
Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Implies He Won't Resign; Japan Must ‘Avoid Stagnation in National Politics'
'Japan is currently facing a number of challenges, including tariff measures by the United States, inflation, natural disasters and the most severe and complicated security environment since the end of World War II,' Ishiba said. 'Under these severe circumstances, the most important thing is to avoid stagnation in national politics.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

7 hours ago
Japan-U.S. Tariff Deal to Carry No Joint Paper: Ishiba
Tokyo, July 25 (Jiji Press)--There is no plan to issue a joint document on a tariff agreement reached between Japan and the United States earlier this week, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Friday. Ishiba made the comment in a meeting among leaders of Japanese ruling and opposition parties that was held following the agreement, including a 15 pct U.S. reciprocal tariff on imports from Japan, cut from 25 pct announced earlier. The opposition parties criticized the Japanese government for failing to issue a joint statement on the agreement. They also urged the government to compile a supplementary budget plan, citing the need for economic measures to cushion the tariff impact. The meeting was attended by Tetsuo Saito, leader of Komeito, the coalition partner of Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and opposition party heads, including Yoshihiko Noda of the leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. "We achieved an agreement that serves both countries' national interests while protecting what we should protect," Ishiba said at the beginning of the meeting. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]


The Mainichi
10 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Nobel panel head hails A-bomb survivors' stories as 'inspirational'
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes said Friday that listening to atomic bomb survivors' testimonies was both "heartbreaking" and "inspirational" during his first visit to Japan, which included stops in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both devastated by nuclear attacks in World War II. The testimonies of the aging survivors are "a force for change and a force for peace," the 40-year-old, who took part in the process of awarding the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, Japan's leading group of such survivors, said in an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo. He emphasized the importance of hearing their stories before it is too late and taking action to ensure the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons are not forgotten. Amid rising geopolitical instability, Frydnes noted that the "nuclear taboo," which survivors have been instrumental in establishing, is under threat. He described awarding the Nobel Peace Prize as both sounding an "alarm bell" and "honoring those who have done a tremendous job of establishing the taboo." Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, received the prestigious award for what the Nobel committee called "efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again." The United States dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and detonated a second one above Nagasaki three days later. Japan surrendered six days after the Nagasaki bombing, bringing an end to World War II.


Japan Times
10 hours ago
- Japan Times
Various tactics to force Ishiba out of power emerge within the LDP
Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers — fuming over Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba staying on despite losing a majority in the Upper House election — are coming up with various tactics to force him out of his post as soon as possible. The party has been thrown into a political power game between those who want Ishiba ousted immediately and those supporting the prime minister, who denied reports Wednesday that he will resign. One of the two tactics under discussion is to hold an official decision-making meeting of party lawmakers that requires the support of a third of them or more to be held. Currently, the party is expected to hold a less formal meeting of party lawmakers on Monday to discuss the outcome of the Upper House election. If Monday's meeting becomes an official one, it could give further momentum to the anti-Ishiba camp and a petition to hold an LDP leadership race could be submitted, among other options. On Friday, LDP lawmaker Hiroyoshi Sasagawa told reporters that he was able to gather enough signatures to hold an official meeting. The anti-Ishiba camp hopes that getting at least a third of the party lawmakers on board for the official meeting will pressure Ishiba to step down. A petition to hold the meeting has reportedly been signed by former members of the now-defunct factions that were led by party heavyweights Shinzo Abe and Toshimitsu Motegi, as well as those in the existing faction led by former Prime Minister Taro Aso. Meanwhile, some LDP lawmakers are going door to door in the political center of Nagatacho, collecting their colleagues' signatures for a petition to move the date for the party's presidential election forward from September 2027, when Ishiba's three-year term ends. Often described as the "recall provision,' a presidential race can be held if more than half of the combined number of LDP lawmakers and one representative from each local chapter asks for one. The provision, however, has never been invoked since it was introduced in 2002. The key would be how widely anti-Ishiba sentiment is spread within the party across the nation. Calls for Ishiba to resign, however, are already spreading among younger LDP lawmakers. The LDP's youth bureau submitted a letter to LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama on Friday demanding that Ishiba and the party's executive members take responsibility for the Upper House election results, effectively urging them to resign. The letter was submitted after 46 out of 47 LDP prefectural chapters participated in an online meeting with the party's youth bureau on Wednesday, in which the majority of participants agreed to submit a joint statement to party headquarters demanding the 'immediate' resignation and replacement of Ishiba and other party executives. Ishiba is set to make a decision on what to do once key events in August are over, including a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the anniversary of the end of World War II on Aug. 15 and an international conference on African development in Yokohama from Aug. 20 to 22. On Friday, Ishiba met with ruling and opposition party leaders to update them on the tariff deal with the United States. But the meeting was overshadowed by a flood of news reports and speculation on what might happen to Ishiba. Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters that Ishiba did not mention anything about his current standing in the Friday meeting. On Wednesday, Ishiba denied reports that he would resign at the end of August after an unusual meeting at party headquarters with three former prime ministers — Aso, Yoshihide Suga and Fumio Kishida — hours after Japan and the United States reached the surprise trade agreement . Ishiba said the party heavyweights did not discuss his resignation, but one of the former prime ministers at the meeting revealed that none of them were supportive of Ishiba's continued leadership. Information from Jiji added