Nipponica

CDP President Yoshihiko Noda unveiled the new lineup of his party’s leadership at a general meeting of its lawmakers held at the party headquarters, where the plan was approved.

With the leadership reshuffle, Noda intends to strengthen party unity at a time when some members are showing frustration over the party’s failure to increase its presence in the July 20 election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament.

Something, something, deck chairs, Titanic.

The Japanese government said Wednesday that it plans to close all of its six economic centers in Russia because of strained relations between the two countries following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine..

“Amid major changes in the situation around Japan-Russia relations, the Japan Centers have fulfilled their historic roles,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a press conference.

Kinda surprised it took this long. The return of the Northern Territories becoming more of a dream each day.

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.

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 call to limit concentrations of foreign residents is discriminatory. This is typical of ethnonationalists who dog-whistle about immigration while denying that it's their intent," he says.

"What Sanseito has done is politicize immigration and push it into the public discourse, forcing other parties to clarify their stance on the issue. Now, the genie is out of the bottle. From now on, this will be up for debate, and extreme parties will try to play the anti-foreign card."

Believe it or not, views are negative.

The mayor of this west Japan city has urged for a calm and unbiased response over numerous complaints received after his city and three other municipalities were designated as "hometowns" for African countries as part of a new initiative by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The "JICA Africa Hometown" program aims to foster talent serving as a bridge between Japan and Africa. The Japanese government-sponsored agency on Aug. 21 designated four cities, including Imabari, as 'hometowns' for African nations. This has led to the spread of false claims on social media, saying it will "increase immigration," and protest calls to these cities. In response, Imabari Mayor Shigeki Tokunaga clarified during an Aug. 26 press conference, "This is purely a project for international exchange, with no intention of promoting immigration policies."

I knew this would happen when the original stories on this conference were published. Everyone knows how sensitive the subject of immigration is in Japan and especially from the global south. All comms and stories should have been fact checked and proofread both in Japanese and in the languages where these stories are published. Total cluster.