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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 / Politics
Oct 1, 2014
Abductees' families warn official visit to Pyongyang may not yield answers
Some relatives of abductees say Tokyo should eschew North Korea's invitation to send officials to Pyongyang, believing it would yield few details on the fate of their loved ones.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 30, 2014
DPJ chief assails Abe over rise in far-right hate speech
Democratic Party of Japan leader Banri Kaieda lashes out at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, demanding that he publicly denounce the rise in racist rallies in Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 29, 2014
Abe outlines plans for rural revitalization, sends signal to China in Diet speech
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers a key policy speech pledging to prop up declining provincial economies, while apparently signaling his willingness to improve relations with China.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 28, 2014
Abe to shift gears as Diet session kicks off
After drawing a storm of criticism and causing controversy with his Cabinet's reinterpretation of the Constitution earlier this year, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party now look ready to avoid contentious security issues and refocus on revitalizing rural economies during the extraordinary...
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 25, 2014
New right-wing Sunrise Party aims to 'rebuild Japan's pride'
Conservatives were promised right-wing policies, an army, a new Constitution and the confiscation of voting rights from non-ethnic Japanese people on Thursday as two prominent rightists launched a new political party.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 22, 2014
Fukushima cleanup going painfully slow
Three and a half years after Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station spewed massive amounts of radioactive materials into the air and water, decontamination work in Fukushima Prefecture has yet to draw to an end.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 21, 2014
New opposition party launched as Ishin no To
After months of wrangling, Nippon Ishin no Kai and Yui no To launch a new entity called Ishin no To (Japan Innovation Party) to help realign Japan's opposition parties.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2014
All systems go for second stage of tax hike: Tanigaki
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Sadakazu Tanigaki said Friday the second stage of the consumption tax rate hike should proceed as planned next year, but said the ruling party is closely monitoring the economic situation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2014
Yemeni journalist devoted to bringing democracy, women's rights to her country
Japan is an ideal model for countries racked by conflict and poverty because of how it resurrected itself from the devastation of war and achieved peace, the first Arab woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize says.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 10, 2014
Parties bury the hatchet, agree on new name ahead of merger
Overcoming heated arguments, two young opposition parties planning to merge later this month finally agreed Wednesday to name their new entity Ishin no To.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2014
Ishin, Yui agree on new party title, offices
Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) and Yui no To (Unity Party) agree to keep the word 'Ishin' in the name of their new party, which is scheduled to be launched on Sept. 21.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 3, 2014
Abe matches Koizumi by naming five women to lineup
Only once before Abe's Cabinet shake-up on Wednesday have there been five female ministers at the same time.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 3, 2014
Tanigaki gets nod as LDP No. 2; hawkish Inada named party policy chief
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appoints Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki as secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and removes Shigeru Ishiba, his top political rival, from the party's No. 2 post.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 1, 2014
Keiji Furuya vows tough stance on North Korean abduction issue will continue
Japan will continue to take a hard stance against North Korea over the abduction issue until every single case involving a Japanese citizen is resolved, the Cabinet minister handling the matter said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2014
Conservative party to submit bill halting welfare for needy foreigners
Jisedai no To (Party for Future Generations) plans to submit legislation to the Diet this fall that would exclude poverty-stricken non-Japanese residents from receiving welfare benefits.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 17, 2014
Scientist weighs homecoming risks in Fukushima
When scientist Junko Nakanishi stepped into radiation-contaminated towns and villages in Fukushima Prefecture 10 months after the nuclear power plant meltdowns of 2011, she realized how difficult the job of decontamination would be.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2014
Japan paid ¥380 million in compensation for accidents by U.S. military personnel
Over the past decade, Japan has ponied up a hefty sum to help compensate victims of accidents caused by U.S. military personnel or civilian employees.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 5, 2014
Senkaku tensions could spark unwanted clash with China, annual defense report warns
Japan is deeply concerned that China's rapidly expanding maritime and airspace activities around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea could trigger an unwanted clash, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday in its white paper for 2014.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 31, 2014
Pregnant women no longer warned to avoid onsen
For the first time in 32 years, pregnant women can bathe in an onsen this summer without worrying about harming themselves or their unborn baby, according to a new government guideline.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 31, 2014
Experts question Fukushima thyroid screening
More than three years after the triple core meltdown in Fukushima Prefecture devastated the lives of thousands of residents, the effect that the radiation release is having on children's thyroid glands still weighs heavily on residents' minds.

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