Tag - power

 
 

POWER

Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito bows during a news conference at the Hyogo prefectural government building in Kobe on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 26, 2025
Hyogo governor apologizes over harassment but denies breaking whistleblower law
Motohiko Saito denied the illegality of the actions to identify the whistleblower, saying that they were appropriate.
A Self-Defense Forces officer speaks during a news conference Friday at the Tokyo District Court over a power harassment lawsuit he filed against the state earlier in the day.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 21, 2025
SDF officer sues the state over alleged power harassment
The officer is seeking more than ¥14 million in damages after being transferred to a post completely different from his field of expertise, which led to mental illness.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito (center) during the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly's plenary session on Wednesday in Kobe
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2025
Efforts to identify whistleblower against Hyogo governor likely illegal, panel says
The report found the governor's rebukes of prefectural officials to be "largely true" and called on him to "fulfill his accountability."
Staff members wearing costumes from the Japanese superhero series "Choudenshi Bioman" perform during a fan meeting at a concert hall in Seoul to mark the 35th anniversary of its release in South Korea, on Feb. 15.
CULTURE
Mar 2, 2025
South Korean fans soak up nostalgia with vintage Japanese superheroes
It has been decades since "Choudenshi Bioman" was last on TV, but its stories of good versus evil still resonate deeply with some.
Minoru Kishiguchi, a prefectural assembly member expelled from the Hyogo prefectural arm of Nippon Ishin no Kai (left), and Makoto Masuyama, a prefectural assembly member who received a recommendation to leave the party, at the Hyogo Prefectural Government Office on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2025
Nippon Ishin's Hyogo group expels member over probe info leak
Minoru Kishiguchi had been serving as the committee's deputy chief and head of the party's assembly group at the time.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito (foreground) attends a meeting with the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly's special investigative committee in the city of Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, on Dec. 25.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2025
Two Ishin lawmakers quit special panel probing Hyogo governor
Minoru Kishiguchi and Makoto Masuyama had leaked information from the panel to the leader of the NHK party.
Takashi Tachibana, leader of controversial political group NHK Party, said he received information from Minoru Kishiguchi of Nippon Ishin no Kai, relating to allegations of harassment by Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025
Nippon Ishin says member involved in giving papers to NHK Party head
Nippon Ishin says Minoru Kishiguchi provided documents related to alleged harassment by Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito.
The silhouettes of Mount Fuji, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building and Shinjuku skyscrapers are seen during sunset in Tokyo in November.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 11, 2024
Tokyo remains third in global city index for ninth consecutive year
While Tokyo notched improvements in research and development, cultural interaction, livability, and accessibility, its score declined in the economy category.
The labor ministry will urge companies to take action against the practice of forcing employees to buy their own products to meet sales quotas.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 26, 2024
Japan steps up measures against firms forcing workers to buy own products
The labor ministry will define such practices as a form of power harassment and require companies to take action when they occur.
Japan Atomic Power Co.'s Tsuruga nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture in 2017
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2024
Tsuruga reactor formally ruled noncompliant with safety standards
The Nuclear Regulation Authority ruled the Tsuruga No. 2 reactor did not meet the safety standards after a screening process taking nearly nine years.
Members of the public listen as a candidate for the Hyogo gubernatorial election speaks in Kobe on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2024
Campaigning kicks off for Hyogo gubernatorial election
Former Gov. Motohiko Saito is among seven candidates in an election that follows months of stagnated governance after allegations of misconduct surfaced against him.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito after the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly passed a no-confidence motion against him on Sept. 19 
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2024
Hyogo governor to seek reelection after automatically losing his seat next week
Motohiko Saito, who has been at the center of a series of controversies, announced his decision at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito speaks during a prefectural assembly session on Thursday in Kobe. A motion of no confidence against Saito, who is accused of workplace bullying, was submitted to the prefectural assembly on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2024
Hyogo assembly passes no-confidence motion against embattled governor
The extremely rare move forces Gov. Motohiko Saito, who is accused of workplace bullying, to either step down or dissolve the assembly within 10 days.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito responds to questioning in Kobe on Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2024
LDP and other parties demand Hyogo governor's resignation
All 86 members of the prefectural assembly have now called for Saito's resignation.f
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito, accused of workplace bullying, testifies to an investigative panel in Kobe on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2024
Nippon Ishin calls on Hyogo governor to resign over bullying claims
Nippon Ishin’s move is expected to be a politically fatal blow for Motohiko Saito, as he had the party’s support when he was elected as an independent.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito attends a session of a panel investigating allegations of workplace harassment against him, in Kobe on Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2024
Hyogo governor disputes legal protections for harassment whistleblower
Motohiko Saito said that he didn’t believe it was a problem to allow an investigation into the creator of a document making allegations against him.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito speaks during a committee meeting in Kobe on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 31, 2024
Embattled Hyogo governor to face no-confidence motion
For its passage, the no-confidence motion needs to be supported by three-quarters or more of assembly members present at a meeting for voting.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito (center) attends a session before a prefectural assembly investigative panel on Friday in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 30, 2024
Hyogo governor sidesteps accusations of workplace bullying
In the wake of the deaths of two prefectural officials, Gov. Motohiko Saito told an investigative panel that he may have been a "strict boss."
Nippon Ishin no Kai head Nobuyuki Baba (left) and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida discuss political reform in Tokyo in May.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 28, 2024
Hyogo governor's scandal could spell more trouble for Nippon Ishin
The party, still reeling from a mayoral election loss, gave its backing to Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito in his 2021 gubernatorial bid.
Akira Ishiwatari (right), a Nuclear Regulation Authority commissioner, inspects a trench dug on the grounds of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant's No. 2 reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, in June.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 28, 2024
Tsuruga nuclear reactor found noncompliant with safety standards
The Nuclear Regulation Authority will decide whether to formally adopt the report after collecting public comments on it for about a month.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan