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 Eric Johnston

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Eric Johnston
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2016
Greenpeace reports jump in radioactive contamination in Fukushima waterways
The radioactive contamination in Fukushima's riverbanks, estuaries and coastal waters was at a scale hundreds of times higher than pre-2011 levels.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jul 16, 2016
Regional votes reveal cracks in political landscape
The overwhelming victory of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition in the July 10 Upper House election overshadowed regional results that suggest growing numbers of voters in certain parts of Japan aren't as dedicated to the LDP as it first appears.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2016
Court rules a third time against Takahama reactors
The Otsu District Court decides that Kansai Electric Power Co. must keep its Takahama No. 3 and 4 reactors in Fukui Prefecture shut down indefinitely.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 10, 2016
In first election without Hashimoto, Osaka Ishin wins at least six seats in Kansai stronghold
Osaka Ishin no Kai won two of the Osaka district's four seats and another in neighboring Hyogo Prefecture, as well as at least two proportional seats, inching Prime Minister Shinzo Abe closer to the two-thirds majority needed for a referendum on constitutional revision.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 10, 2016
Okinawan minister Shimajiri ousted from Upper House by former Ginowan mayor
In a setback for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, state minister for Okinawa affairs Aiko Shimajiri lost her Upper House seat to a challenger backed by the prefectural governor and a coalition of activists opposed to U.S. bases there.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2016
Travel survey bumps Kyoto from world's top tourist spot
City officials say huge crowds visiting its popular temples, shrines and gardens as well as its major downtown shopping districts, might be the cause.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2016
Jul 6, 2016
Osaka Ishin struggling ahead of Sunday's Upper House poll
Just before the Upper House election campaign kicked off on June 22, Osaka Ishin no Kai leaders were plotting their schedules for the days leading up to Sunday's poll.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 5, 2016
Okinawa takes wait-and-see attitude on changes to Japan-U.S. SOFA
Tuesday's announcement by Tokyo and Washington that an agreement has been reached that more narrowly defines those classified as civilians employed by the U.S. military in Japan was greeted with caution by top Okinawan officials, who are taking a wait-and-see attitude.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2016
OECD tax-dodging confab concludes with agreement to draft blacklist criteria
In effort to crack down on corporations and individuals that evade taxes overseas, representatives from 82 countries agreed to draft criteria that could be used to put non-cooperative nations and jurisdictions on an international blacklist.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 1, 2016
Osaka enforces Japan's first ordinance against hate speech, threatens to name names
Ethnic Korean residents applaud as Japan's first ordinance against so-called hate speech takes effect in the city of Osaka.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2016
Nations discuss corporate tax avoidance at OECD meeting in Kyoto
Representatives of more than 80 countries and jurisdictions met in Kyoto on Thursday for a two-day conference aimed at going after corporate tax avoidance in the first-ever effort of its kind to include developed and developing countries.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jun 26, 2016
Cities take cutesy tack to get youths to go to the polls
For town, city and prefectural government offices around Japan, the key issue in next month's Upper House election is not constitutional revision or the economy. It's persuading 18-year-olds to go to the polls.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jun 26, 2016
Atomic safety and shinkansen issues complicate Upper House equation for Kansai voters
Nuclear safety, route plans for new shinkansen and maglev lines, and the ruling coalition's economic policies are some of the top local issues on the minds of Kansai voters as they head into the pivotal Upper House election next month.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2016
Jun 24, 2016
Okinawan affairs minister, a Henoko base advocate, faces tough July election race
On June 7, the day after the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly election saw voters give opponents of the bilateral relocation plan for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma a bigger majority, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet posted a video online.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2016
Battle of Okinawa anniversary marked with opposition to U.S. bases, anger over SOFA
Okinawa on Thursday marked 71 years since the end of the battle with opposition to a new U.S. facility and calls to overhaul the SOFA agreement.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 20, 2016
Regional papers reach out to voters in fight to stay relevant, solvent
With the July 10 Upper House election just around the corner, politics is once again in the air as Diet members head back to their local constituencies to campaign and promote their party platforms.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jun 18, 2016
Hashimoto backs away from confronting Tokyo's fierce media pack
With Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe having resigned, who will replace him is a matter of interest not only in Tokyo, but a question likely to impact the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito's fortunes in next month's Upper House election.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 17, 2016
Kepco loses challenge to Takahama nuclear injunction
The Otsu District Court on Friday rejected a bid by Kansai Electric Power Co. to lift an injunction against restarting reactors at a nearby plant, dealing yet another setback to attempts by the utility and the central government to return swiftly to nuclear power.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 15, 2016
LDP and Komeito to boycott massive anti-U.S. rally Sunday in Okinawa
Despite protesting the murder of a local woman and calling for revisions in the U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, local Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito officials will not take part in what may be the biggest Okinawan anti-base rally in nearly two decades.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2016
Ships with plutonium from Japan arrive in U.S.
Two ships loaded with Japanese plutonium and highly enriched uranium reach South Carolina for disposal and reprocessing.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?