Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is back and so, it appears, is Japan. The yen is down, the Nikkei up, and approval ratings and expectations for the new government are sky high. “Abenomics” is the new buzzword in and outside of Japan as unprecedented optimism ...

Japan is finally dropping restrictions on the use of the Internet as an election campaign tool in a first step toward sweeping changes to the outdated Public Offices Election law before the Upper House poll slated for July. Amid mounting pressure from tech-savvy lawmakers ...

On a late March afternoon in central Sapporo’s “raccoon trail,” a covered shopping arcade, business is particularly brisk. While Honshu’s main cities celebrate under the cherry blossoms, several meters of snow remain piled up beside icy sidewalks — with more expected. That’s good news, ...

The Test of English as a Foreign Language will be needed to enter public universities and graduate from them if the LDP's educational reforms are formalized.

English-language education at public schools should shift in emphasis to verbal communications skills, and for that purpose, universities must adopt the Test of English as a Foreign Language for entrance exams, the head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s education reform panel said. If the ...

Mitsuo Tsukahara, a gymnast who won multiple Olympic gold medals, said Wednesday he intends to run in the Upper House election this summer as a proportional representation candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party. Tsukahara, 65, conveyed his intention to Shigeru Ishiba, secretary general of ...