Kada hit for playing two roles

Dec 8, 2012

Kada hit for playing two roles

As Nippon Mirai no To (Tomorrow Party of Japan) leader Yukiko Kada tours Japan drumming up support for her new group’s candidates in the Dec. 16 election, she is facing a growing backlash in Shiga Prefecture, where she’s the governor. Political opponents, especially in ...

| Dec 7, 2012

Third force's reform proposals flashy but unreal

The so-called main third force parties hope to cast themselves after the Lower House election as viable alternatives to the established parties by proposing ambitious, even radical, reforms in a number of areas. But given widespread predictions of victory for the Liberal Democratic Party, ...

| Dec 7, 2012

Hashimoto tweets challenge to election law

Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) founder and deputy leader Toru Hashimoto continued his personal Twitter feed Thursday, two days after campaigning officially began and a day after Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said the legality of his actions would be left up ...

| 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 ...