Due to a shortage of funds for Japan’s defense spending, the Liberal Democratic Party plans to raise corporate, income, and tobacco taxes in 2024 or later. The government needs to increase total tax revenue by more than 1 trillion yen per year.

Officials announced that a public park in Nagano City will be shut down, after years of complaints from residents of a house adjacent to the park. The household claimed that the noise of dozens of children playing was unbearable, and that children trespassed on their property and damaged it.

The resignation of a Kishida appointee, justice minister Yasuhiro Hanashi, highlights both the cabinet’s unpopularity and the tendency of Japanese government officials to make ill-advised remarks. Hanashi appeared not to take his duties seriously, after commenting that he makes headlines only when he approves executions.

As the approval rating for Prime Minister Kishida’s administration hit its lowest level yet amid outrage over the ruling party’s covert ties to the Unification Church, Kishida ordered a probe into the church, which is accused of enriching itself while impoverishing followers. Halting the religious organization’s operations in Japan is among the options on the table.

Support for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet plummeted from 52 percent to 36 percent in a single month, with ties between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Unification Church cited as a primary reason. In addition to these connections, which were spotlighted after the fatal shooting of former PM Shinzo Abe, failing COVID countermeasures also drove the drop in support.

US President Donald Trump arrived in Tokyo on Sunday for the first leg of his 12-day Asian trip. After delivering a speech at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, he enjoyed playing golf with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday issued a statement to mark 70 years since the end of World War Two, upholding apologies and expressions of remorse made by his predecessors.