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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 Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 17, 2017
Abe denies claims of Moritomo donation, says he 'has no personal' ties to embattled principal
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denied he and his wife made a donation to the beleaguered principal of an Osaka-based school operator to help him build a nationalist elementary school.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 16, 2017
Beleaguered Inada refuses to step down in face of fresh cover-up allegations
Beleaguered Defense Minister Tomomi Inada on Thursday refused to step down despite fresh allegations over the ministry's institutional coverup of daily activity logs of the Ground Self-Defense Forces in war-ridden South Sudan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 12, 2017
At party convention, DP shies away from plan to phase out atomic power by 2030
The Democratic Party postpones adopting a bold target of slashing the nation's reliance on nuclear power to zero by 2030.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2017
Abe hails 3/11 reconstruction progress on six-year anniversary of deadly disasters
Prime minister touts Tohoku region's “steady” recovery in annual speech.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2017
LDP lawmakers draw battle lines over health ministry's anti-tobacco crusade
LDP lawmakers backing the push to crackdown on secondhand smoke held an emergency meeting on Wednesday in response to a proposal unveiled Tuesday by pro-tobacco party members.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 6, 2017
Revisions seek to bring Japan's archaic sex crime laws into modern era
For the first time since the Penal Code took effect in 1907, the Justice Ministry is compiling a package of amendments to Japan's sex crime statutes that, if passed, will be the first major shake-up of those laws in more than a century.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 5, 2017
Rule change could see Abe become nation's longest-serving leader
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party rubber-stamps an internal rule change to extend the maximum tenure of its president from the current six years to nine.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Mar 3, 2017
In a break from LDP, Kono calls for Japan to open doors to blue-collar foreign workers
Veteran Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Taro Kono is calling for a drastic policy shift that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is loath to accept: open up Japan to blue-collar foreign workers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2017
Abe moves to distance himself from Osaka school after praising principal's ideology
Speaking in the Diet, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe begins denying his links to an ultranationalist kindergarten after previously describing its principal in glowing terms.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 21, 2017
Genuine asylum seekers in Japan lumped together with migrant laborers
The clanking of Tokyo trains going by still echoes in the head of a 27-year-old Congolese man as he recalls the dreadful few weeks he spent in Japan in January 2016 traveling from station to station, homeless, in search of a place where he could survive the cruel cold nights.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2017
Japan’s interpreters struggle to make sense of 'Trumpese'
As political leaders in Japan pay close attention to how U.S. President Donald Trump will go in office, so, too, are interpreters who have had a nightmarish experience translating his disjointed speeches.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 10, 2017
Sexlessness among married Japanese couples on the rise: survey
Sexlessness among married couples in Japan was more pervasive than ever in 2016, with nearly half not making love for an extended period of time, a survey released Friday showed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2017
Smoking ban in public facilities would infringe on constitutional rights, say LDP lawmakers
Members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lash out at the health ministry's proposed smoking ban for public facilities, complicating the nationwide effort to stamp out secondhand smoke.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 8, 2017
DP calls for Kaneda to resign over attempt to gag media on anti-conspiracy bill
Opposition lawmakers ratcheted up calls for the justice minister to step down amid allegations he manipulated the media to stifle Diet debate on a contentious anti-conspiracy bill.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 2, 2017
Abe mulls easing immigration for kin of Japanese emigrants to South America
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday hinted he was willing to expand the scope of young Japanese-Brazilians eligible for preferential visa status to speed their emigration to labor-hungry Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2017
Health ministry gears up for possible ban on smoking in public areas
The health ministry is considering a legal revision to ban smoking in public areas to help bring the nation's policy on secondhand smoke in line with global standards ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 30, 2017
Tokyo silent as Trump immigration ban sparks global outcry
In sharp contrast to the outpouring of condemnation by leaders across the globe, top Japanese officials declined to comment on the tightened immigration policy of U.S. President Donald Trump, calling the move a domestic affair.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 30, 2017
Details short as Abe renews vow to end culture of overwork
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reaffirms his vow to end the entrenched corporate culture of overwork but stops short of setting a timeline for legislation or promising to require a rest period between shifts.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 26, 2017
Abe warms to bilateral trade deal with U.S. but vows to still protect farmers
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday gave the clearest indication yet that Tokyo may accept Washington's departure from the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 26, 2017
Abe's kanji gaffe makes Twitter's trend tally
Reading kanji characters can be treacherous, and it seems even Prime Minister Shinzo Abe isn't immune to the pitfalls.

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