Tag - diet

 
 

DIET

Nobuyuki Baba (left), the leader of Nippon Ishin no Kai, faces Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a parliamentary debate among party leaders in June.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 15, 2024
Japan's allowance disclosure reform for lawmakers stalled
Efforts have slowed as an agreement between two key parties on the issue lacks a specific deadline.
Digital minister Taro Kono (left), Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (center) and former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba are among the potential candidates for the ruling party's presidential election next month.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 14, 2024
Kishida's out. Who will likely be Japan's next leader?
The prime minister's decision not to run in the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race has ignited discussion on who might succeed him.
Though some in the country rejected their wartime associations, the Japanese government made the Hinomaru flag and "Kimigayo" anthem official 25 years ago.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Aug 1, 2024
Japan Times 1999: Flag, anthem now official
After some controversy, the Hinomaru flag was made official alongside the country's national anthem, "Kimigayo."
Prosecutors leave Upper House lawmaker Megumi Hirose's home in Tokyo on Tuesday after searching it as part of an investigation into alleged fraud.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 31, 2024
Resignation of LDP lawmaker over pay scandal adds to party's woes
Megumi Hirose has left the party over allegations she pocketed public money to pay the salary of a secretary who didn’t actually work.
Upper House lawmaker Megumi Hirose enters her house in Tokyo after it was raided on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2024
Tokyo prosecutors raid LDP lawmaker's home on suspicion of salary fraud
Megumi Hirose, 58, is suspected of providing one of her secretaries with a state-paid salary even though they reportedly did no real work.
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.
Campaign posters for the Tokyo gubernatorial election on July 7.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 19, 2024
LDP eyes legal revision that would call for decency in campaign posters
The move comes after posters unrelated to the Tokyo gubernatorial election were displayed on official election billboards during the election campaign period.
Lower House Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga (center) receives a recommendation document from a parliamentary board to improve the Defense Ministry's system of handling of security secrets at parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2024
Parliamentary board to seek improvements over MSDF information handling
In the scandal, many personnel not given security clearance were assigned to roles with access to confidential information.
An 81-year-old man using the pseudonym Saburo Kita speaks during a hearing of plaintiffs in lawsuits over forced sterilizations, held by a cross-party group of lawmakers in the parliament building on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 10, 2024
Japanese lawmaker group hears from forced sterilization victims
Three people, including two plaintiffs who underwent forced sterilizations, attended the hearing by the cross-party group.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is struggling to stay in office amid low public approval ratings and discontent from within his party. However, it is extremely rare for a sitting LDP president running for reelection to be dethroned.
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2024
Kishida fights for his political life
Despite low public approval ratings and discontent in the LDP, all is not lost for Prime Minister Kishida if the summer is kind to him and he plays his cards right.
The number of lawmakers with income of over ¥100 million totaled seven, all Liberal Democratic Party members, in 2023, up from two in the previous year.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 1, 2024
Lawmakers' average income rises for the first time in 5 years
The number of lawmakers with an annual income of over ¥100 million increased to seven in 2023, up from two in the previous year.
Wind turbines near New Brighton, England. According to the International Energy Agency, Japan could produce over 900% of its energy demand with offshore wind alone.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jun 30, 2024
Japan looks farther out to sea for overdue wind power boost
A bill enabling development in the country's exclusive economic zone is seen as key to Japan achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
The Diet building in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 22, 2024
Over 1,000 candidates ready to run in next Lower House election
The term of office for the current Lower House members ends in October next year but many believe Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may call an election before then.
Lower House lawmaker Masatoshi Akimoto (second from right) leaves the Tokyo Detention House in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 21, 2024
Japanese Lawmaker Akimoto released on bail amid bribery charges
The lawmaker was arrested on September 7 last year.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Kenta Izumi (left) faces off against Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a debate in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2024
CDP's Izumi challenges Kishida to dissolve Lower House
Izumi said Kishida ought to seek a fresh mandate from the public due to his party's handling of its slush funds scandal.
A bill to require facilities for children to check whether workers have criminal records for sex crimes is approved unanimously at a plenary meeting of the Upper House on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 19, 2024
Bill enacted to create sex crime screening system for work involving children
Records that can be checked will include those on nonconsensual sexual intercourse and violations of prefectural ordinances banning molesting and voyeurism.
Internal affairs minister Takeaki Matsumoto bows after a bill to revise the local autonomy law was approved at a plenary meeting of the Upper House on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2024
Japan enacts bill for emergency state power over local governments
The purpose is to make sure that Japan can respond quickly to incidents not presupposed by existing laws.
A bill to revise the political funds control law is passed at a plenary meeting of the Upper House on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2024
Diet passes political funds bill in wake of LDP money scandal
A third-party organization will be established to check how lawmakers use the so-called policy activity funds.
Nippon Ishin no Kai leader Nobuyuki Baba and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after signing an agreement on a political reform bill in May
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 18, 2024
Nippon Ishin to vote against political funds bill
Nippon Ishin, which had voted for the bill in the House of Representatives, is considering submitting a censure motion against Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Professor Hong Jin-kee poses with a bowl containing pink "meaty rice" at the Yonsei University in Seoul, where a team of South Korean scientists are injecting cultured beef cells into individual grains of rice in a process they hope could revolutionize how the world eats.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jun 17, 2024
'Meaty rice'? South Korean professor aims to change global protein
No animals were harmed in the creation of the dish, which looks like regular rice aside from its color.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?