Masami Ito - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

Masami Ito

Meta

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.

BUSINESS

Mar 26, 2008

DPJ to block gas tax bill; pump price looks to fall

Car owners can expect a break at the pump in the near future if the Democratic Party of Japan makes good on its threat to block a government-backed bill to extend higher rates on road-related taxes that expire March 31.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 20, 2008

Fukuda's coalition finds itself trapped

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is stuck.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 19, 2008

DPJ set to snub latest pick for BOJ chief

The Democratic Party of Japan said Tuesday evening that it will reject the government's latest nominee to replace Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui, virtually ensuring the post of central bank chief will go unfilled when Fukui's five-year term ends Wednesday.

JAPAN

Mar 14, 2008

Chamber again votes for Muto as row festers

The Lower House on Thursday approved the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc government's nomination of Toshiro Muto as new Bank of Japan governor, resulting in a split decision after the opposition-controlled upper chamber rejected him just a day earlier.

JAPAN

Mar 13, 2008

Upper House rejects Muto

The Bank of Japan is a week away from a vacuum at the top as the opposition-controlled Upper House on Wednesday voted down the government's bid to replace BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui with his deputy of five years, Toshiro Muto.

JAPAN

Mar 12, 2008

DPJ officially rejects Muto as BOJ head

The Democratic Party of Japan said Tuesday that it will reject the government's nomination of Toshiro Muto for new Bank of Japan governor, even though Muto pledged to ensure the BOJ's independence during testimony to the Diet.

JAPAN

Mar 11, 2008

Fukuda firm: Muto is the 'best' choice for BOJ governor

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Monday he has no intention of proposing another candidate as governor of the Bank of Japan, even though the opposition camp is mulling whether to reject his original nomination of Toshiro Muto.

Japan Times

BUSINESS

Mar 8, 2008

Muto nominated as BOJ chief; DPJ unsure

With Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui's term expiring in 11 days, the government and ruling bloc on Friday finally nominated one of his deputies, Toshiro Muto, to replace him at the central bank.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 5, 2008

MSDF withdraws ships from fishermen search

The Maritime Self-Defense Force on Tuesday recalled its warships from the search for the missing father and son whose fishing boat was run over by a destroyer last month.

Japan Times

JAPAN / EXPLAINER

Mar 4, 2008

Politics in game of never-ending musical chairs

A nearly unbroken line of Liberal Democratic Party politicians has headed the government since the party's 1955 formation. This dominance, however, was shaken by the stunning victory of the Democratic Party of Japan in the July 2007 House of Councilors election. In this reshaped political landscape,...

JAPAN

Mar 1, 2008

Ruling bloc enacts '08 budget in power play

Turning a deaf ear to calls from opposition lawmakers for further deliberations, the Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition rammed the fiscal 2008 budget through the Lower House late Friday night.

JAPAN

Feb 28, 2008

Israel's Olmert lauds Japan for peace-building initiatives

Israel is in the middle of negotiating a peace agreement with the Palestinians that could be concluded by the end of the year, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Wednesday.

JAPAN

Feb 23, 2008

Tokyo wants better tabs kept on U.S. forces ranks

The U.S. must report annually on the number of service members, employees and family members living off bases in Japan under new measures announced Friday by the government to curtail crimes by U.S. military-related personnel.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 21, 2008

Collision laid to negligence by destroyer

Watch standers aboard the Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Atago may have spotted the small fishing boat it ran over before dawn Tuesday 12 minutes before the collision instead of two, as earlier reported, Defense Ministry papers showed Wednesday.

JAPAN

Feb 20, 2008

Diet begins debate on keeping extra gas taxes

Debate over whether to keep for another 10 years the long-standing but provisional extra gas and other auto-related taxes began Tuesday as the Lower House took up the government's tax reform bill.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 9, 2008

Noda wins 'madonna' turf war as LDP shunts Sato to Tokyo

A political dispute between two "madonna" lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party both contesting a ticket to run for Gifu's No. 1 district finally came to an end Friday after the party announced that Yukari Sato will run for Tokyo, rather than Gifu, in the next Lower House election.

JAPAN

Feb 7, 2008

Overriding vote passes '07 extra budget

The Lower House on Wednesday overrode the Upper House's rejection of a ¥1.78 trillion supplementary budget for fiscal 2007 and rammed it through the Diet, the first such move pertaining to an extra budget in 15 years.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 1, 2008

New magazine takes aim at wrongful convictions

A court ruling last fall changed a man's life. After Hiroshi Yanagihara was found guilty of rape in Toyama Prefecture and served about two years in prison, the Toyama District Court's Takaoka Branch officially found him not guilty.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 31, 2008

Ruling bloc pulls stopgap tax bill

The ruling bloc withdrew its contentious stopgap bill to briefly extend the extra rates on gasoline and other auto-related taxes after agreeing Wednesday with the opposition to "reach a conclusion" on the fiscal 2008 budget and related bills by the end of March.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 30, 2008

Ruling bloc submits gas-tax stopgap bill

The ruling coalition on Tuesday night submitted a stopgap bill to the Diet that would maintain current provisional gasoline and other auto-related tax rates until May 31, touching off sharp protests from opposition parties who want an end to the 30-year-old temporary taxes.

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports