| Dec 3, 2012

Ishihara nuke flip-flop puts party in crisis

With the kickoff of the Dec. 16 Lower House election campaign just one day away, Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) is in chaos after party leader Shintaro Ishihara declared Friday that he would revise a promise to abolish nuclear power by the ...

Dec 1, 2012

U.S. Senate passes Senkaku backing

The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously approved an amendment to the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act that is designed to counter attempts by China to challenge Japan’s administration of the Senkaku Islands but sidesteps the question of who has ultimate sovereignty over the disputed ...

| Dec 1, 2012

Kada party seen banking on Ozawa

Shiga Gov. Yukiko Kada’s Nippon Mirai no To (Japan Future Party) is expected to issue an 80-point platform Sunday that will be a combination of ideas espoused by Ichiro Ozawa’s Kokumin no Seikatsu ga Daichi (People’s Life First), antinuclear groups, renewable energy advocates and ...

Nov 29, 2012

Nippon Ishin’s dream to be main challenger to DPJ, LDP threatened

Despite the last-minute announcement, Shiga Gov. Yukiko Kada’s Nippon Mirai no To (Japan Future Party) political group is the culmination of months of behind-the-scenes preparation, and its advent spells trouble for the hopes of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) to become the ...

Shiga’s Kada readies party; Ozawa joins

| Nov 28, 2012

Shiga’s Kada readies party; Ozawa joins

With just a week to go until campaigning starts for the Dec. 16 general election, Shiga Gov. Yukiko Kada formally announced a new political group Tuesday that aims to get Japan out of nuclear power, create more opportunities for women and promote a work-life ...

| Nov 27, 2012

Nippon Ishin backpedals on policies

Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) officials released an outline of their new platform over the weekend that contained no mention of its original promises to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade accord, get out of nuclear power by the 2030s and halve the ...

‘Third force’ elements scramble for poll position

| Nov 27, 2012

‘Third force’ elements scramble for poll position

So far 16 political parties are fielding candidates for the Dec. 16 Lower House election. While polls say that voters are likely to return to power the nearly 60-year-old Liberal Democratic Party, which ruled for most of the postwar period, this year’s election is ...

| Nov 22, 2012

Nippon Ishin plans 200 Lower House candidates

Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) officials announced 60 new candidates Wednesday for the Lower House election and said the final total will probably be around 200, well short of the 350 they predicated only a couple months ago. The announcement of new ...

Nov 21, 2012

Parties jockey over tax, nukes, TPP

Whether to hike the consumption tax, join the Trans Pacific Partnership free-trade talks or abandon nuclear power are the three main issues on which the 16 parties vying in the Dec. 16 Lower House election will stand or fall, especially the smaller, single-issue groups ...