https://www.scmp.com/rss/523986/feed A prominent Osaka based conservative and centre-right to right-wing populist political party. Its main areas of focus include decentralisation, constitutional reform, free education and economic liberalisation. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, buoyed by a commanding majority in the powerful lower house after this month’s election, is poised to revive one of her longest-standing conservative causes: making it a crime to deface the national flag. At issue is the hinomaru, the national flag, which currently carries no specific criminal penalty if damaged or desecrated – even though the Penal Code sets punishments for defiling foreign flags displayed in Japan with the intent to insult. Takaichi has... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344625/japans-takaichi-revives-push-criminalise-defacing-flag?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344625/japans-takaichi-revives-push-criminalise-defacing-flag?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2026 01:30:14 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Japan’s fledgling opposition alliance is scrambling to regroup after a bruising election defeat that has left its future in doubt, raising broader questions about whether the country can sustain a credible parliamentary counterweight to the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA) is set to elect a new leader on Friday, just days after voters delivered a resounding blow in Sunday’s House of Representatives poll, prompting the resignation of its joint... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3343191/japans-new-opposition-alliance-already-dead-water?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3343191/japans-new-opposition-alliance-already-dead-water?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:13 +0000 Zhihua Zheng Zhihua Zheng Japan’s House of Representatives election on February 8 delivered more than a decisive result. It produced a domestic political configuration with direct and lasting consequences for Sino-Japanese relations. The scale of the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) victory under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered both Tokyo’s internal balance of power and the incentives shaping Japan’s strategic posture towards China. The LDP secured 316 seats in the election, surpassing the two-thirds threshold... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3343001/how-takaichis-landslide-victory-will-reshape-china-japan-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3343001/how-takaichis-landslide-victory-will-reshape-china-japan-security?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2026 21:30:08 +0000 Brian Rhoads,Raymond Ma Brian Rhoads,Raymond Ma Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi won a landslide election victory, and the nation’s first single-party supermajority since World War II, after a campaign centred on cutting taxes and boosting defence spending amid a dispute with China. Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was on track to win 316 seats in the 465-seat lower house of parliament, according to public broadcaster NHK, clearing the two-thirds threshold needed to override the upper chamber. The Japan Innovation Party, an LDP... https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/china/article/3342919/takaichi-wins-election-landslide-amid-china-dispute?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/china/article/3342919/takaichi-wins-election-landslide-amid-china-dispute?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Feb 2026 09:07:18 +0000 Maria Siow,Agencies Maria Siow,Agencies The ruling coalition of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi scored a landslide win in the lower house election on Sunday, with the results pointing to further defence build-up as the country’s leader doubled down on her stoic stance on China. The conservative Takaichi, Japan’s first female leader who says she is inspired by Britain’s “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher, secured 316 of the 465 seats in parliament’s lower house for her Liberal Democratic Party, according to a tally by public... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3342793/sanae-takaichi-poised-big-win-snow-hit-japan-votes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3342793/sanae-takaichi-poised-big-win-snow-hit-japan-votes?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Feb 2026 01:00:42 +0000 Kyodo Kyodo Social media-savvy young swing voters are emerging as a key demographic for political parties, and some digital platformers are trying to curb the adverse impact of disinformation and fake news on Generation Z by sharing tips ahead of Sunday’s general election. Around 20 junior high and high school students took part in a recent workshop held in Tokyo designed to help them understand the importance of knowing where information comes from and accessing primary sources, as the emergence of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3342781/japans-teen-voters-must-improve-media-literacy-study-misinformation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3342781/japans-teen-voters-must-improve-media-literacy-study-misinformation?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Feb 2026 13:15:45 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Japan’s government plans to revive the military ranks used by its armed forces before and during World War II, in a symbolic gesture to please conservatives that analysts warn could stoke regional tensions. The plan, first floated in November after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party had struck a coalition deal with the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), appeared to have been pushed by senior JIP members, the Asahi newspaper reported on Saturday. The LDP has reportedly agreed to the change on the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3342089/japan-set-revive-wwii-military-titles-controversial-shift?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3342089/japan-set-revive-wwii-military-titles-controversial-shift?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Feb 2026 01:30:16 +0000 Kyodo Kyodo Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, has extended its lead from last week in a new poll on the race ahead of the February 8 election, with 36.1 per cent backing the party, up 6.9 percentage points, the survey showed on Sunday. The Centrist Reform Alliance, a new major opposition force, was second with 13.9 per cent, up 2.0 points. At the single-constituency level, the survey conducted over two days from Saturday showed that 44.0 per cent would vote for... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3342018/japans-takaichi-seeks-mandate-improved-majority-snap-election-poll?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3342018/japans-takaichi-seeks-mandate-improved-majority-snap-election-poll?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Feb 2026 14:33:11 +0000 Anthony Rowley Anthony Rowley Compared with the turmoil threatened by US President Donald Trump’s actions in everything from geopolitics to trade, the outcome of Japan’s parliamentary lower house election, set for February 8, may seem like small beer. Yet it could presage a great upheaval in global finance. The election outcome is widely expected to strengthen the political power base of the fiscally expansionist Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, and increase borrowing when government debt almost everywhere is already... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3341741/how-one-election-japan-could-upend-bond-markets-and-global-finance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3341741/how-one-election-japan-could-upend-bond-markets-and-global-finance?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jan 2026 08:30:07 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall The Japanese government’s plans to tighten espionage and secrecy legislation have been welcomed as a necessary bulwark at a time of deepening national security concerns, although analysts fear that any revisions will be too broad and could be used to stifle free speech and media freedom. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a long-time proponent of tightening rules on espionage and secrecy, was already formulating policies before she took office in October. On November 26, Takaichi told a Diet session... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3336322/japans-proposal-speedily-draft-anti-spy-laws-raises-human-rights-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3336322/japans-proposal-speedily-draft-anti-spy-laws-raises-human-rights-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Dec 2025 01:30:17 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi defended her 21.3 trillion yen (US$136.5 billion) stimulus package in parliament on Wednesday, telling opposition politicians the debt-fuelled plan was “necessary” amid concerns over the yen’s slide and Japan’s worsening financial health. Takaichi’s cabinet signed off on the 21.3 trillion yen (US$136.5 billion) package on Friday, including 17.7 trillion yen in fresh spending – the largest stimulus since the pandemic and her first major economic gambit since... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3334194/japans-populist-debt-fuelled-spending-plan-alarms-economists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3334194/japans-populist-debt-fuelled-spending-plan-alarms-economists?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Nov 2025 07:00:21 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall When Japan’s then incoming leader Sanae Takaichi was scrambling in October for a new coalition partner so the Liberal Democratic Party could remain in power, she seemed open to requests put forth by the Japan Innovation Party in return for its support. One of the key demands of the JIP was that Osaka should be officially elevated in status to the nation’s “second capital”, with additional infrastructure for the city to enable it to become the seat of government in the event of a natural disaster... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3333748/could-osaka-be-japans-second-capital-takaichi-appears-demur-allys-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3333748/could-osaka-be-japans-second-capital-takaichi-appears-demur-allys-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Nov 2025 04:30:14 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall The new Japanese government has moved swiftly to make it clear that it intends to relax the rules covering exports of weapons abroad at a time of worsening global insecurity and rising defence spending. Shinjiro Koizumi, who was named defence chief when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced her new cabinet on Tuesday, used his first press conference the following day to lay out the administration’s aims, adding that the revised policy had the full support of the ruling Liberal Democratic... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330247/peace-loving-japan-ease-weapons-export-rules-amid-rising-security-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330247/peace-loving-japan-ease-weapons-export-rules-amid-rising-security-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Oct 2025 00:00:12 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Japan’s parliament elected ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi as the country’s first female prime minister on Tuesday, a day after her struggling party struck a coalition deal with a new partner expected to pull her governing bloc further to the right. Takaichi replaces Shigeru Ishiba, ending a three-month political vacuum and wrangling since the Liberal Democratic Party’s disastrous election loss in July. Ishiba, who lasted only one year as prime minister, resigned with his cabinet earlier in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3329748/sanae-takaichi-becomes-japans-first-female-pm-ending-political-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3329748/sanae-takaichi-becomes-japans-first-female-pm-ending-political-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Oct 2025 04:53:49 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Japan’s centre-right opposition Innovation Party (JIP) has thrown its support behind a controversial new ruling coalition led by Sanae Takaichi, paving the way for her to be elected the country’s first female prime minister on Tuesday, despite concerns the alliance may quickly unravel. The surprise deal with the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party, headed by Takaichi, marks a dramatic shift for the Osaka-based JIP. Instead of joining other opposition groups to challenge the LDP’s grip on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3329676/japans-new-ruling-coalition-tipped-collapse-weirdest-alliance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3329676/japans-new-ruling-coalition-tipped-collapse-weirdest-alliance?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Oct 2025 09:00:57 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall The race to see who will head Japan’s ruling party – which will also determine the country’s next prime minister – has veered off course, with one contender mired in a scandal over orchestrated online praise and another facing accusations of xenophobia over remarks about foreigners kicking sacred deer. The internal election for leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), scheduled for Saturday, has quickly crystallised into a two-way battle between Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3327458/scandals-gaffes-mar-japans-ldp-leadership-race-they-have-no-policies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3327458/scandals-gaffes-mar-japans-ldp-leadership-race-they-have-no-policies?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Oct 2025 02:00:18 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall As Japan heads into a pivotal upper house election, populist parties on the far-right are seizing on anti-immigrant rhetoric to win over voters, echoing the strategies of US President Donald Trump’s Republicans and hard-right movements across Europe. While candidates from across the political spectrum in Japan campaign on familiar issues such as inflation, jobs and defence, a surge in anti-immigrant messaging has also reframed the national conversation ahead of the House of Councillors election... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3318332/will-japans-anti-immigrant-far-right-parties-win-more-votes-key-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3318332/will-japans-anti-immigrant-far-right-parties-win-more-votes-key-election?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:07 +0000