Tag - local-government

 
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November 01, 2025
 

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT

JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2019
Journalist sues city of Nagasaki over alleged sexual violence by senior official
A journalist Thursday filed a damages lawsuit against the city of Nagasaki over alleged sexual violence during her newsgathering activities by a senior municipal official, who has since taken his own life.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 22, 2019
Abe likely to use upcoming big events to distract Japanese public from election routs, experts say
The Liberal Democratic Party's defeat in two by-elections on Sunday is likely to prompt the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to use upcoming diplomatic events to deflect domestic attention from recent political setbacks, as he looks ahead to a key Upper House election in the summer, experts...
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 22, 2019
Cosplaying eccentric Mac Akasaka of the Smile Party snags seat in Tokyo ward assembly
He clambers out from under the table, wearing a pink Hooter's tank top while sporting fluffy angel wings and a halo, before bowing deeply toward the camera and taking a seat.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / Regional voices: Chubu
Apr 15, 2019
Youth turnout a worry in Japan's first quadrennial elections under new voting age of 18
The first quadrennial unified local elections to be held after the voting age was lowered to 18 in June 2015 are being hampered by concerns about the youngest voters' low voting rate.
JAPAN / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 12, 2019
Is a lack of money behind Japan's drought of local political candidates?
In an Asahi Shimbun editorial published March 30, a week before nationwide elections were held for prefectural and municipal assemblies on April 7, the newspaper fretted about the state of local politics.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 3, 2019
From casinos to nuclear power, local issues with national significance to play out at polls across Japan
Municipal mergers, integrated casino resorts, bullet trains and the future of nuclear power plants — local issues with national political repercussions — are expected to be taken up by candidates from Hokkaido to Kyushu in the coming weeks as the country prepares for a series of elections on April...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 30, 2019
Will Japan finally promote its female politicians?
Japan has one of the lowest participation rates of women in national parliaments in the world, but a law is meant to remedy this deficit, even if it includes no enforceable quotas or penalties.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2019
As pool of candidates in rural Japan dwindles, Kochi village to allow councilors to retain side jobs
Faced with a rapidly shrinking population of elderly residents reluctant to run for seats on the local council, the village of Okawa, Kochi Prefecture, passed a referendum Monday designed to make it easier serve on the council while concurrently holding side jobs.
JAPAN / Beyond Tokyo
Feb 24, 2019
As the world drowns in plastic, Kameoka in Kyoto and other cities across Japan fight back
Plastic pollution in the ocean has become one of the world's most urgent environmental problems. Footage of vast fields of floating plastic debris between California and Hawaii — now commonly known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — have driven home the gravity of the problem, with scientists and...
EDITORIALS
Jan 26, 2019
Local autonomy in dire peril
Demographic pressure is reaching crisis proportions in communities across Japan. It's time to act.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2018
80% of state bodies fail to meet disabled employee target
The number of disabled employees at 35 of the 43 state institutions stood below the level required by law as of June 1 this year, the welfare ministry said Tuesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 10, 2018
Can five Little Japans defuse one big demographic time bomb?
What about if Japan split into a confederation of five semi-autonomous 'regions,' each delineated roughly by geography and population?
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Sep 10, 2018
Let's discuss Noemi Inoue, Bolivia-born Tokyo councilor
Bolivian-born Noemi Inoue felt it was necessary to naturalize to feel fully integrated in Japanese society and to become the first non-Japan-born person to serve as a city councilor in Tokyo's Sumida Ward.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2017
Japan plans to assign individual ID numbers for public health insurance
The health ministry plans to assign an identification number to each person covered by Japan's universal public health insurance system, officials said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 26, 2017
Finance Ministry proposes cuts in medical fees and reductions in cost of new drugs
The Finance Ministry on Wednesday proposed reducing the fees charged by medical institutions, to curb social security costs which have ballooned due to the country's rapidly aging population.
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2017
Fukui Prefectural Assembly OKs restart of Oi reactors, leaving final decision to governor
The Fukui Prefectural Assembly on Thursday effectively gave the green light to restarting reactors 3 and 4 at the Oi nuclear power plant.
EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2017
The case of a small Kochi village
Owing to depopulation, small towns across Japan need to find new ways to maintain representative government.
WORLD / Society
Aug 29, 2016
U.K. plan to make social housing tenants 'pay to stay' won't meet aim: report
Britain's "pay to stay" rule requiring social housing tenants to pay higher rents may leave local councils worse off, cause stress for families and fail to generate expected revenues for the central government, according to a report published Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2016
Lifting the lid on Japan's growing crowd of manhole cover spotters
Some tourists look around them but Hidetoshi Ishii prefers to look down.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 21, 2016
Lessons in history and bureaucracy lurk within Japan's geographical layer cake
Although in English we say Japan has 47 prefectures, Japanese uses four terms to express the same concept. And that's just for starters.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Trump trims fentanyl-linked China tariffs after 'amazing' Xi meeting
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping greet each other as they arrive for talks at the Gimhae Air Base, next to the Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday.
Japanese and South Korean leaders agree to boost ties in first meeting
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung ahead of their talks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Thursday.
Takaichi and Xi reaffirm pledge in first meet to pursue ‘mutually beneficial’ ties
A screenshot from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's X account shows Takaichi exchanging greetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Friday.　
Japan’s government ramps up bear control efforts amid rise in attacks
A bear roams around a field in the town of Kuzumaki, Iwate Prefecture, on Oct. 12.
Oasis returns to Japan after 16 years — and fans can still sing every word
Liam Gallagher commanded the stage with effortless charisma during Oasis' Tokyo Dome set on Saturday.
At Japan Mobility Show, BYD gears up to conquer Japan's EV market
BYD Auto Japan President Atsuki Tofukuji unveils the Racco at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Oasis returns to Tokyo: Rain, rapture and rock
Fans wait to get into the Oasis show at Tokyo Dome on Saturday. While lining up in the rain, some broke into impromptu versions of the British rock group's hits.
Kyushu banzuke sets the stage to cement 2025’s sumo narratives
Onosato ahead of his bout against Aonishiki at The Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Oct. 18
Tokyo Film Festival opens with global stars and a spotlight on Asian storytelling
Director Junji Sakamoto (left) walked the Tokyo International Film Festival red carpet with Sayuri Yoshinaga (center) and Non (right), who both play mountaineer Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest, in the biopic "Climbing for Life."

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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