Overview
- In her first policy address, Sanae Takaichi pledged to reach defense spending of 2% of GDP by March and to revise Japan’s security strategy documents by the end of 2026.
- She outlined household relief that includes scrapping the provisional gasoline tax during the current Diet session, lifting the nontaxable income threshold to 1.60 million yen this year, and designing a mix of tax deductions and cash benefits.
- A supplementary budget is being drafted to support the stimulus and partial defense funding, with the package expected to exceed 13.9 trillion yen according to Reuters.
- Tokyo is preparing for near-term alliance diplomacy, with a phone call with President Trump planned for Saturday, a summit in Japan next week, and a Japan–U.S. defense chiefs meeting in Tokyo next Wednesday reported as under arrangement.
- Takaichi called China an important neighbor while noting security concerns, described South Korea as an important partner for dialogue, Japan’s core CPI rose 2.9% in September, and AFP debunked false claims that a new ministry for “mass deportations” was created.