Feb 19, 2013

Takeshima ceremony to draw 18 lawmakers

Shimane Prefecture’s annual ceremony Friday to commemorate Japan’s 1905 annexation of Takeshima will draw at least 18 Diet members, but so far no one in the Cabinet has signaled plans to participate in the event, the prefecture said Monday. The two Takeshima islets, which ...

Feb 16, 2013

Alliance-boosting Obama summit set for next Friday

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s long anticipated summit with U.S. President Barack Obama will take place Feb. 22, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced Friday. The main purpose of Abe’s visit to Washington is to “clearly show” that Japan is strengthening ties with the U.S., ...

Feb 15, 2013

LDP gets behind the Hague Convention

Now that a majority of the Diet appears to support joining the international treaty on settling cross-border child custody disputes, the government expressed determination Thursday to push for quick ratification of the 1980 Hague Convention. The Liberal Democratic Party’s joint foreign and legal affairs ...

Feb 8, 2013

LDP ranks, like-minded lobbies rally against TPP

About 120 members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party joined major lobby groups for a rally Thursday to oppose participation in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, stepping up pressure on the Abe administration to maintain barriers on sensitive items in the farming, fishing ...

Abe to meet Obama with hands tied

Feb 6, 2013

Abe to meet Obama with hands tied

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is facing a major challenge ahead of his summit with U.S. President Barack Obama later this month, as calls have mounted within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for Japan not to participate in U.S.-led free-trade talks. Abe, who heads the ...

Feb 6, 2013

Territory tiffs get official PR spin unit

The government on Tuesday set up a public relations unit dedicated to promoting Japan’s side in the various territorial disputes involving the nation in an apparent effort to show the public that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is taking a strong stance on the matter. ...

Feb 1, 2013

Abe says he feels war sex slaves' pain

Facing questions from an opposition lawmaker Thursday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe refused to comment on the government’s position on wartime sex slaves, but he did say he feels “heart-breaking pain” when he thinks of how their human rights were violated. “In this sense, I’m ...