Ishiba in trouble | This week in Japanese politics

The prime minister battles a scandal, as his legislative agenda runs into trouble in the Diet and his government encounters friction with the United States

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The rundown

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru is accused of improper payments to Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), scrambling the outlook for the FY2025 budget and potentially threatening his premiership, while the ruling and opposition parties are sparring over pension reform and campaign finance reform proposals. Meanwhile, early results from wage negotiations point to increases building on last year’s gains. In foreign policy, Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi attended the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting and the Japanese government is preparing for a trilateral meeting with South Korean and Chinese foreign ministers in Tokyo. Plus, Roki Sasaki returns home and meets with Ishiba. All of this and more in This Week in Japanese Politics.