author

 
 
 Setsuko Kamiya

Meta

Setsuko Kamiya
Setsuko Kamiya is a staff writer and editor covering local news, including legal issues, and has been following the ongoing judicial reform. A 2005 Fulbright journalist grantee, she studied the American jury system in California.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2008
Ruling bloc enacts '08 budget in power play
Turning a deaf ear to calls from opposition lawmakers for further deliberations, the Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition rammed the fiscal 2008 budget through the Lower House late Friday night.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2008
DPJ takes up beef against road levy with governors
As the Lower House on Tuesday began deliberating the bill to continue the provisional extra rates on road-related taxes for another 10 years, the Democratic Party of Japan, the legislation's key foe, held a joint public debate with the National Governors' Association, which supports the plan.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2008
Boy's dad relieved four finally arrested
A day after the former master of the Tokitsukaze sumo stable and three of his disciples were arrested, the father of the 17-year-old novice they allegedly beat to death said Friday that he was relieved the four were finally in custody.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2008
Overriding vote passes '07 extra budget
The Lower House on Wednesday overrode the Upper House's rejection of a ¥1.78 trillion supplementary budget for fiscal 2007 and rammed it through the Diet, the first such move pertaining to an extra budget in 15 years.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2008
Conferees assess state of Afghan reconstruction
Officials from Afghanistan and 23 countries and international organizations kicked off a two-day conference Tuesday in Tokyo to assess the progress of a five-year reconstruction project in the war-torn state.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2008
Ruling bloc pulls stopgap tax bill
The ruling bloc withdrew its contentious stopgap bill to briefly extend the extra rates on gasoline and other auto-related taxes after agreeing Wednesday with the opposition to "reach a conclusion" on the fiscal 2008 budget and related bills by the end of March.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Q&A
Jan 30, 2008
Road taxes: Pork-barrel or necessity?
The government submitted a tax reform bill to the Diet Jan. 23 that includes a clause to continue the provisional higher rates imposed on auto-related levies for another 10 years, drawing opposition from the Democratic Party of Japan, which wants the higher rates that have been in place for more than...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2008
Ruling bloc submits gas-tax stopgap bill
The ruling coalition on Tuesday night submitted a stopgap bill to the Diet that would maintain current provisional gasoline and other auto-related tax rates until May 31, touching off sharp protests from opposition parties who want an end to the 30-year-old temporary taxes.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2008
Fukuda brushes off fresh election push
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Monday rebuffed renewed opposition demands in the Diet that he call a Lower House election and criticism that his administration has not pursued policies that benefit the public.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2008
Upcoming Diet session figures to be a stormy one for Fukuda
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda appears fated to face some challenging times ahead as the 150-day ordinary Diet session opens Friday, only three days after an extraordinary session drew to a close.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2008
Shibuya loaner-umbrella campaign aims to aid community, environment
Cheap and readily discarded clear plastic umbrellas are just the thing when you're caught off guard by a shower.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2008
Fukuda, Ozawa hold first Diet faceoff
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda maintained his humble tone Wednesday in his first one-on-one debate with Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2008
Hepatitis bill clears Lower House; full passage in offing
The House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that would provide blanket relief to people who contracted hepatitis C after being administered tainted blood products.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WITNESS TO WAR
Dec 28, 2007
Student nurse recalls horror of Okinawa fighting
Thirteenth in a series
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 18, 2007
Japan has its Christmas cake and eats it, too
'Tis the jolly holiday season and the streets are filled with bright illumination, sparkling decorations and cheerful Christmas songs to mark the big day next week.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2007
Diet session extended a second time
The ruling bloc extended the extraordinary Diet session Friday by another month to Jan. 15, making it certain the contentious bill to resume the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Indian Ocean support mission will clear the divided legislature.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2007
Opposition camp turns down proposal to extend Diet again
The opposition parties rejected a ruling bloc proposal Thursday to keep the Diet open for another month in a symbolic gesture reflecting its resolve to block a new antiterrorism bill coveted by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2007
DPJ rejects Fukuda's latest antiterror bill plea
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda ran into a brick wall Tuesday after asking the opposition to support a special antiterrorism bill that would let the Maritime Self-Defense Force resume its mission providing fuel and water to multinational naval ships in the Indian Ocean.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2007
Moriya implicates former defense chiefs
Former Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya divulged Thursday that lawmakers Fumio Kyuma and Fukushiro Nukaga were among those wined and dined by a former executive of defense equipment trader Yamada Corp. now at the center of a widening corruption scandal.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2007
Ozawa eats humble pie, puts blame on fatigue
president, I had been working to my limits both physically and mentally until the July Upper House election," he said. "But I think I was very tired, which made me lose vigor for a moment when I invited the confusion (over the proposed grand coalition)." Ozawa has had a history of heart problems.

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'