On October 28, 2025, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump held their first summit meeting at the Akasaka Palace State Guest House in Tokyo—an encounter marked by an atmosphere of exceptional warmth and mutual admiration.
On October 25, 2025, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump held their first telephone conversation. As the first official contact between the two leaders following Takaichi’s inauguration, the call strongly impressed upon the international community that the Japan–U.S.
On October 24, 2025, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, in her first policy speech since taking office, declared that combating rising prices—which are weighing heavily on household finances—would be “the government’s top priority.” As a central pillar of that effort, she strongly committed to reducing the gasoline tax.
On October 24, 2025, Japan’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, delivered her inaugural policy speech before the National Diet. Defining herself as someone who “never stops believing in the strength of Japan and its people,” she declared her slogan, “Japan’s Rebirth.” The speech laid out a comprehensive vision spanning the economy, national security, and social policy.
On October 21, 2025, Sanae Takaichi, President of the Liberal Democratic Party, was elected as the 104th Prime Minister of Japan in the prime ministerial nomination elections held by both houses of the Diet, becoming the first female prime minister in Japan's constitutional history.
On September 19, 2025, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) made a landmark decision in its monetary policy history. At its Monetary Policy Meeting, the central bank announced that it would begin the gradual sale (disposal) of its long-held exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and Japanese real estate investment trusts (J-REITs).
On September 22, 2025, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) formally announced the leadership election to choose a successor to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who declared his resignation on September 7
On September 7, 2025, a prime minister’s career came to an end in Japan’s political arena. At a press conference beginning at 6:00 p.m., Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba formally announced his resignation.
On September 4, 2025, Japan and the United States announced a new agreement on the long-standing auto tariff issue. The U.S. formally set an upper limit of 15%—including the current Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) rate of 2.5%—on tariffs applied to passenger vehicles and auto parts imported from Japan.
The executive order signed on August 7, 2025, removing barriers to cryptocurrency investments in 401(k) plans can be seen as the culmination of the Trump administration’s “promise-delivery” process.
At its Monetary Policy Meeting on July 31, 2024, the Bank of Japan took a historic step to markedly accelerate its exit from unconventional easing—i.e., “policy normalization.” The decision rests on two pillars.
On July 7, 2025, news out of Washington sent shockwaves through global financial markets and diplomatic circles: the U.S. government formally notified Japan of its plan to impose an additional 25% tariff on a broad range of imports from Japan.
At its Monetary Policy Meeting that concluded on June 18, 2025, the Bank of Japan decided—much as markets had expected—to leave monetary settings unchanged.
In June 2025, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will make his debut on the global stage at the G7 Summit held in Canada. For Japan’s new leader, this summit will serve as the first litmus test of his diplomatic direction.
On May 4, 2025, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications released population estimates that sounded a quiet but dire alarm for the nation’s future.
On April 2, 2025, a shock rippled through the global trade order. U.S. President Donald Trump announced by executive order a new tariff regime intended to correct the massive U.S. trade deficit.
On March 19, 2025, at its Monetary Policy Meeting, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided—just as markets had expected—to maintain its current policy stance. Specifically, the Policy Board unanimously approved keeping its money market operations framework aimed at guiding the uncollateralized overnight call rate to around 0.50%. Because this outcome had been widely priced in, there was little immediate volatility in equities or government bonds after the announcement.
March 6, 2025 marked a watershed moment in Japan’s financial policy. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) Headquarters for the Promotion of a Digital Society released “Web3 Proposal 2025,” drafted by its subordinate Web3 Working Group (WG).
On February 7, 2025 (local time), Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump held their first in-person summit meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C.
In March 2023, a Hong Kong student at a Japanese university was arrested for allegedly inciting secession, based on Article 20 and 21 of the Hong Kong national security law, sending shockwaves across Japan and the international community.
On February 1, 2023, the second anniversary of the coup, the State Administration Council (SAC), the top decision-making body of Myanmar’s military regime, announced extending the state of emergency.
In March 2023, the 11 member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreed to accept the U.K. as the 12th member.
On March 25, 2023, the Foreign Ministry of Honduras announced cutting ties with Taiwan, then announced establishing diplomatic relations with China through a joint communique.
For the president of Taiwan (Republic of China), which has diplomatic relations with just 13 countries as of May 2023, visits abroad are not that often.
The events of February 24, 2022, unrelentingly exposed that, while a typical classic war of aggression had been waged on the twenty-first-century European continent, Europe had no means to stop it.
“The examples of Ukraine and North Korea have taught us once again that freedom and peace can be maintained only when international norms and the rule of law are upheld.”
Russia's invasion of Ukraine shook the liberal international order of the 20th century as well as the confidence-building process in Europe since the end of the Cold War.
In face of the Ukrainian offensive, the Kremlin seeks to strengthen forces and tighten domestic control by annexing four provinces, declaring martial law, and partial mobilization.
It appears that realism—a view based on the assumption that states aim to maximize their own national interests in an international community where there is no world government—has never been as useful as it is when looking at the COVID-19 responses of each country.
On July 20, 2021, Taiwan's foreign minister announced a plan to open the “Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania,” a de facto embassy in one of the three Baltic countries with which Taiwan has no diplomatic relations.
The United Arab Emirates and the rest of the Gulf oil-producing countries, which abstained from the United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Russia in April, are reluctant to increase crude oil production further.
In a multipolar world, health cooperation is increasingly important in fighting the pandemic, especially as the lifting of restrictions in some parts of the world may cause further disparities.
The international community has searched for a solution to the secessionist conflicts in the former Soviet bloc that would respect both national self-determination and the existing national borders.
Since the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014 and the beginning of the fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed militants and the Ukrainian government, Ukraine has been subject to constant Russian military intervention.
There is one thing we can say for certain about the consequence of this war—owing to the experience of united resistance, the Ukrainians will survive as a nation.
China’s diplomacy with Afghanistan boils down to two goals—drive the U.S. troops out from its neighbor, Afghanistan, and tame the Taliban to cut off traffic between the Xinjiang Uighurs and other Islamic militants.
China, which has now become the largest trading partner to over 130 nations in the world, is able to exert influence for its own political and strategic interests by using its vast market power.
When the national security law for Hong Kong went into effect on June 30, 2020, I contributed a piece in the December 2020 issue of the “Seiron” magazine.
While the vast area across the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean is being recognized as a unique strategic space, the way of order in this "Indo-Pacific" region has become a major issue for the countries involved.
Since 2000, the Chinese government made overseas expansion its national strategy, with the government taking the lead to boost support for related policies.
The cover of The Economist (May 1 issue) caused a buzz as it depicted U.S. and Chinese military forces heading towards Taiwan on the center of a radar screen.
As pandemics reach a climax, a number of phenomena are taking place that will determine the future course of the world. From a geopolitical point of view, the most important of these is the further escalation of tensions between the United States and China.
By Yutaka Iimura,Senior Fellow at GRIPS Alliance,Visiting Professor at National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies,Former Ambassador of Japan to Indonesia and to France
The Chinese consumer market in 2020 was hit hard by negative growth due to the impact of the spread of the new coronavirus infection at the beginning of the year.
As the Xi Jinping administration intensifies its confrontational stance towards the U.S., it is speeding up domestic production of semiconductors which are “the rice of industry,” in fear of decoupling from the international supply chain.
There are global companies in the water business so called water majors. For a long time from the 19th to the 21st century, Veolia Environment , Suez both of France, and Thames Water of the U.K. were the three companies called water majors.
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder, Lars Nootbaar, 25, was selected to play for Japan in the March World Baseball Classic (WBC) as the first non-Japan-born player.
On October 24, 2025, Toyota Motor Corporation announced—via an official press release—the end of an era for car enthusiasts worldwide: production of the pure sports car GR Supra will cease in March 2026. On its official website, Toyota quietly posted a note of gratitude: “We would like to express our sincere thanks to the many customers who have supported us over the years.” This was more than a routine notice about the discontinuation of a single model; it signaled the closing of a major chapter in Japan’s sports-car history.
On January 21, 2025 (Japan time: January 22), baseball history was made. Ichiro Suzuki (51), who starred for the Seattle Mariners and other teams, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He is the first Japanese player ever to receive this honor, and the first player from Asia to enter Cooperstown.