Sitemap - 2025 - Observing Japan

Warning signs | Today in the Upper House Campaign

One week to go | Today in the Upper House Campaign

The tariff election | Today in the Upper House Campaign

State of contempt | Today in the Upper House Campaign

Memorial day | Today in the Upper House Campaign

A guide to the 2025 upper house elections

The elephant in the room

Under pressure | This Week in Japanese Politics

Polls point to fluid upper house campaign

The upper house campaign approaches | This Week in Japanese Politics

The Sanseitō question

Reading the Tokyo elections

The Ishiba government says no

Ishiba returns home empty handed | This Week in Japanese Politics

Everything's coming up Ishiba

Parties spar as upper house campaign nears | This Week in Japanese Politics

Tamaki missed his moment

Losing confidence | This Week in Japanese Politics

Ishiba gets a Koizumi bump

Noda's dilemma

The great rice debate | This Week in Japanese Politics

The momentum shifts | This Week in Japanese Politics

Ishiba turns a corner?

The government and the CDP make a deal | This Week in Japanese Politics

Koizumi hits the ground running | This Week in Japanese Politics

Etō out, Koizumi in

Ishiba's policy liabilities loom large in new polls

Ishiba's Grecian Turn

Backed into a corner | This Week in Japanese Politics

Pension bill moves ahead as upper house campaign heats up | This Week in Japanese Politics

Rumbling on the right

Hope for Ishiba?

Back to Business | This Week in Japanese Politics

Ishiba goes global

Lashing himself to the mast

Plenty of malaise to go around

Noda versus Ishiba | This Week in Japanese Politics

When Akazawa met Trump

Akazawa in Washington | This Week in Japanese Politics

No port in a storm

Ishiba's balancing act

The Observing Japan conference call

Japan's "Zelenskyy moment"

Ishiba versus the Trump Shock

"This is approaching a national crisis"

Ishiba faces a tough second half | This week in Japanese politics

The budget nears passage | This week in Japanese politics

When the rubber meets the road

That sinking feeling

Polling data

Opposition parties turn up the heat on Ishiba | This week in Japanese politics

Tokyo debriefing

The plunge

Ishiba in trouble | This week in Japanese politics

Conference call for paid subscribers: a trip report

Ishiba's bad week continues

Ishiba has a bad week

Japan in Trump's sights | This week in Japanese politics

The five transitions of Japanese democracy

The government makes a deal? | This week in Japanese politics

Japan and the Ukraine question

The CDP enters the budget discussion | This week in Japanese politics

Back to reality | This week in Japanese politics

Ishiba's Trump bump?

When Ishiba met Trump

Ishiba works through his birthday | This week in Japanese politics

The LDP's right wing stirs

The budget committee gets to work | This week in Japanese politics

Ishiba contends with a contentious Diet | This week in Japanese politics

Three new polls, three takeaways

The Diet reopens for business | This week in Japanese politics

Towards a pleasant Japan?

Japan's choice

Negotiations at home and abroad | This Week in Japanese Politics

Ishiba's slide resumes

Ishiba’s steady support

The double hedge revisited