Search - cabinet

 
 
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2004

Pension bills littered with errors

The government acknowledged Friday that pension reform legislation enacted by the Diet last month contained as many as 40 technical flaws, and reprimanded bureaucrats in connection with the fiasco.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2004

Four-year term sought for Suzuki

Prosecutors demanded a four-year prison term and 11 million yen fine Wednesday for former House of Representatives member Muneo Suzuki for allegedly accepting 11 million yen in bribes from two Hokkaido companies.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2004

Coalition opts to keep Koizumi

Hours after the Liberal Democratic Party fell shy of its 51-seat target in Sunday's House of Councilors election, leaders of the ruling bloc confirmed Monday they would stay the course under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Japan Times
Features
May 23, 2004

Power and the People

North Korea is not the only country casting a long nuclear shadow over Japan and America. The citizens of both nations are right now under threat from precarious atomic programs -- ones which are being forced on them by their own governments.
JAPAN
May 18, 2004

Definition of al-Sadr group as 'quasi-governmental' denied

The Cabinet Legislation Bureau last month did not define followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Iraq as "a quasi-government," the top government spokesman said Monday in denying media reports to that effect.
JAPAN
May 8, 2004

Ministers won't quit over pension scandal

Six Cabinet members who failed to pay their mandatory national pension premiums said Friday they will not follow in the footsteps of Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda and step down.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 7, 2004

Ozawa suggests DPJ chief Kan should quit over pension scandal

Ichiro Ozawa, deputy president of the Democratic Party of Japan, suggested Thursday that DPJ chief Naoto Kan should resign because he failed to pay the mandatory premiums for the basic pension system while serving as health minister in 1996.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2004

Public is split over policy not to pull out SDF: survey

A survey released Saturday shows that 45.2 percent of respondents disagree with the government's policy of rejecting a demand for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq issued by a group that took three Japanese hostage.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 3, 2004

Edo craftsmanship in full flower

Located in Kitanomaru Park, a famous cherry blossom viewing spot in Kudanshita, central Tokyo, is the National Museum of Modern Art's Crafts Gallery. It seems appropriate that during the flowering seasons of ume (plum) and cherry the gallery should be hosting a show titled "Flower Design." The exhibition,...
EDITORIALS
Feb 27, 2004

Mr. Putin tightens his grip

Most presidents change the government after an election. This week Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed his entire Cabinet three weeks before he faces voters. The move was not an election gambit -- the outcome of next month's ballot is not in doubt.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 26, 2004

Foreseeing the future -- and ignoring it

NEW YORK -- U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy has recently reminded us why the U.S. forces decided not to go all the way to Baghdad during the Persian Gulf War. Addressing the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14, he pointed out that it was none other than the first President Bush and...
BUSINESS
Jan 15, 2004

Koizumi defends reform efforts

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi went on the defensive Wednesday, denying charges that his administration has been slow to bring about promised economic reforms.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2003

Diplomat deaths may stall approval of SDF dispatch

Cabinet approval of a plan to dispatch Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq will probably be delayed until next week at the earliest, in the wake of the fatal ambush Saturday of two Japanese diplomats.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION 2003
Nov 11, 2003

Scandal-tainted politicos ousted

The results of Sunday's election may have left a bitter taste in the mouths of some of the nation's big names.
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2003

Economic assessment raised on business confidence boom

The government upgraded its assessment of the economy after business confidence in Japan improved significantly in the July-September period from the previous quarter.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 7, 2003

Time to come clean on foreign crime wave

For those who read and watch the Japanese press, these are scary times. Foreign crime is allegedly on the rise, members of the new Koizumi Cabinet are making clear policy statements against it, and the National Police Agency is ready for a new push.
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2003

Growth forecast revised up to 2.1%

The Cabinet Office said Friday it has revised its economic growth projection for fiscal 2003 upward to 0.1 percent in nominal terms and 2.1 percent in real terms.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2003

Koizumi shakes up LDP leadership

In a bold and surprising bid to ward off a party rebellion, Prime Minister Junichio Koizumi on Sunday appointed Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe as the No. 2 man in his Liberal Democratic Party.
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2003

Koizumi won't rule out giving rivals key posts

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Wednesday refused to rule out naming his rivals for the LDP presidency as members of any future Cabinet or as party executives.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2003

Pyongyang given ultimatum on anniversary of summit

The government's top spokesman reiterated Wednesday that Japan will not resume normalization talks with North Korea unless it allows the family members of abductees who returned last year to also come to Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2003

Koizumi hints at October election

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi suggested Tuesday he may dissolve the House of Representatives next month because holding simultaneous Lower and Upper House elections in summer "is not a good idea."
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2003

April-June GDP up a real 1%

The economy grew a real 1 percent in the April-June quarter, the highest level of quarterly growth since the real 1.3 percent rise in the October-December quarter of 2000, the government said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2003

Takenaka disowns reshuffle remarks

Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka said Friday he was considering lodging a protest the same day with the Financial Times newspaper for printing comments attributed to him that he claims he never made.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

Cemetery for war dead has identity crisis

Summer for many Japanese is a time that conjures up bitter memories of the nation's Aug. 15, 1945, defeat in the war -- a conflict that claimed millions of lives and left a number of cities devastated.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2003

Koizumi to discuss Iraq, North Korea in Europe

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left Japan on Saturday for Britain, the first leg of an eight-day European tour, to discuss postwar Iraq and the situation in North Korea with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
EDITORIALS
Apr 16, 2003

Time to pull out the road map

As the war in Iraq reaches its final phases, attention is shifting to other fronts in the Middle East. None is more important than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. U.S. President George W. Bush promised to push for peace in the region after the Baghdad government fell. While some doubt his determination...
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2003

ODA to be focused on postwar peace-building

With fiscal constraints putting pressure on official development assistance, the nation will focus more on peace-building and postconflict reconstruction, according to an annual ODA white paper endorsed by the Cabinet on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 2, 2003

A timely resignation

It's deja vu all over again. Yet another lawmaker has fallen into disgrace over money scandals. On Monday Mr. Tadamori Oshima, the minister of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, resigned his post in order to take responsibility for the alleged graft and misuse of campaign funds by his former secretaries....
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2003

Resignation of farm minister could be a slow-burning fuse

The sudden resignation Monday of farm minister Tadamori Oshima is a further blow to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, already fighting battles over public opinion and his handling of the economy.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat