forward, all four hydrographic survey vessels that conduct seafloor topography surveys will also adopt the service.

Filing this in my ‘Security Self-Owns’ folder. The owner of this company has made several attempts to manipulate nations that use his communications network. Hoping this is only a stopgap until Japan can build its own infrastructure.

When meeting Jon Heese for the first time, you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve run into Bill Clinton. He often jokes that his resemblance to the former U.S. president is what won him his first election in Japan. However, Heese hails from farther north: the vast plains of Saskatchewan, Canada.

“I grew up in a small village where I could see the horizon 50 kilometers away,” he says. “Saskatchewan residents joke that they can see their dog running away for three days.”

Ibaraki is lush by comparison. Heese, 62, gushes about its flowers in spring, plus locally grown fresh fruit and vegetables all year round. “Tsukuba is especially beautiful with more than 400 parks as well as majestic Mount Tsukuba guarding our city.”

He might be biased, considering he was elected as a Tsukuba municipal assemblyman for four terms, from 2008 to 2014 and again from 2016 until 2022, when he was elected to the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly on his second attempt, after coming close in 2014. This makes Heese one of the very few foreign-born politicians in Japan.

As a former Tsukuba resident, I met Jon once and he is a good model on how a foreign-born person can make an impact in Japanese politics.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Sunday has decided to step down amid a growing push within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to hold a leadership election, Nikkei learned, concluding that he has no chance of reelection.

The thing everyone knew was going to happen is going to happen. Happy Sunday everyone.

After a string of operational incidents attributed to pilot error, the transport ministry issued a stern warning to ANA Wings Co., an ANA Group member, on Friday. The ministry has ordered the airline to submit a report on preventive measures by Sept. 19.

Genuinely don’t know how integrated the Wings pilot training is with ANA proper. If they have the same training program, shouldn’t this warning go to the parent company and have all training reviewed?

The government will begin considering whether to set a cap on the number of foreign nationals accepted into Japan, Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki said on Friday. A project team was established within the Immigration Services Agency that day to start full-fledged discussions on the matter.

According to a list of issues presented by Suzuki on Friday, Japan has traditionally lacked a consistent policy on accepting foreign nationals. “The time has come to begin detailed discussions on how to address the impact and challenges that foreigners will have on society in the medium to long term,” Suzuki said.

It was only a matter of time until something like this would happen but I have serious doubts that any substantial change will come of it or any reform of the immigration system. This is only to play to the base. Japan can’t survive without immigration.

The city assembly of Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Monday unanimously passed a no-confidence motion against Mayor Maki Takubo, 55, who is alleged to have falsified her academic record.

The mayor had claimed to have graduated from Toyo University, but in July, she admitted that she had, in fact, been expelled from the university.

The fact she stayed on as long as she did is kinda crazy but happy to see a legislature taking on a chief executive and winning.

The platform, to be launched in fall next year, will be developed mainly by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, as well as the Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA), which is under METI's jurisdiction. It will consolidate personal information, such as digital technology qualifications, education level and place of residence. The government aims to have 1 million registrants in the first fiscal year of operation.

The platform is also expected to provide educational courses for registered users. Material will be available for a wide range of applied skills, including programming, web design and artificial intelligence.

An interesting take on upskilling done at the national level. As long as personal information is secure and people are in charge of their data, I can see this as a great tool in education and job hunting.

Japan Post Bank will in fiscal 2026 issue to depositors a digital currency that can be used for quick trading of blockchain-based financial products.

By marrying 120 million accounts with cutting-edge technology, the bank will create an environment where money in savings accounts can be easily tapped for trading of digital assets online.

Looking forward to the 100% paper-based crypto transactions for YuchoCoin.

Scheduled to open a hotel at Koiwai Farm in Shizukuishi, Iwate Prefecture, in spring 2026, JR East plans to use flying cars for transfers to and from Morioka Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen line. The company also plans to provide aerial sightseeing tours of Koiwai Farm and Mt. Iwate, intending to establish the service as a new tourism resource.

JR East formed a capital partnership in May with SkyDrive Inc., a startup that develops flying cars. For commercial operations, the company plans to use SkyDrive’s aircraft, which can carry a pilot and two passengers for a total of three people.

Nice to see that the future sky traffic jams are coming to the Inaka too.