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 Eric Johnston

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Eric Johnston
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2014
Women's rights NGO says Momii must resign
A group that sued NHK over Japan's “comfort women” is calling on its new chairman to resign for his comment that “all countries” had similar wartime systems.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2014
Hashimoto backs embattled NHK head on 'comfort women'
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto comes out for NHK Chairman Katsuto Momii, who's under fire for asserting that the wartime enslavement of women to provide sex for Japanese soldiers was wrong only by today's standards.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jan 26, 2014
No plan best plan in Kansai nuclear disaster
Ten months after regional governments were required to submit nuclear disaster evacuation plans, a lack of central government guidance and local-level cooperation is generating concern that Kansai will be ill-prepared to respond if any of Fukui Prefecture's 13 commercial reactors suffers a meltdown.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2014
Jury still out on Kansai union's worth
A useless talk shop that will ultimately be remembered as a massive waste of taxpayer money, or a farsighted experiment that will someday be seen as the forerunner of a fundamentally new system of central government?
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2014
EPA with Canada would help Japan, open NAFTA door: Quebec official
Japan should consider concluding a bilateral economic partnership agreement with Canada, which could then be used as a card against the United States in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, Quebec's minister of international relations and foreign trade said this week during a trip to the Kansai...
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jan 20, 2014
Base setback denied after Nago poll
Tokyo and Okinawa's unrepentant governor insist a replacement base for the U.S. will be built as scheduled despite the re-election of Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine over the weekend.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 20, 2014
Citizen watchdogs see secrets law reviving tax money abuses
Democratic societies often have an ombudsman system of ordinary citizens who monitor how local and national tax money is spent.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 19, 2014
Nago mayor wins re-election in blow to Abe, U.S.
Nago voters return Mayor Susumu Inamine for a second term, dealing a setback to Tokyo's plans to build a long-sought air base for the United States.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 19, 2014
Nago voters cast ballots on base fate
Nago voters head to the polls to pick a mayor who might be able to put the Futenma base relocation issue to rest.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 18, 2014
LDP dangles cash in Nago poll
In a last-ditch attempt to win votes for the pro-base candidate in Sunday's Nago mayoral election, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba has promised voters Tokyo will set up a ¥50 billion fund to be used to revitalize the local economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jan 18, 2014
Ishin's Osaka wing hopes Tamogami loses in Tokyo
To the frustration — and rising panic — of nuclear village chieftain and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Tokyo's gubernatorial election next month is shaping up to be a contest not about "local" issues like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics or even perennial complaints such as the lack of economic reform. Barring...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 17, 2014
Incumbent leading in Nago race
As voters in Nago, Okinawa, prepare for Sunday's mayoral election, polls show the incumbent, who strongly opposes relocating the Futenma military base to the city's Henoko district, is leading his pro-base rival.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2014
Hashimoto sued over scrubbed trip
Six members of a local citizens' watchdog group file a civil suit against the city of Osaka, demanding that Mayor Toru Hashimoto repay the nearly u00a5700,000 bill the city footed after he canceled a trip to the U.S. last June.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 11, 2014
U.S. base at center of Nago poll
In a contest with major implications for the government and military ties with the U.S., campaigning is about to start in the city chosen to host the Futenma replacement base.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 8, 2014
Luminaries' statement slams Henoko base deal
Twenty-nine scholars, peace activists, writers, artists and a Nobel laureate issue a statement condemning the decision to relocate the Futenma base to Henoko and comparing opposition to the move with America's civil rights movement.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2014
Citizens seek nuclear-free Shimane
Shimane Prefecture citizens seeking to enact a local ordinance that would phase out nuclear power and develop renewable energy sources have collected more than 92,000 signatures of support from registered voters, well over the minimum needed to force the governor to introduce the ordinance to the prefectural...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2013
Energy rivals to face eased demand
Even as new renewable energy projects come online and changes in the law designed to increase competition and use power generated from all sources more efficiently start to come into effect this year, predictions for the nation's energy landscape show total energy consumption slightly down.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2013
Base time frame for Futenma relocation uncertain
The decision Friday by Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima to allow the start of offshore fill work needed to build a replacement facility for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma ends a 17-year standoff that pitted entrenched base opponents against Tokyo and Washington.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 26, 2013
Nago race now down to just two candidates
January's Nago mayoral election is now a two-man race after ex-Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro ended his bid and threw his support behind Bunshin Suematsu, a Liberal Democratic Party prefectural assembly member heavily backed by Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 25, 2013
Casino quest governor's hole card?
As Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima's Futenma base decision, speculation is growing that he's holding out for the promise of a casino resort.

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