A supplementary budget worth 18.3 trillion yen for the current fiscal year was approved by a majority vote in the Lower House Budget Committee on December 11th, backed by the ruling coalition and part of the opposition, and is expected to pass the upcoming plenary session before being sent to the Upper House. (News On Japan)

Abe Akie appeared at the Nara District Court on December 3rd for the lay judge trial of the shooting that killed former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, marking the first time she has attended proceedings in person. Akie arrived in the courtroom shortly after 1 p.m. wearing a navy jacket and bowed toward the gallery as she entered, while the court continued a scheduled witness examination of Sakurai Yoshihide, a religious scholar and specially appointed professor at Hokkaido University. (News On Japan)

The Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin have agreed on a framework to ensure the effectiveness of legislation aimed at reducing the number of seats in the House of Representatives, deciding that if no conclusion is reached within one year, roughly 10 percent of seats across both single-member districts and proportional representation blocs will be cut. (News On Japan)

Komeito leader Saito told senior members of the party’s regional organizations that, following the party’s departure from its coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party, he intends to establish a new party vision centered on centrist reform by the time of the party convention next autumn, saying in the meeting that he is determined to raise the banner of centrist reform high within Japanese politics and open up a new horizon by serving as a unifying axis across the ruling and opposition blocs. (News On Japan)

"For many years, criticizing politicians for being 'soft on China' has been an effective tactic. (News On Japan)

The Chinese Embassy in Japan reiterated its call for citizens to refrain from traveling to the country after issuing a renewed advisory on November 26th, warning on social media that those already in Japan should take extra precautions to stay safe as embassy officials report a rise in requests for assistance from Chinese nationals who say they have faced discrimination since July. (News On Japan)

China’s Communist Party–affiliated media has sharply criticized Prime Minister Takai’s stated willingness to continue dialogue with Beijing, calling the approach “hypocritical and meaningless.” (News On Japan)

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has sparked uproar after declaring in parliament that a conflict in the Taiwan Strait could qualify as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan—language that would allow Tokyo to exercise collective self-defense, including potential military action. (News On Japan)

Tensions between Japan and China have escalated rapidly following remarks by Prime Minister Takaichi in the Diet regarding a potential contingency involving Taiwan, prompting Beijing to introduce a series of countermeasures including a call for citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan, with the impact already spreading across the Kansai region’s economy. (News On Japan)

China’s backlash to Prime Minister Takaichi’s comments on a Taiwan contingency has intensified day by day, with the Chinese military now uploading a series of satirical illustrations to social media depicting a figure believed to be Takaichi. (News On Japan)