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JAPAN
Jun 30, 2007

Ruling bloc poised to steamroller pension bills

The opposition parties made one final attempt Friday to stop the ruling bloc from ramming pension system-related bills through the Diet with motions to censure Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2007

Pension fiasco bodes ill for ruling bloc in Upper House poll

With time running short before the July 22 House of Councilors election, the explosive pension data debacle is looking to be the killer issue for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his disintegrating Cabinet.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2007

Saudi Arabia hosts a theater of reform

PRAGUE -- Having raised expectations for real political reform in Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah has announced that the time for change has not yet arrived. After reshuffling the Cabinet, everything remains the same.
EDITORIALS
Mar 3, 2007

Streamlining strategic decisions

A government panel has proposed creating a Japanese version of the U.S. National Security Council. The main task of the new entity would be to work out long-range diplomatic and defense strategies as well as cope with emergencies not limited to defense. The success of the new body would depend on whether...
COMMENTARY
Feb 26, 2007

Sounding off on realignment

I appreciated the critical remarks that Japanese Cabinet ministers recently made about U.S. policy in Iraq, feeling that high-level Japanese officials had finally begun to express their honest opinions. But I was disappointed when the government scrambled to coordinate its views to eliminate any impressions...
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2007

Ozawa says big office expenses were for real estate

Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa on Tuesday released details of how his political management body spent the large amounts of money listed as "office expenses" on his political funding reports from 2003 to 2005.
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2007

Unshackling Japan's defense

On Jan. 9 the Defense Agency was upgraded to full ministry status. At a ceremony marking the change, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it was a major step from the "postwar regime" toward a foundation for national rebuilding.
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2006

Tax yield lifts '07 budget

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday handed the Cabinet the fiscal 2007 draft budget, which, due to projected increased tax revenues, reflects the first spending rise in two years but also slashes the issuance of new government bonds.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2006

Abe's honeymoon Diet session ends with whimper

The first extraordinary Diet session on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's watch ended Tuesday without fanfare, having finished business last week by passing his legislation to revise the education law and to turn the Defense Agency into a ministry.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2006

Government jiggered town meetings to push policies

The government padded expenses and had "plants," some of them paid, offer comments and opinions in the state's favor at so-called town meetings over the past five years, an investigating committee said in a final report released Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2006

Government jiggered town meetings to push policies

The government padded expenses and had "plants," some of them paid, offer comments and opinions in the state's favor at so-called town meetings over the past five years, an investigating committee said in a final report released Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Nov 27, 2006

Economic boom casts a shadow

The current economic expansion has entered its 58th month without interruption to become the longest post-World War II boom, surpassing the 57-month-long Izanagi boom from November 1965 to July 1970. But it is a boom shadowed by weak consumption attributable to stagnation in personal income. It is an...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 6, 2006

Keidanren lauds Abe's first 40 days in office

Forty days have passed since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office Sept. 26, and the administration, judging by the actions of the first new prime minister in 5 1/2 years, appears to be off to a very good start.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2006

Abe to keep bureaucrat out of key post

In a bid to beef up the power of politicians, Shinzo Abe will not appoint an active bureaucrat to a key position in the prime minister's office that has been considered the top bureaucratic position in the entire country, a close aide to Abe said Monday night.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2006

Abe takes helm of LDP, vows to stick with reforms

Shinzo Abe, a conservative who favors hardline diplomacy and traditional values, was elected Wednesday as the 21st president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, paving the way for him to become Japan's youngest postwar prime minister.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 16, 2006

Prime ministers' Yasukuni visits

Following is a chronology of events related to prime ministers' visits to Yasukuni Shrine:
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2006

Abe may leave faction before LDP leadership race

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe is thinking of leaving his faction before the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election in September to garner broader support, sources close to Abe said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2006

No mention of deflation in July economic report

The government signaled Wednesday the economy is definitely moving forward, dropping the word "deflation" from its monthly economic report for the first time in five years.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2006

Consumer confidence fell in May

Consumer confidence fell in May from the previous month, prompting the government to downgrade its assessment of the mood of the nation's households, the Cabinet Office said Monday.

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