Natsuko Fukue - The Japan Times

December 22, 2024

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Natsuko Fukue

JAPAN

Apr 13, 2012

Lawmakers give nod to weakened postal bill

A government-sponsored bill that waters down the postal privatization reforms pushed through by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi cleared the Lower House on Thursday, which may allow the government to retain control of the banking, mail and insurance juggernaut for years to come.

JAPAN

Apr 12, 2012

Opposition grills Noda over tax reform details

Social security and tax reform plans were the main issues of contention Wednesday as opposition party leaders grilled Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda during a one-on-one Diet debate.

JAPAN

Apr 10, 2012

LDP and Komeito shoot down reform talks

Two main opposition parties on Monday spurned a call by the ruling Democratic Party of Japan to hold talks on social security and tax reform, dealing another setback to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda as he seeks support for a contentious tax hike bill.

Japan Times

JAPAN / EXPLAINER

Apr 10, 2012

Teachers with two left feet struggling with dance classes

A new education rule that kicked in this year has created a fresh challenge for gym teachers across the nation: how to teach hip-hop.

JAPAN

Apr 6, 2012

Budget finally passed

The fiscal 2012 budget, at more than ¥90 trillion the biggest in history, was finally enacted by the Diet on Thursday as an earlier vote in the Lower House took priority after the opposition-controlled Upper House shot it down earlier in the day.

JAPAN / ANALYSIS

Mar 31, 2012

Passage hinges on Ozawa, opposition

Despite the Cabinet's approval Friday of a sales tax hike bill that sparked months of dissent and resistance from the ruling party's ranks, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda may find that in the deadlocked Diet, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

JAPAN

Mar 30, 2012

Liquefaction driving away Chiba residents

Chiba's population is declining for the first time in 66 years as residents in bedroom communities damaged by last March's liquefaction decide to abandon the prefecture, fed up with authorities' failure to repair their homes and fearful of radioactive fallout.

BUSINESS

Mar 29, 2012

Bill passed to lift temp workers' lot but no manufacturer dispatch ban

The Diet passed a bill Wednesday to amend the Workers Dispatch Law, aiming to improve the working conditions of temporary employees.

JAPAN

Mar 28, 2012

Tanaka ratchets up SDF missile shield standby

Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka on Tuesday ordered the Self-Defense Forces to prepare missile shield elements to intercept a rocket North Korea plans to launch next month.

JAPAN

Mar 23, 2012

Foes to sales tax hike in DPJ impede bill

The administration and the Democratic Party of Japan failed again Thursday to form a consensus among party members on the contentious consumption tax hike, postponing until next week a planned Cabinet meeting to formalize the bill.

JAPAN

Mar 13, 2012

Ozawa portrait hung at Diet with other old-timers

A portrait of former Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa, who is on trial for allegedly breaking the political funds law, was displayed in the Diet on Monday.

JAPAN

Mar 9, 2012

Lower House OKs ¥90 trillion 2012 budget but deadline delays loom

The Lower House passed a ¥90.3 trillion budget for fiscal 2012 on Thursday, ensuring the legislation will be enacted, but the opposition camp could still prevent it from entering into force before the new fiscal year starts.

JAPAN

Mar 6, 2012

DPJ leaders propose slashing lawmaker salaries by 14%

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan's executive members decided Monday to slash legislators' salaries by about 14 percent — nearly double the 7.8 percent pay cut for civil servants approved by the Diet last week.

JAPAN

Mar 1, 2012

In rare case of bipartisanship, Diet cuts bureaucrats' pay

A bill to slash national civil servant salaries by an average of 7.8 percent for two years was enacted Wednesday after clearing the opposition-controlled Upper House.

JAPAN

Mar 1, 2012

10% wage cut for Diet ranks OK by Noda

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Wednesday he would advocate cutting the salaries of lawmakers by more than 10 percent.

JAPAN

Feb 29, 2012

Noda tax quest one dimensional?

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has cleared numerous political hurdles since taking office in September, but his goal of raising the consumption tax and reforming the social security system may prove insurmountable as he wages a two-front battle.

JAPAN

Feb 24, 2012

Civil servant pay cuts clear Lower House

The Lower House passed a bill Thursday to cut civil servants' salaries 7.8 percent for two years in a move expected to save taxpayers ¥580 billion.

BUSINESS / ANALYSIS

Feb 18, 2012

Fiscal ills not DPJ's doing but it's holding the bag

The tax and social security reform outline adopted by the Cabinet on Friday indicate the government has run out of options and must finally address welfare costs and public finances that have been spiralling out of control for years.

JAPAN / EXPLAINER

Feb 14, 2012

Literary awards run spectrum

When writer Shinya Tanaka won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize last month, he said, "I deserve this," paraphrasing U.S. actress Shirley MacLaine at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1984.

JAPAN

Feb 10, 2012

Will shrinking the Diet solve anything?

A company saddled with a hefty debt load might try to get back on a healthy track by laying off employees or reducing pay.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.

The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition

By Alex K.T. Martin

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Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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