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July 28, 2024
 

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CONSTITUTION

A Lower House plenary session is held in June. One vote in the least-populated single-seat constituency for the lower chamber is at least twice as powerful as that in the eight most populous constituencies, an analysis has found.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 26, 2024
Vote-value disparities may be unconstitutional in eight Lower House districts
One vote in the least-populated single-seat constituency is at least twice as powerful as one in the eight most populous constituencies, a new analysis shows.
A government panel meets to discuss active cyberdefense in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2024
Independent body eyed to oversee Japan cyberdefense
The government plans to take measure it hopes will help dispel concerns about violating the constitutionally guaranteed secrecy of communications.
The Liberal Democratic Party's Gen Nakatani (center) speaks at the Lower House Constitution Commission on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 14, 2024
LDP scraps plan for constitution revision this Diet session
The conservative wing of the party is likely to lash out against the failure to achieve constitutional revision.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a panel discussing active cyberdefense at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2024
Kishida wants active cyberdefense bill to be drawn up swiftly
The government hopes to submit the envisaged legislation as soon as the next parliamentary session.
A peace rally on Constitution Memorial Day in Tokyo on May 3. Japan’s identity as a pacifist nation is shifting as the government strengthens its military, but many don’t agree with the policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2024
Government and society are at odds on national security
Tokyo posits itself as a mutual defense ally of the U.S., but polls show that while the public wants a stronger military, changes should align with the peace Constitution.
With less than two months left before the conclusion of the current session of parliament, any possibility that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can deliver constitutional reform before the end of his term as Liberal Democratic Party president in late September, as he has promised, appears remote.
JAPAN / Politics
May 4, 2024
Debate on constitutional revision at a standstill despite Kishida's pledges
Lawmakers are instead focusing their attention on reviewing the political funds control law in the wake of the LDP's slush funds scandal.
Two plaintiffs filed a lawsuit with Osaka District Court in hopes of sparking a wider discussion on the rights of death row prisoners.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 15, 2024
Death-row inmates' lawsuit targeting same-day notifications of executions dismissed
The judge said the plaintiffs' social standing — being death row inmates — doesn't allow them to avoid execution when they are notified.
A boy watches Self-Defense Forces live-fire drills in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in 2017. Japan’s defense posture is shifting, as the government’s recent approval of new arms export regulations signals.  
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 1, 2024
Is Japan leaving pacifism behind?
How a previous generation of Japanese leaders, those who made defense budget and arms export limits a national credo, would view the current shift.
Japan’s Cabinet agreed to ease defense export rules for the nation’s next-generation fighter jet, a concept model of which is seen on display here at a defense show in Chiba in March 2023.
EDITORIALS
Mar 29, 2024
Japan greenlights its defense industry
The government's steps on easing defense export rules will allow Japanese companies to participate more fully in the global market for defense equipment.
Plaintiffs, lawyers and supporters march to the Tokyo District Court on Nov. 30, the same day the court ruled that Japan’s lack of legal protections for same-sex couples is unconstitutional.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 27, 2023
Japan's 'failed' same-sex marriage lawsuits can still propel reform
Even unsuccessful cases challenging Japan’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage have gotten courts to acknowledge a constitutional problem.
The decision by the Supreme Court's First Petty Bench will let stand lower court rulings that acknowledged the constitutionality of a legal requirement that Japanese who gain foreign nationality must give up their original citizenship.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 2, 2023
Supreme Court upholds Japan's ban on dual nationality
The eight plaintiffs, who live overseas, had argued that foreign nationality was necessary to facilitate their work and lives abroad.
Kaoru Sasaki (center) and her lawyers head to the Sapporo District Court on Monday for a damages suit seeking spousal benefits relating to her same-sex relationship.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 11, 2023
Sapporo court denies spousal benefits to same-sex couple
According to lawyers, the lawsuit is Japan's first centered on the family relationship of same-sex partners.
Sept. 7, 1998
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Sep 4, 2023
Japan Times 1923: Foreigners leave; destroyers are here
When a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit Kanto on Sept. 1 a century ago, The Japan Times resorted to daily bulletins before returning to normal on the 17th.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2023
Japan deems export of lethal defense equipment feasible: source
The Japanese government says that armed noncombat vehicles and ships can be exported under the nation's stringent regulations on weapons exports.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 2, 2023
Japan split over accelerating parliamentary debate on revising Constitution: poll
The survey showed 49% of respondents said the parliament needs to accelerate discussion on amendments to the supreme law, while 48% said it does not.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2023
Japan ruling parties hold first talks on easing weapon export rules
The LDP hopes to lift a virtual arms export ban by easing Japan's guidelines on the overseas transfer of defense equipment and technology drawn up under its pacifist Constitution.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 10, 2023
Japan's Supreme Court finds My Number system constitutional
In the court's first judgment on the constitutionality of the system, the First Petty Bench rejected appeals filed by citizens who sought court orders to halt the use of the system.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Mar 8, 2023
Would gender quotas for lawmakers work in Japan?
Experts both at home and abroad say quotas are the fastest way to achieve gender equality in politics, but there are many factors at play, both legally and culturally.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 26, 2023
Kishida rallies LDP members ahead of April local elections
The prime minister said his ruling party will focus on issues surrounding wage hikes, constitutional revision and imperial succession.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 24, 2023
Japanese court orders government to pay damages over forced sterilization
The Shizuoka District Court found the defunct 1948 law was unconstitutional and awarded ¥16.5 million to the plaintiff, who claimed she underwent sterilization surgery in 1970.
Japan's population continues to fall even as foreign resident count rises
The number of residents in Tokyo as of Jan. 1 rose by 0.03% from a year before, data shows, marking a year-on-year increase for the first time in three years, while the country's other 46 prefectures saw their populations continue to decline.
Ahead of the Olympics, Japan is still talking about the gymnast who won't be there
Japan's Shoko Miyata withdrew from the gymnastics team herself over her drinking and smoking, although it had already appeared as though the association was prepared to send her home from the team’s training camp in Monaco.
Yen melt-up nudges Japanese stocks into correction territory
Japanese stocks are down 10% from their July peak as the yen strengthens.
‘Crazy’ yen rally is at risk of shattering as soon as Wednesday
Some investors are warning that a yen rally is fragile, as was on show this week when the yen rapidly retraced an advance after Thursday’s stronger-than-expected U.S. economic growth figures.
Japan's average life expectancy rises for first time in three years
A decline in COVID-19-caused deaths likely helped boost the average life expectancy for Japanese men and women to rise for the first time in three years in 2023.
The Japanese Olympians looking to shine in Paris
Rim Nakamura, who is attempting to win Japan's first Olympic gold medal in cycling, will be one of the top Japanese athletes to watch at the Paris Games.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
Japan loses top spot on strongest passport list to Singapore
Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018, before being dethroned by Singapore on the 2024 list.
Why Japan's mysterious stash of classified funds escapes scrutiny
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (right) during a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan eyes gold — and the future — as Olympic men's soccer campaign begins
Japan midfielder Yu Hirakawa controls the ball during a match against the United States in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 11.

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