The Japanese public is divided on whether Japan should exercise its right to collective self-defence if China attacks Taiwan, a Kyodo news agency poll found on Sunday.

Japan ranks low in gender equality among developed nations. The first woman to lead the country is an ultraconservative who cites Margaret Thatcher as a role model. She also loves heavy metal.

Our guest expert looks at her political approach, as well as her personal side. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Japan's economic stimulus package will exceed 17 trillion yen ($110 billion), Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said after meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.

Japan’s main opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), leader Yoshihiko Noda on Sunday criticized Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent wrong remarks on the Taiwan question as going “too far” and “quite reckless,

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who was elected as the country’s first female prime minister last month, said Chinese use of force around Taiwan would qualify as “an existential threat”.

Takaichi’s leadership promises continuity with Abe’s Indo-Pacific strategy, strengthening defence and economic cooperation with India amid growing regional competition.

Japan’s recently elected first female premier met the U.S. President on Tuesday to try to set a new tone for U.S.-Japan relations.

While consumer inflation continues to hover around 3% due to rising food costs, Japan is still "half way" in achieving sustainable and stable price growth backed by solid wage gains, Takaichi told parliament.

Kazuyu Shimba, secretary general of the Democratic Party for the People, criticised her for disregarding her staff’s well-being. “If the prime minister starts at 3 a.m., staff must start from 1.30 a.m. or 2 a.m.,” he said, as quoted by the Chosun Daily. “People cannot endure that physically.”

Japan moves closer to openly linking Taiwan’s security to its own as China responds with thinly veiled threats

TOKYO - Japanese residents held a protest in front of the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on Saturday evening, demanding Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's resignation.