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 Tomohiro Osaki

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Tomohiro Osaki
Tomohiro Osaki is a staff writer in the Domestic News Division. A graduate of Sophia University in Tokyo, he likes to explore under-reported realities of Japanese youth, with a tendency toward the taboo.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2017
In Diet appearance, Abe tells panel he never rigged approval process for Kake Gakuen project
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears before the Lower House Budget Committee.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 24, 2017
Abe's push for more veterinary schools seen as quantity over quality of education
The way the government tells it, Japan is in dire need of veterinarians.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2017
Celebrity couple's fight goes viral after spurned wife takes battle online
Actress Kazuyo Matsui's very public battle against her actor husband Eiichiro Funakoshi, whom she has accused of adultery, takes on a new life with a YouTube posting in English
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 21, 2017
Inada resists calls to resign over alleged SDF activity log cover-up
Defense chief Tomomi Inada denies participating in the alleged GSDF log coverup, clinging to her position ahead of a Cabinet reshuffle in which she is widely expected to exit.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 18, 2017
Renho discloses family registry as critics call move setback for minorities
Leader of largest opposition party takes unusual step in bid to prove she has resolved her dual nationality status
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 13, 2017
Renho to disclose family registry in bid to quell furor over dual nationality
Born to a Taiwanese father, the Democratic Party leader says she will show documents to dispel questions of foreign citizenship in a move seen by critics as caving to xenophobia.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2017
Education ministry panel approves private-sector English testing for university entrance
In a move sure to shake up the nation's English examination system for college enrollment, an education ministry panel has approved a plan featuring a complete shift to proficiency testing by private firms.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 10, 2017
Maekawa details Kake scandal allegations in special Diet hearing
A former top education ministry bureaucrat says again that top officials in the government must have manipulated key decision-making processes to help out a school run by a close confidant of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 3, 2017
Tokyo election loss places Abe in jeopardy
It wasn't so long ago that Shinzo Abe appeared on course to becoming Japan's longest-serving prime minister ever.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 2, 2017
Koike's camp clobbers Abe's LDP in historic Tokyo assembly election
Gov. Yuriko Koike's upstart Tomin First party scored a sweeping victory Sunday in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, dethroning the Liberal Democratic Party and damaging Shinzo Abe's prospects for winning another term as prime minister.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 29, 2017
Opposition parties renew demand that Abe open Diet to answer for scandals
The defense minister's gaffe along with Abe's lack of response to earlier calls to convene a Diet session prompts opposition parties to demand answers.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 28, 2017
Defense minister draws flak for implying SDF support of LDP candidate in Tokyo assembly poll
Defense Minister Tomomi Inada fended off calls for her resignation Wednesday after she suggested the Self-Defense Forces backed a Liberal Democratic Party candidate in the upcoming Tokyo assembly election.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 23, 2017
Abe's LDP faces stiff challenge in Tokyo assembly election
With favoritism allegations piling up and his Cabinet's credibility crumbling, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party faces its toughest challenge in years in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 22, 2017
LDP lawmakers take to the kitchen to promote female workplace empowerment
From veterans to rookies, male lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party sliced tomatoes, grilled salmon and fried chicken as they exemplified ways in which husbands can share in household duties during a political event on Wednesday promoting female participation in the workplace.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2017
A contrite Abe takes blame for support plunge
Taking a recent plunge in his Cabinet's support rate to heart, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe admits that his government's recent handling of alleged favoritism scandals was at fault for stoking voter distrust.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 16, 2017
Diet makes historic revision to century-old sex-crime laws
Japan revised its sex crime laws for the first time in more than a century on Friday — a historic move that broadens the definition of rape and lengthens prison terms.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 15, 2017
Conspiracy law ramrodded through Diet as opposition reckons with ruling camp tactics
Outcries fall on deaf ears as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition skips committee-level approval to pass controversial bill.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2017
Tattoo artist goes to court to legally shed shady image ahead of 2020 Games
Tattoo artists in Japan lobbied Tuesday for better legal protection of a profession that has long been associated with organized crime, seeking to end a decades-old prejudice as the nation braces for an influx of tourists and athletes sporting body art ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 15, 2017
Abe coalition rams contentious conspiracy bill through Diet
Brushing off a stern outcry from the opposition camp, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition rammed a contentious bill to criminalize conspiracy through the Diet Thursday morning, after it resorted to the extremely rare tactic of outright bypassing its committee-level approval.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 7, 2017
Overhaul of sex crime laws receives broad support
The nation took the first significant step in more than a century Wednesday toward revamping its outdated sex crime laws with a Lower House committee's unanimous passing of a package of amendments.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.