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December 22, 2024
 

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Masami Ito

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Masami Ito
Masami is a staff writer for the Life and Culture Division at The Japan Times. She is in charge of the weekly Sunday Timeout, covering various issues related to Japan, from alcohol/drug addiction and juvenile crime to female sushi chefs and kendama. Over her 15-year career, she has written extensively on Japanese politics, foreign policy and social issues.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2012
Genba, U.S. huddle anew over '06 base pact
Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba revealed Friday evening that Tokyo and Washington have been holding talks on reviewing the 2006 bilateral accord over the realignment of U.S. bases in Japan.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2012
Genba meets AKB48 China envoys
Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba met with members of all-girl idol group AKB48 on Thursday and thanked them for taking part in a campaign to attract Chinese tourists and dispel harmful rumors about the safety of Japanese food products.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2012
Defense chats in Okinawa said lobbying
The head of the Defense Ministry's Okinawa bureau gave two "lectures" urging ministry officials and their family members living in Ginowan to vote in an upcoming mayoral election, indirectly suggesting they support a candidate backing the government's contentious plan to relocate the U.S. Futenma base,...
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2012
How far can Hashimoto ride wave?
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's political fortunes in and out of Osaka continue to rise, as a growing number of local- and national-level politicians seek his cooperation to form what could well be the ruling coalition after the next Lower House election.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2012
Okinawa poll meddling irks defense chief
A senior Defense Ministry official came under suspicion Wednesday of not only trying to tamper with the upcoming mayoral election in Ginowan but taking similar action in 2010 for a vote in Nago — the two cities in Okinawa deeply connected to the controversial relocation of the Futenma U.S. air base....
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Jan 28, 2012
Okada: Officialdom must sacrifice to sell tax hike
Winning the public's support to hike the consumption tax is the government's priority as their backing would force opposition parties to drop their stance against tax reforms, new Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada said.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2012
Talks to start on lowering voting age
The government will start talks next month on lowering the voting age from 20 to 18, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2012
Genba wants China in loop with U.S., firm on Takeshima
Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba said Tuesday he strongly hopes to establish a Japan-U.S.-China framework to deal with Asia-Pacific issues.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Jan 25, 2012
Matsubara ready for results on abductions
Jin Matsubara, newly appointed minister in charge of the North Korean abduction issue, hopes to take advantage of the helm change in Pyongyang to resolve the dispute, which has raged for decades.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2012
Serve the people, not politics: Noda to Diet
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda kicked off a new Diet session Tuesday by urging the opposition camp to stop playing party politics and join talks on raising the consumption tax.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2012
Noda stands by Tanaka, qualifies Futenma flub
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Tuesday stood behind his new defense minister, Naoki Tanaka, who days into his job drew fire from the opposition camp for suggesting the contentious relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma may begin by year's end.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2012
Director uses organic process to tell rural communities' tales
Every person, town or village has a story to tell, whether they are tales of love and friendship or the tragedy of losing a loved one, and they all are interwoven into our lives in complex layers.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2012
Opposition quick to brand new defense chief an amateur
New Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka drew flak from the opposition camp Monday for making statements over the weekend that seemed to indicate Tokyo was intent on beginning the contentious relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa by the end of the year.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2012
Picks mirror more pragmatic tack, bid to exert leadership
With a minor but crucial reshuffle Friday, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda prepared to tackle his most important and difficult task — raising taxes.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2012
Onus on aides as Ozawa 'can't recall' fund details
Ichiro Ozawa maintained Wednesday he had nothing to do with the alleged falsification of political funding reports, telling the Tokyo District Court he left all financial matters to his secretaries and doesn't remember what one of his secretaries says he told the political don about how the money in...
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2012
Only aides handled the accounts, Ozawa says
Former Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa on Tuesday once again flatly denied that he conspired with his aides to falsify his political fund management body's reports in 2004 and 2005 over a ¥400 million land deal in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2012
U.S. simulated nuke test doesn't draw flak
Japan will not lodge a complaint against the U.S. government for conducting a third experiment using plutonium to test the capabilities of its nuclear arsenal last summer, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2012
Cabinet defies opposition, OKs draft for sales tax hike
The Cabinet officially approved a draft proposal Friday to raise the consumption tax to 10 percent by October 2015 to cover swelling social security costs and restore Japan's fiscal health.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2012
Solid alliances key as diplomatic challenges loom
2012 is shaping up to be full of diplomatic challenges for Japan and the world.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2011
DPJ members bolt party over Noda tax plan
In a show of defiance against Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's policies, in particular a plan to raise the consumption tax, nine Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers submitted their resignations Wednesday to protest Noda's leadership.
Freed anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson arrives in France
U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling environmental activist Paul Watson, who was released from prison in Greenland's capital Nuuk after five months in detention, arrives with Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, near Paris, on Friday.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.

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