Japan's new PM

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivers remarks at a gathering in Tokyo on Nov. 3 concerning the issue of Japanese abducted by North Korea. (Photo by Yurina Ishikawa)
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hold up a bilateral agreement signed in Tokyo on Oct. 28.
The Nikkei View

Japan-US alliance must take responsibility for global stability

After 1st summit, PM Takaichi should try to keep Trump in multilateral framework

29 October 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One to depart from Tokyo's Haneda Airport for South Korea on Oct. 29.
International relations

Trump in Japan: How the US president's stay unfolded

Visit featured baseball talk with emperor, bonding with Takaichi, dinner with execs

29 October 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gestures towards military personnel aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan, on Oct. 28. (Photo by Mayumi Tsumita)
Defense

Trump hails 'cherished' defense ties with Japan as pillar of Pacific peace

U.S. president and Takaichi showcase unity aboard American aircraft carrier

28 October 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrive at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo on Oct. 28.
International relations

Japan PM Takaichi and US President Trump tout 'new golden age' for alliance

Leaders sign deals on trade implementation and rare earths at first summit in Tokyo

28 October 2025
Japanese Prime minister Sanae Takaichi delivers a policy speech in parliament in Tokyo on Oct. 24. (Photo by Ken Suzuki) 
Japan's new PM

Transcript: Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi's policy speech to the Diet

New leader vows to 'turn anxiety into hope' by investing in advanced technologies

28 October 2025
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is entering office with a 74% approval rating.
Japan's new PM

Japan's Takaichi to push defense exports on back of high approval rating

New ruling coalition seeks to eliminate restrictions on weapons exports

28 October 2025
Hopes are high for newly inaugurated Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to deliver an expansionary fiscal package to support growth. (Photo by Nanami Sato)
Equities

Nikkei average hits 50,000 for 1st time on US-China deal, likely Fed cut

Yen trades around 153 per dollar, depreciating to all-time low against euro

27 October 2025
Takaya Taguchi, co-founder and CEO of Helical Fusion, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 27. (Photo by Shotaro Tani)
Energy

Japan startup touts 'world first' in key electromagnets for fusion energy

Superconducting technology confines plasma in reactor; to be applied in pilot plant

27 October 2025
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks in the upper house of Japan's parliament on Oct. 24. (Photo by Ken Suzuki)
Japan's new PM

New Japan PM Takaichi starts with 74% approval: Nikkei poll

Inflation is top concern of respondents, followed by economic growth

27 October 2025
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, left, speaks with reporters in Kuala Lumpur after a phone called with U.S. President Donald Trump on Oct. 25. (Photo by Ryuto Imao)
International relations

Trump and Takaichi hold 1st phone call, discuss US-Japan alliance

Leaders spoke ahead of Trump's visit to Japan set to begin Monday

26 October 2025
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, in an online appearance, joins the Mount Fuji Dialogue hosted by the Japan Center for Economic Research and the Japan Institute of International Affairs in Tokyo on Oct. 25. (Photo by Ryota Ogata)
International relations

Japan PM Takaichi seeks 'honest exchange of views' with Trump at summit

US deputy secretary of state urges Japanese investment in advanced manufacturing

25 October 2025
Kyoto Fusioneering is developing nuclear fusion power generation technology. (Kyoto Fusioneering)
Markets

'Takaichi trade' boosts Japan's space, nuclear fusion sectors

Shares of space startup Astroscale have risen 40% since LDP leadership race

25 October 2025
New Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama speaks with reporters in an interview on Oct. 24.
Politics

Japan finance chief seeks tougher investment checks modeled on CFIUS

Katayama stresses need for 'more effective' review process

25 October 2025
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who did not send a congratulatory message to Sanae Takaichi, had done so for every other new Japanese prime minister since he took office. (Source photos by Nikkei, Kyodo)
International relations

China's Xi skips congratulatory message to new Japan PM Takaichi

Premier Li Qiang responds instead amid unease over new right-leaning leader

25 October 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi are slated to meet on Oct. 28 in Tokyo. (Source photos by Reuters, Ken Suzuki)
International relations

Japan, US to sign cooperation deal on AI, 6G as China gains ground

Agreement aims to set standards and promote exports to emerging markets

25 October 2025
Kurt Campbell, Chairman and Co-Founder of The Asia Group, former Deputy Secretary of State, speaks during a panel discussion at the 22nd CSIS/NIKKEI Symposium in Tokyo on Oct. 24. (Photo by Shintaro Ino)
Indo-Pacific

Japan's Takaichi faces Trump uncertainty on Indo-Pacific, experts say

CSIS/Nikkei panelists urge new prime minister to exercise foreign policy pragmatism

24 October 2025
Japanese Prime minister Sanae Takaichi delivers a policy speech in parliament in Tokyo on Oct. 24. (Photo by Marina Inoue) 
Japan's new PM

Japan PM Takaichi vows to boost defense spending to 2% of GDP by March

Call to achieve target 2 years ahead of time comes as Trump set to visit

24 October 2025
The selection of Satsuki Katayama, center of middle row, as finance minister by new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, bottom center, has eased investor concerns about fiscal expansion.
Bonds

Ultralong Japan bond yields cool as Takaichi allays investors' fiscal fears

New leadership doesn't seem poised for undisciplined spending, analysts say

24 October 2025
Japan's LDP and Japan Innovation Party have formed a new ruling coalition, with the latter agreeing to provide "extra-cabinet cooperation." (Photo by Ken Suzuki) 
Japan's new PM

Japan's new coalition needs centrist unity to endure, history shows

Past examples of G7 governments suggest fewer parties mean more stability

24 October 2025
Sanae Takaichi, Japan's new leader, enters the prime minister's office on Wednesday.
Japan's new PM

Takaichi's cabinet picks signal shift in Japan's immigration, defense policy

Government eyes crackdown on foreigners who don't follow rules and more exports of defense equipment

23 October 2025
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 21. (Photo by Mayumi Tsumita) 
Interview

Gerald Curtis: Japan's Takaichi will moderate her views to stay in power

New PM faces limits on conservative agenda as she seeks stability amid LDP decline

22 October 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump, second from left, poses with first lady Melania Trump, then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and first lady Akie Abe aboard the JS Kaga on May 28, 2019, in Yokosuka, Japan. (White House)
Trump administration

Trump plans trip down Abe memory lane in Japan

President to meet with Takaichi, widow Akie and abductees' kin, plus visit carrier

22 October 2025
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to reporters on Oct. 21 from the prime minister's office in Tokyo. (Photo by Mayumi Tsumita)
Japan's new PM

Japan's Takaichi to meet with Trump next week to discuss defense

New leader dismissive of early snap election in first news conference

22 October 2025
Elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi departs the prime minister's office for the imperial palace on Oct. 21. (Photo by Marina Inoue)
Japan's new PM

Japan's Takaichi forms cabinet to take on economic, diplomatic challenges

First female prime minister appoints political rivals to key ministerial positions

21 October 2025
Sanae Takaichi emphasizes aggressive fiscal expansion funded by deficit bonds and further monetary easing with government involvement, which puts her at odds with the LDP's new coalition partner. (Nikkei montage/source photos by Ken Suzuki and Uichiro Kasai)
Japan's new PM

What will change under Japan's new coalition? 4 things to know

LDP's shift from centrist Komeito to reformist party could reorder its policy priorities

21 October 2025
LDP President Sanae Takaichi bows after being elected prime minister in the lower house of parliament in Tokyo on Oct. 21. (Photo by Sae Kamae) 
Japan's new PM

Sanae Takaichi elected as Japan's first female prime minister

Right-leaning new coalition faces immediate economic and diplomatic challenges

21 October 2025
Sanae Takaichi poses with Margaret Thatcher, her longtime role model. (Photo courtesy of Sanae Takaichi)
Japan's new PM

Who is Japan's 'Iron Lady' Sanae Takaichi?

Self-made conservative standard bearer steeled by personal challenges, US experience

21 October 2025
Satsuki Katayama sits for an interview on June 24, 2024. (Photo by Kosuke Imamura)
Japan leadership race

Japan's Takaichi to tap ex-ministry bureaucrat Katayama as finance chief

Motegi set as foreign minister, with Koizumi to lead defense ministery

21 October 2025
Michio Saito thinks that interest rates are unlikely to come down for the time being. (Photo by Shintaro Ino)
Bonds

Japan household investment in JGBs needed: former Finance Ministry director

Michio Saito says bond market not worried about Takaichi as prime minister

21 October 2025