TOKYO -- By this year's cherry blossom season, Japan's minority government hopes to have pulled off a delicate budget balancing act. Whether it wins plaudits from voters frustrated by the rising cost of living remains to be seen -- and they get their chance to pass a verdict in a key election this summer.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) needs cooperation from political rivals for a finance bill that must be passed by the end of March. At stake is a budget those rivals say must include spending and billions of dollars in tax cuts to address what polls show is Japanese citizens' biggest concern right now -- surging inflation. Including food prices, Japan's January inflation climbed to 4.0% from 3.6% in the prior month, marking the highest reading since January 2023.
