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JAPAN
Oct 17, 2007

New MSDF bill to have one year limit

A joint ruling-bloc panel paved the way Tuesday for Cabinet approval of a bill to continue logistic support for antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan for a another year.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2007

Fukuda admits his chapter switched names on 112 receipts

In an ironic twist, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda admitted Wednesday in the Diet that a Liberal Democratic Party chapter he heads in Gunma Prefecture changed the names on 112 receipts worth ¥9.5 million.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2007

Ozawa's Afghan gambit rejected

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura on Tuesday rejected Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa's suggestion that Japan participate in NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / DECENTRALIZATION SYMPOSIUM
Oct 3, 2007

Bureaucracy resists change, fights to retain its power

Public support for the "doshu-sei" system will depend on whether people can realize the benefits of ongoing efforts at decentralizing the nation's administrative powers, but the efforts have so far been hampered by the strong resistance of the central bureaucracy, panelists told the Sept. 18 symposium....
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2007

Yasukuni issue kept me out of '06 presidential race: Fukuda

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Friday that he decided not to run for president of the Liberal Democratic Party last September because he didn't want to make Yasukuni Shrine the focus of the race.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2007

Snap election becomes main issue

No sooner had Yasuo Fukuda formed his Cabinet on Tuesday than attention was being focused on how soon Japan's new leader will be forced to dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap general election.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2007

LDP bets on dour political blue blood to lead its recovery

Yasuo Fukuda is hardly the most dynamic politician in Japan. Saggy-jowled and owlish in his trademark glasses, the 71-year-old son of a former prime minister prefers gray suits, classical music and moderate, pro-U.S. policies.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Sep 24, 2007

The Self-Defense Forces: living with a lie

NEW YORK — Many commentators have invoked historical analogies for U.S. President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq and its still unfolding aftermath, with some saying, correctly, that no exact historical analogies are possible for anything, the least of all this damnable war.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2007

Fukuda, Aso back new antiterror law; Abe hit over timing

The government will submit new antiterrorism legislation to the extraordinary Diet session in an attempt to extend Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, both contenders to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2007

Aso, Fukuda address foreign press club

Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Taro Aso may be losing to Yasuo Fukuda in the party's presidential election battle, but he scored a few points over his rival at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday, using his English-language ability to charm the foreign press.
EDITORIALS
Sep 20, 2007

A vital graying society

The nation is now in the midst of the Week of the Aged. As the theme suggests, the government and the people must rack their brains to figure out how to build a graying society full of vitality. The internal affairs ministry's report says there were an estimated 27.44 million people aged 65 or over as...
BUSINESS
Sep 17, 2007

Whoever leads next must revive reform, fix Japan's economy

The moment Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned, pundits were out offering explanations. Weak diplomacy, scandals, verbal gaffes by Cabinet members, you name it. Yet Abe's undoing was the economy, period.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2007

Fukuda enters race, vows to avoid Yasukuni

and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda shake hands at LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Saturday before holding a joint news conference. KYODO PHOTO
EDITORIALS
Sep 13, 2007

Mr. Abe calls it a day

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's sudden announcement of his resignation came as a surprise, even to his close aides. Just two days before, he had delivered a policy speech at the start of the extraordinary Diet session, and 15 days before, he had reshuffled his Cabinet.
EDITORIALS
Sep 12, 2007

Mr. Abe tones down rhetoric

In his policy speech in the Diet on Monday, the first day of the extraordinary Diet session following his Liberal Democratic Party's devastating defeat in the July 29 Upper House election, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe toned down rhetoric on his conservative political agenda and touched more on issues closely...
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2007

Merchant confidence falls again

Sentiment among barbers, shopkeepers and other merchants on the front lines of the economy dropped in August as consumer spending slowed and financial markets slumped, the Cabinet Office said Monday.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 11, 2007

Funds law no match for wily politicians

Almost every day it seems another politician is making headlines over a money scandal. Four members of embattled Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet — administrative reform minister Genichiro Sata, and farm ministers Toshikatsu Matsuoka, Norihiko Akagi and Takehiko Endo — have been forced from their...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2007

Account fudging undoes vice foreign minister

Dealing yet another blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Vice Foreign Minister Yukiko Sakamoto resigned Monday, admitting her political office falsified political funding records for fiscal 2004 and 2005.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 1, 2007

Amari looks to Africa to secure resources for Japan

Japan hopes to boost ties with African countries so it can secure supplies of much-needed rare metals and energy resources, amid heated competition with China and other emerging economies, trade minister Akira Amari said.

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