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 Eric Johnston

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Eric Johnston
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2012
Hashimoto tries to get regional ducks in a row for poll
Members of Osaka-based Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) fanned out across the country this week, seeking to drum up support and establish regional organizations that can field candidates under the party's umbrella in the election.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2012
Hashimoto likens weekly's slur to hate speak
The clash between Toru Hashimoto and the weekly magazine Shukan Asahi over an article on the Osaka mayor's lineage has raised a question that Japan still refuses to directly confront: What kinds of comments cross the line from criticism into hate speech that should be legally banned?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LIGHT GIST
Oct 30, 2012
The world according to Toru Hashimoto
Loved by his supporters for his fiery rhetoric — which often involves bashing the Tokyo-centric status quo, overpaid local bureaucrats, utility executives, teachers' unions or, indeed, anybody who disagrees with him — Hashimoto's critics charge that he's a dangerous rightwing demagogue seeking a...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2012
Hashimoto would take in Tokyo constitutional malcontents
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who heads Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party), said Tuesday he would not refuse tying up with three members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly even though they supported a petition declaring the Constitution invalid.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 3, 2012
Nippon Ishin no Kai: Local but with national outlook
After months of preparation, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's new political party, Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party), was formally inaugurated at a mid-September gathering that drew more than 3,000 supporters.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2012
Hashimoto calls Diet ranks to form party
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto will personally appeal to Diet members to join a new political party he is forming in mid-September and run in the next Lower House election, sources in his local political group said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2012
Osaka Ishin no Kai to vow Lower House cuts
A pledge to halve the number of seats in the Lower House will be included in the Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) manifesto for the next election, party founder and Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said Sunday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2012
On sex slaves, Hashimoto on same page as Abe
By touching on the wartime sex slavery involving Korean females, Osaka Mayor and Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) leader Toru Hashimoto is apparently sounding out ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about joining hands for the next Lower House poll.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2012
Despite all the numbers, energy policy questions fall short
Numbers, numbers everywhere. So what are we to think?
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2012
No evidence sex slaves were taken by military: Hashimoto
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said there was no evidence that the Imperial Japanese Army forced Korean women and girls into sexual servitude at wartime military brothels.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2012
Aichi boss woos Hashimoto with policy platform
In a move expected to accelerate tieup talks with his ally, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura's political group Chukyo Ishin no Kai has announced a like-minded policy platform for the next Lower House election.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2012
Latest DPJ defectors to join Nagoya force
Two more Diet members bolted Friday from the Democratic Party of Japan and announced they were joining Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura's local Genzei Nippon (Tax Reduction Japan) group with the aim of taking it national and vying for seats in the next Lower House election.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2012
Abe sings praises of Hashimoto bid to form party but keeps distance
Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) has sounded out former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as the local political group, founded by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, continues to seek allies and supporters to form a national party.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2012
Hashimoto reeling after students' names leaked
Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) officials were reeling with embarrassment and threatening to file a police complaint this week after a weekly tabloid magazine published the names of the 888 students studying at an academy set up by the local political group and its founder, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto....
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 31, 2012
SOFA a source of sovereign conflicts
The July 23 arrival of MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture and plans to deploy them this fall to Okinawa have fueled stiff opposition from local governments nationwide.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2012
Ospreys add to Okinawa grievances
For nearly 30 years, Ginowan resident Eisho Nakandakari has had periodic trouble sleeping at night. It's not insomnia that keeps him up, but the roar of jets from U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, just a few hundred meters from his home.
JAPAN
May 29, 2012
Hashimoto school grads prep for run
With the first stage of Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's Ishin Seiji Juku school for aspiring politicians concluding Saturday, the 2,000 students who entered in March will be whittled down to between 800 and 1,000 by the end of June.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 29, 2012
New feed-in tariff system a rush to get renewables in play
On July 1, a new law takes effect requiring utilities to purchase electricity generated from five renewable energy sources at a fixed price for a set length of time, under what is known as a feed-in tariff system.
JAPAN
May 25, 2012
Tattoo flap escalates as dissenters face penalty
The Osaka Municipal Government was preparing Thursday to take disciplinary action against civil servants who refused to answer a survey on whether they have tattoos, as concern in and out of the city was growing that the questionnaire constituted a human rights violation.
JAPAN
May 20, 2012
Ishihara eyes tieup with Hashimoto
The growing populist political movement has taken another step forward after Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara announced he will create a school for aspiring lawmakers and hopes to link it with Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) group in time for the next Lower House election.

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