
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba Says Govt Will Take Measures to Ease Price Hikes of Petroleum Products
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, second from right, speaks at a meeting of ruling and opposition party leaders at the Diet on Thursday.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Thursday that the government will begin next Thursday measures to ease possible drastic changes in the price of petroleum products due to the growing conflict in the Middle East.
Ishiba, also the president of the Liberal Democratic Party, met with the leaders of the six ruling and opposition parties in the Diet and explained his intent to address the possible price rise of petroleum products. The meeting was held to share the results of the Japan-U.S. tariff talks held in conjunction with the Group of Seven summit.
He said measures will be implemented in July and August to prevent the national average price of gasoline from rising above the ¥175 range and that similar measures will be taken for diesel oil, kerosene, heavy oil and aviation fuel.
The meeting between party leaders was the first held since June 12, prior to the G7 summit. It was attended by the leaders of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Japan Innovation Party, the Democratic Party for the People, Reiwa Shinsengumi, the Japanese Communist Party and the LDP's coalition partner Komeito.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Japan Times
12 minutes ago
- Japan Times
GCAP industry partners launch joint venture for trilateral fighter project
Japan's plans to develop a next-generation fighter jet alongside Britain and Italy have taken a significant step forward, with the three core companies involved in the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) launching a joint venture on Friday that will be in charge of delivering the aircraft. Named Edgewing , the new firm — which brings together Britain's BAE Systems, Italy's Leonardo and the Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. (JAIEC) — will be responsible for the fighter's design and development and will remain the design authority for the life of the product, which is expected to be in service beyond 2070. JAIEC is a joint venture launched last July between the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Edgewing will be headquartered in the English town of Reading to ensure maximum alignment and collaboration with the GCAP International Government Organization (GIGO) set up last year at the same location to manage the multibillion-dollar project, but will also feature joint teams working in each of the partner nations. Each of the three core firms hold an equal 33.3% shareholding in Edgewing. The future sixth-generation aircraft, which marks the first time that Japan is cooperating with countries other than the United States to meet a major defense requirement, is intended to replace aging Air Self-Defense Force F-2 jets, as well as British and Italian Eurofighters, with the first units expected to enter service by 2035. The twin-engine fighter, which is also intended for export, is set to function as a flying command center capable of controlling and coordinating other — likely autonomous — assets, with the aircraft viewed as 'the centerpiece of a wider combat air system that will function across multiple domains.' 'The newly formed entity will play a central role in achieving the program's ambitious goals — including the in-service date of 2035 — while setting a new benchmark for trilateral industrial partnership across Europe and Asia,' the new company said in a statement. Italian Marco Zoff, formerly managing director of Leonardo's aircraft division, will be Edgewing's first CEO. 'By uniting the strengths of our talented people in the U.K., Italy and Japan, we are not only delivering the next-generation combat air system, we aim to set a new global standard for partnership, innovation and trust,' Zoff said. Speaking to The Japan Times at the DSEI Japan defense exhibition in May, BAE Systems' Herman Claesen, who will be first chair of Edgewing's board of directors, said the joint venture expects to receive its first contract from the GIGO by the end of the year. It will then subcontract the manufacturing and final assembly of the aircraft to the three core companies and then the wider supply chain. With the aircraft's conceptual design stage complete, the project is now set to advance to the detailed design and development phases. Building fighter jets involves a complex supply chain, meaning that GCAP will comprise more than one industry construct. This means that several other companies are also set to come together as lead subsystem integrators in three broad domains. One such industrial construct — in charge of propulsion systems — will comprise Rolls-Royce, IHI and Avio Aero, while another featuring MBDA U.K., MBDA Italy and Mitsubishi Electric will join forces to develop the aircraft's future weapon systems. Last but not least, Leonardo Electronics Italy, Leonardo U.K., Mitsubishi Electric and ELT Group will work together on developing integrated communications as well as a fully integrated sensing and nonkinetic effects capability that will help provide a more comprehensive situational awareness picture in order to maximize survivability. GCAP is being designed to 'maximize and grow' the industrial capability in each of the nations, with design, development, manufacturing and production elements set to be evenly distributed. At the same time the partners hope that through 'effective knowledge and technology transfer' the project will also help grow and build resilient supply chains and deliver sovereign combat air capability in each nation for generations to come. At the same time, the three partner governments are considering whether to invite other countries to join, particularly Saudi Arabia. Riyadh has shown an interest in the multinational program, but there are also unconfirmed reports that Australia, Canada and India might be looking to participate. No official information has emerged on future partnership plans, including which additional countries are being formally considered or what their exact role or contribution to GCAP would be.


NHK
an hour ago
- NHK
Japan to review JGB issuance plan amid super-long bond slump
Japan's Finance Ministry has called for reducing the issuance of super-long government bonds, amid slumping demand for those with maturities of over 10 years. It's rare for the ministry to review the bond issuance plan midway in a fiscal year. The ministry presented the proposal at a closed-door meeting with financial institutions that take part in auctions on Friday. The plan calls for trimming issuance of bonds, including maturities of 20 to 40 years, starting July. That means a reduction of 3.6 trillion yen, or around 24.7 billion dollars. The total value of bond issuance for this fiscal year would be kept unchanged at 176 trillion yen, or about 1.2 trillion dollars. The ministry would replace the bonds with short-term ones and more bonds for individual investors. The ministry makes an issuance plan for government bonds for every fiscal year and conducts auctions as planned. But the auction held in May for 20-year bonds saw the weakest demand since 2012. The ministry said it will work to ensure stable sales of JGBs by revising its issuance plan.


Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Japan Times
Hyogo governor referred to prosecutors over alleged vote-buying
Police referred Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito to prosecutors Friday on suspicion of vote-buying over his alleged payments to a public relations company for campaign activities in the prefecture's gubernatorial election last November, people familiar with the investigation said. The prefectural police sent papers on Saito, 47, to prosecutors after a criminal complaint was filed last December over the governor's alleged payments in violation of the public offices election law. The police also sent papers on the 33-year-old president of the PR firm. Saito has also been referred to prosecutors for an alleged breach of trust related to a victory parade for local baseball teams. The governor has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Speaking to reporters in Kobe on Friday, Saito said, "There is no change in my recognition that I've acted in compliance with laws, including the public offices election law." The PR company president has not responded to requests for comment. Saito is suspected of paying ¥715,000 to the PR firm on Nov. 4 last year for work on his re-election campaign, which included planning a PR strategy and managing the campaign's social media presence. The PR company president said in an online post on Nov. 20, 2024, three days after the election, that her company had been tasked with overall PR activities by Saito's team. The governor later refuted her claim during a news conference. In December, a lawyer and a university professor filed a criminal complaint against Saito over the alleged payments. After the PR firm refused to cooperate adequately with requests for voluntary questioning and document submissions, investigators seized evidence, including a smartphone, during a raid on the company's office in February. Saito first took office as Hyogo governor in August 2021. After being ousted from the post by the prefectural assembly last September over harassment allegations, he won re-election two months later.