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EDITORIALS
Jul 27, 2012

Reducing Tepco's costs

Trade and industry minister Yukio Edano, consumer affairs minister Jin Matsubara and Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura on July 20 decided to let Tokyo Electric Power Co. raise its electricity rate for households by an average 8.47 percent from Sept. 1. On Wednesday, Mr. Edano eventually set the...
EDITORIALS
Jul 20, 2012

Eroding the no-war principle

A series of recent events have shed light on the hawkish nature of the administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. It is taking one step after another to undermine the no-war principle of the Constitution.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Jul 8, 2012

Keeping an eye on TV news coverage of the nuke crisis

In the week immediately after March 11, 2011 — when a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami hit Tohoku and crippled the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant — most Japanese were closely watching TV news programs — amazed that a nuclear crisis was now threatening their lives.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jul 3, 2012

In formulating immigration policy, no seat at the table for non-Japanese

Last month the Japanese government took baby steps toward an official immigration policy. Ten ministries and several specialist "people of awareness" (yūshikisha) held meetings aimed at creating a "coexistence society" (kyōsei shakai) within which non-Japanese (NJ) would be "accepted" (uke ire).
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2012

LDP ups ante as Noda weighs Ozawa's fate

After more than 70 lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Japan rejected or abstained from voting on the contentious bill to hike the sales tax, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and other DPJ executives began internal discussions Wednesday on how to punish the dissenters, mainly kingpin Ichiro Ozawa and...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 27, 2012

More hurdles in store for Noda

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda managed to get the Lower House to pass the contentious tax hike bill, but his troubles are far from over, as demonstrated by the no votes cast by the Democratic Party of Japan's kingpin, Ichiro Ozawa, and more than 50 of his followers.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2012

Oi reactors' restart is vital, Noda stresses

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda stressed Friday that restarting the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture is crucial to meet the nation's energy needs this summer and to ensure sustainable economic growth in the longer term.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2012

Final ride for the Putin showboat?

Vladimir Putin's new presidential term is just beginning, but it increasingly looks like the beginning of the end.
JAPAN
May 31, 2012

Alleged plan to pull No. 1 plant workers returns to haunt Tepco

A Diet panel investigating the causes of the nuclear crisis recently interviewed key politicians who responded to the early stage of the emergency, bringing a long-unanswered question back into the spotlight: Did Tokyo Electric Power Co. really want to pull all of its workers out of the Fukushima No....
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2012

AEC's dubious behavior

It has surfaced that the Cabinet Offices's Atomic Energy Commission, in the course of its review of Japan's nuclear fuel cycle policy, has held a series of closed-door study meetings attended by insiders in the nation's nuclear power establishment. These meetings were separate from the official meetings...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 28, 2012

Edano alleges Tepco planned No. 1 pullout

Trade minister Yukio Edano, the government's top spokesman during the March 11 disasters, testified Sunday at the Diet that Tokyo Electric Power Co. considered withdrawing all its workers and abandoning the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant amid the meltdown crisis.
EDITORIALS
May 13, 2012

Married women as abuse victims

A recent Cabinet Office survey has found that 32.9 percent of married women have experienced domestic abuse. This percentage has remained unchanged from the two previous surveys in 2005 and 2008, indicating that little help has been provided for the ongoing tragedy in one-third of Japanese households....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2012

Creating true nuclear watchdog exacts toll in time, trust

The Diet looks like it's finally set to deliberate a long-stalled bill to create a new nuclear regulatory agency that will serve as a true atomic energy watchdog and, hopefully, rebuild the public trust lost by its predecessors.
EDITORIALS
Apr 19, 2012

New worst-case scenario

A panel of the Cabinet Office announced late last month that if a megaquake occurs in the Nankai Trough, a tsunami higher than 20 meters may hit 23 municipalities in six prefectures stretching from Kanto to Shikoku on Japan's Pacific side. The prediction represents a worst-case scenario that happens...
EDITORIALS
Apr 17, 2012

Unwise attempt to restart reactors

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, trade and industry minister Yukio Edano and two other Cabinet ministers on April 13 concluded that the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at Kansai Electronic Power Co.'s Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture are safe enough to restart even though adequate safety standards and...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2012

Rocket failure an embarrassment for North

North Korea on Friday defied warnings from the international community and launched a rocket — which then exploded about a minute after takeoff — scattering debris over the Yellow Sea off South Korea.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2012

Kokumin Shinto, DPJ try to muddle through as coalition takes new form

The alliance between the Democratic Party of Japan and the reshaped Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) got off to a shaky start Friday as both parties tried to move on after dealing with internal conflict created by the consumption tax bill.

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