Rintaro Nishimura | 西村凜太郎

First time meeting the old intern boss in years! Glad my @asianstudiesgu friends could join me for this extraordinary opportunity to talk to LDP policy chief Hagiuda. He gave us some insight into his thoughts on Ukraine, defense, and GX.

Quoted in a @BBC article explaining the rise of Sanseito and how the party has replicated parts of Trump's first campaign to gain free media coverage and boost its messaging to voters. It has done well surprisingly across the age and gender categories. bbc.com/news/articles/…

Quoted in a @FT article analyzing the results of Sunday's Upper House election in Japan. I spoke about the reasons for the LDP's historic defeat (why it lost voters) and why DPFP & Sanseito's campaign messaging drew in voters. ft.com/content/af2243…

Quoted in @NikkeiAsia discussing the results of Sunday's Upper House election. I spoke about the meaning of the results for PM Ishiba and the ruling parties, as well as the reason for Sanseito's success with voters. asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Japan…

Japan's chief tariff negotiator Akazawa Ryosei met with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday in another "frank and in-depth discussion" toward a mutually beneficial agreement. Japan works to pursue a "mutually agreeable landing point." cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/tar…

Sankei reports that weak political base of the Ishiba Cabinet runs the risk of weakening Japan's negotiating position vis-a-vis the United States in tariff negotiations. This could factor into LDP lawmakers demanding that Ishiba step down before Aug. 1. sankei.com/article/202507…

Latest Kyodo poll shows that 35.1% of respondents want the ruling coalition to ask for cooperation from the DPFP, 21.9% from CDP, 20.4% from Sanseito, and 18.7% from Ishin. sankei.com/article/202507…