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 Reiji Yoshida

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Reiji Yoshida
Reiji Yoshida is a staff writer and deputy manager of the Domestic News Division. Since joining The Japan Times in 1993, he has intensively covered domestic politics, diplomacy and defense issues as well as the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2016
Lawmakers can't break logjam over Japan's unequal voting districts
One month after an expert panel proposed key electoral reforms to correct wide vote-value disparities between urban and less-populated areas, major political parties remain divided on the issue.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / CABINET INTERVIEW
Feb 18, 2016
New economic minister Ishihara believes recovery underway
Facing reporters in one of his first interviews since being named Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister, Nobuteru Ishihara said Wednesday the economy is making a steady recovery despite recent sharp falls in stock prices and the negative growth logged in the final three months of 2015.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 17, 2016
Polls show Abe is riding out storm of bad news
The opposition camp is failing to gain any traction with the public by lashing out at Abenomics or the scandals that have beset the Abe administration.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Feb 12, 2016
Abenomics on ropes as reform arrow, BOJ 'bazooka' misfire
As Tokyo stocks tumble further, dragging the Nikkei average to its first close below 15,000 since October 2014, economists ask: Has Abenomics run its course?
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 10, 2016
Japan reimposes ban on visits by North Korean nationals and ships
Tokyo announced Wednesday new unilateral economic sanctions on North Korea following its Jan. 6 nuclear test and the launch Sunday of what Japan denounced as a long-range ballistic missile.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 8, 2016
North Korea's missile technology blitz stokes concern among experts, officials in Japan
North Korea's rocket launch Sunday has raised fears among Japanese officials and experts that its grasp of missile technology is advancing at a worrying clip.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2016
North Korea defies U.N. by firing long-range rocket over Okinawa
Tokyo condemns a purported North Korean satellite launch that is widely viewed as another covert ballistic missile test in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2016
Abe's 'equal pay' appeal called into question
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe caused a stir when he called in a Jan. 22 policy speech for equal pay for comparable jobs. Opposition lawmakers did not like what they heard.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2016
Tokyo orders SDF to shoot down North Korean missile if threat to Japan
Japan condemns Pyongyang's plan to launch a space rocket, calling it a thinly disguised test of a long-range ballistic missile.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 2, 2016
UR housing authority at center of Amari scandal contradicts Shukan Bunshun story
The semi-governmental housing corporation at the center of the scandal that forced Akira Amari to step down as economic minister has denied that his secretaries pressured it to favor a Chiba construction firm in a dispute, contradicting the magazine that broke the story.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 28, 2016
Embattled economy minister Amari resigns over graft claims
Embattled economic minister Akira Amari on Thursday resigned over a graft scandal involving the misappropriation of funds within his office.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 28, 2016
Lackluster polls, maneuvering by LDP may give DPJ a drubbing in July election
The Democratic Party of Japan is in the throes of an identity crisis, a fact not lost on delegates meeting for the party's annual convention Saturday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 25, 2016
Ginowan mayoral victory gives Abe much-needed ammunition in Futenma battle
Top government officials in Tokyo welcome the victory by the ruling bloc-backed candidate in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture's mayoral election, saying it will give momentum to the Futenma base relocation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2016
Abe indicates pivot toward reduction of wage disparities in policy speech
In a key policy speech for 2016, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledges to promote measures to reduce wage disparities.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 21, 2016
Amari vows to answer claims over ¥12 million in undeclared funds
Scandal-hit economic minister Akira Amari vows to answer allegations that he and two secretaries received large undeclared donations and hospitality.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 20, 2016
Japanese government doubles estimated tax-hike burden, stokes opposition anger
Tokyo suddenly raises its estimated per capita burden from next year's consumption tax hike, drawing protest from opposition lawmakers.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 19, 2016
Chinese ambassador hails 'inseparable' relationship, urges Japan not to adopt policy of containment
Adopting a policy of containment with regard to China's growing clout would be a mistake, the Chinese ambassador to Japan said Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 18, 2016
Japan's foreign minister challenges use of 'sex slaves' term for 'comfort women'
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida argues that 'comfort women' should not be described as 'sex slaves,' challenging widespread use of the term by Western and other media outlets.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 16, 2016
Top diplomats from Japan, U.S., South Korea suggest China is key to North Korea sanctions
Japan, South Korea and the United States held a vice ministerial meeting Saturday in Tokyo to ratchet up the pressure on Pyongyang over its recent nuclear test.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 14, 2016
Japan watching Hong Kong bookseller disappearance: Suga
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Thursday that the government "would be concerned" if freedom of expression was undermined in Hong Kong following the latest disappearance of a bookseller who sold books banned on the mainland.

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