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April 04, 2025
 

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Eric Johnston

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Eric Johnston
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 18, 2021
Former Prime Minister Abe bids for a new role: LDP kingmaker
With Suga's falling popularity opening up an opportunity, Abe and his allies are vying for greater control over the LDP at the expense of Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2021
Kyoto's reconstruction plan calls for big spending cuts
Kyoto faces a financial shortfall of nearly u00a5280 billion over the next five years, and now day care centers, transport subsidies and the bureaucracy are on the chopping block.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2021
Japan's casino resort candidates put finishing touches on bids
A maximum of three locations for so-called integrated resorts — which combine casinos with hotels and other facilities — will then be formally announced sometime after May.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 8, 2021
Casino takes top billing, but Yokohama mayoral election may offer hints to Suga's fate
The main issue is a casino project at Yamashita Pier. Six of the eight candidates, including staunch Suga ally Hachiro Okonogi, are against the plan.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Aug 6, 2021
Kansai looks to lessons from Olympics for own international events
Political and business leaders are likely to focus on the good and bad points of Tokyo's experience as they look ahead to the World Masters Games Kansai and the 2025 World Expo.
JAPAN / Explainer
Aug 2, 2021
Pressure builds over raising Japan's age of consent
Controversial remarks by a Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker and cases of paternal rape have driven discussion on lifting the age of consent.
JAPAN / Explainer
Jul 27, 2021
Hiroshima hibakusha have won their 'black rain' lawsuit. This is how they got there.
The government has decided not to appeal a landmark ruling that extends benefits to A-bomb victims affected by fallout outside of a government-designated area.
JAPAN / Explainer
Jul 26, 2021
In times of disaster, Japan's hazard maps provide crucial information
July's deadly mudslide in Shizuoka has put renewed focus on hazard maps for areas at risk from floods, landslides and other natural catastrophes.
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2021
COVID-19 cases rise in Sapporo just as Olympic events get underway
Hokkaido's capital is hosting soccer games and will host marathon events, but the mayor is now calling for stronger coronavirus measures as the number of cases jumps.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2021
Tokyo poll result cements Yuriko Koike's status as a political survivor
After Koike's Tomin First no Kai performed better than expected in the election, speculation has grown that she might once again migrate back to national politics.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2021
IOC president's Hiroshima visit fuels speculation about his true intent
A trip that's officially being made to send a message of peace has instead stirred controversy amid the pandemic and raised questions about Thomas Bach's real purpose.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2021
Yokohama election turns into test for government’s casino resort plan
With a longtime Suga ally entering the race and coming out in opposition to casinos, next month's mayoral vote has become a major challenge to the prime minister on his own turf.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2021
Osaka requests extension to quasi-emergency COVID-19 measures
In a letter to Suga, Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura noted that the weekly rolling average of new infections was increasing, especially for young people.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2021
Japan's metropolises urge government to prioritize vaccines for large cities
Facing the possibility of a coronavirus vaccine supply crunch, governors of major prefectures are lobbying the government to prioritize densely populated areas.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / View from Osaka
Jul 2, 2021
Amid overspending, Kyoto stares down threat of bankruptcy
Some might attribute the city's financial woes to COVID-19's impact on tourism, but the mayor puts the lion's share of the blame elsewhere.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 27, 2021
Population shift in Japan forces redrawing of electoral map, worrying powerful LDP figures
The plan to add representatives in urban areas at the expense of rural districts could hurt LDP heavyweights from Shinzo Abe to Toshihiro Nikai.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2021
Japan braces for surge in electricity use during scorching summer and Olympics
With many people expected to tune into the games from their air-conditioned homes, utilities are forecasting tighter reserve power ratios than usual.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2021
Uganda Olympic team member first to test positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Japan
The discovery comes just over a month before the opening ceremony and amid concerns of another spike in infections once the games begin on July 23.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 17, 2021
Caught in the middle? Komeito and the China-Japan relationship
While many in the LDP have welcomed international pressure on China, the deteriorating bilateral relationship creates problems for the party's coalition partner Komeito.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 15, 2021
U.S. ambassadors to Japan: A litmus test for ties
Reports of a new U.S. envoy after a two-year vacancy fuel speculation and reflection on past appointees.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
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