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August 15, 2024
 

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Mizuho Aoki
Mizuho Aoki is a staff writer covering local news, including the current Tokyo gubernatorial race, education and aviation-related stories. She graduated from Hitotsubashi Universty with a degree in social science.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 15, 2014
Kaieda quits as DPJ chief after humiliating ejection from Diet
Humiliated by the loss of his seat in the Lower House election, Banri Kaieda resigns as president of the Democratic Party of Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2014
Dec 15, 2014
Resurgent JCP has night to remember
While the leaders of most of the opposition parties were grim-faced Sunday night, the Japanese Communist Party was celebrating after it more than doubled its seats in the Lower House.
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2014
Dec 2, 2014
Another low for Japan's gender gap, as only 15% of election candidates are female
So much for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's call to empower women.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 1, 2014
Party chiefs spar at press club debate
Leaders of the ruling and opposition parties squared off during a debate at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Monday, a day before official campaigning got underway for the Dec. 14 Lower House election.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 1, 2014
Campaigns under way but outcome no surprise
Two weeks after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to dissolve the Lower House and call a snap election, campaigning has officially kicked off with more than 1,000 candidates vying for the 475 seats in the Diet's lower chamber.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 27, 2014
Reduced tax rate, security legislation top priorities for Komeito
The government must apply a reduced rate to certain daily necessities to soften the impact of the second stage of the consumption tax hike in April 2017, even if it means collecting less revenue and creating extra work for some people, Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 21, 2014
Abe dissolves Lower House for snap election
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolves the Lower House to pave the way for his Dec. 14 snap election, asking voters to cast judgment on his sputtering 'Abenomics' program.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 20, 2014
Komeito's 50 years of losing its religion
Back in 1964, when the lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai founded Komeito, many people looked on warily: They believed it violated the Constitution's separation of religion and politics.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 19, 2014
Abe's snap election claims first victim as Your Party disbands
An opposition party once seen as a possible third force in Japanese politics has decided to disband ahead of next month's snap election.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 18, 2014
Abe to dissolve Lower House on Friday for Dec. 14 election
After weeks of leaks and speculation, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Tuesday he will dissolve the Lower House on Friday for a snap election next month, after his administration decided to delay a second consumption tax hike planned for next October.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Nov 16, 2014
Abe bill would steal from temps to engorge industrialists
Akemi Hirose, 39, recalls when her contract as a temporary worker at a medical organization in Kanagawa Prefecture was suddenly terminated three years and three months after she started.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 14, 2014
Abe's key bills set to be tossed if Diet dissolved
As the prospect of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolving the Lower House draws closer, the chances of his administration's key bills passing the current Diet session appear increasingly slim.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 30, 2014
Funding scandals prompt veiled LDP threat to call snap election
Feeling the heat, Prime Minister Abe tells the opposition to stop revealing his Cabinet's fundraising violations and threatens to call a snap election over the 'obstruction.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2014
DPJ's Edano admits financial misreporting, promises correction
The opposition parties may have smelled blood over the recent Cabinet minister funding scandals, but they now have a spending irregularity of their own to deal with.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / ANALYSIS
Oct 24, 2014
Give addicts priority over casinos, activist tells politicians
Gambling has always been a part of 50-year-old Noriko Tanaka's life.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 20, 2014
Two of Abe's female ministers resign over separate scandals
Cabinet ministers Yuko Obuchi and Midori Matsushima resign in connection with separate political scandals, dealing a major setback to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Oct 19, 2014
Abe's shift to regional woes fails to erase mistrust in LDP
Local experts and ex-bureaucrats pan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plans to rejuvenate stalled local economies, saying the idea is another half-baked initiative from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 17, 2014
Justice minister red-faced over alleged election law violation
Justice Minister Midori Matsushima appeared to be clinging to office on Friday after receiving a criminal complaint over her election conduct.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 17, 2014
Obuchi is grilled over political funds abuse
Trade minister Yuko Obuchi is grilled by the opposition over an allegation that her political and support groups abused campaign funds by treating constituents to theater outings.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 6, 2014
Abe tells Asahi Shimbun to help in 'recovering Japan's honor'
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe accused the Asahi Shimbun on Monday of tarnishing Japan's image abroad with its erroneous articles on the "comfort women" issue, urging the newspaper to make efforts to restore Japan's damaged reputation.
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

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