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JAPAN
Sep 23, 2008

Aso elected LDP leader in landslide

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party chose Taro Aso as its 23rd president Monday, hoping to regain public popularity and win the next general election.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2008

Passing supplementary budget may take priority over snap election

Newly elected Liberal Democratic Party President Taro Aso vowed Monday to do his utmost to solve problems that range from revitalizing the economy to improving the health care system.
COMMENTARY
Sep 22, 2008

The road to Yasukuni's survival

On Aug. 15, Japanese newspapers carried the obituary of an American citizen by the name of William Kenneth Bunce, who died in Chestertown, Md., at the age of 100.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2008

LDP looks to replicate media magic

The rules of the game are changing in Tokyo's Nagata-cho, the longtime epicenter of Japanese politics.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2008

Japan spinning its wheels

OSAKA — To lose one prime minister may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two in one year looks like carelessness. That paraphrase by Oscar Wilde aptly sums up the current state of Japanese politics, given the serial resignations of Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Yasuo Fukuda.
Reader Mail
Sep 18, 2008

Russian roulette with food supply

The tiny Sept. 13 Kyodo article "Inedible rice barred" -- about the tainted rice debacle -- includes the following gem: "Imported rice that fails to qualify as edible . . . is sold . . . for use in . . . animal feed." Where is the alarm in Japan? What kind of animals are eating it? Cows and pigs? The...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 18, 2008

AIG Japan unit safe for time being

The U.S. Federal Reserve's emergency $85 billion rescue of the U.S. insurer American International Group eased concerns Wednesday that its Japanese unit will survive, at least for the time being.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2008

Top LDP faction faces crisis over Aso-Koike split

The largest faction in the Liberal Democratic Party is facing a crisis because of divisions over who to support in the presidential election next Monday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 17, 2008

Beefing up the National Archives

As part of his political agenda to bring politics closer to people, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has been eager to strengthen the system to manage and keep official documents. Although he will resign soon, we hope that ongoing efforts will continue and reach fruition.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 14, 2008

Feed, don't fight, Afghanistan

The circumstances surrounding the kidnapping and killing of Japanese aid worker Kazuya Ito in Afghanistan last month remain unclear. In the web journal Japan Focus, Michael Penn conjectures that Ito's death resulted from a "botched effort to abduct him, not . . . premeditated murder." The gunshot wounds...
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2008

Economy shrank 3% last quarter

The economy shrank 3 percent last quarter, the steepest contraction since 2001, as companies and households cut spending and exports fell.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2008

ASDF Iraq mission could end this year

The Air Self-Defense Force unit flying transport operations between Kuwait and Iraq may be withdrawn by the end of the year, the government said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2008

Five in LDP race lay out platforms

The five candidates in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race unveiled their platforms to fellow lawmakers Thursday, stressing their experience and trying to differentiate themselves from each other.
COMMENTARY
Sep 11, 2008

Cameron eyes policy shift

David Cameron, the leader of Britain's Conservative opposition, is highly likely to be Britain's next prime minister when the general election comes in 12 to 18 months time. He is in effect the prime minister-in-waiting. His views about the international scene are therefore very important not just to...
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2008

Coincident index rise too small to dispel economic gloom

The economy is "deteriorating," the government reiterated Wednesday, acknowledging the country's longest postwar expansion has probably ended.
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2008

Bank lending growth stalls as bankruptcies rise

Lending growth at banks failed to accelerate for the second straight month in August as the economy moved closer to a recession and rising bankruptcies among real-estate companies forced banks to cut earnings forecasts, Bank of Japan data showed Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2008

Ozawa given a new DPJ mandate

Ichiro Ozawa's third term as president of the Democratic Party of Japan was effectively confirmed Monday when no one chose to run against him.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2008

Yosano, Ishihara eye run for LDP's helm

Two more names surfaced Thursday as candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election as economy minister Kaoru Yosano and former LDP policy chief Nobuteru Ishihara both indicated they were willing to run.
COMMENTARY
Sep 4, 2008

Fukuda hounded out of office

Japan's PR-vulnerable public and lightheaded media have done it again. Between them they have got rid of yet another of Japan's better prime ministers. I have no brief for Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's policies. On two key issues I think he was wrong. One was his determination to force through legislation...

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