With their "Japanese First" slogan, riffing off US President Donald Trump's "America First", they have truly ruffled the feathers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its embattled prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba.

President Donald Trump is bragging that Japan has given him, as part of a new trade framework, $550 billion to invest in the United States

Sohei Kamiya's Sanseitō Party won 14 seats in Japan's Upper House elections, appealing to young voters with a "Japanese first" platform focused on culture, birth rates and food security.

The Japanese government, not companies, is poised to back U.S. infrastructure projects of the president’s choosing.

"The trade deal struck with the U.S. is certainly a relief in that it offers some certainty that U.S. tariffs on Japan-made cars won't rise to punitive levels," said Stefan Angrick, head of Japan and Frontier market economics at Moody's Analytics.

Japan's top negotiator is pushing back against claims that the country is handing over hundreds of billions of dollars to the U.S. under a new economic deal with the Trump administration, clarifying that actual investment will make up just 1% to 2% of the $550 billion agreement.

U.S. President Donald Trump struck a trade deal with Japan that lowers tariffs on auto imports and spares Tokyo from punishing new levies on other goods in exchange for a $550 billion package of U.S.-bound investment and loans.

TACO or tariffs? An August 1 deadline looms after the European Union became the latest of the top US trading partners to reach a deal with Trump.