| Dec 6, 2012

Kada sorry for late lists of Mirai candidates

Nippon Mirai no To (Tomorrow Party of Japan) leader and Shiga Gov. Yukiko Kada apologized Wednesday for her newly formed party’s chaotic and delayed submission of proportional representation candidate lists for the Dec. 16 general election. The week-old party filed most of the lists ...

| Dec 6, 2012

Nuclear foes face election dilemma

by Miya Tanaka

Tokyo fashion designer Yasuko Maruko, 44, is an absolute beginner when it comes to becoming a politician, yet she is bidding for a seat in the Diet in the Dec. 16 general election in the hope of steering Japan toward a future without nuclear ...

Parties ditch 'manifestos' for less-tainted terms

| Dec 6, 2012

Parties ditch 'manifestos' for less-tainted terms

In 2009, the year of the last Lower House election, the buzzword among politicians was “manifesto”— a term meant to convey their policy goals and vision if they won power. But this year, the word is strikingly absent from general election campaigning, with many ...

| Dec 5, 2012

Voters cite nuclear power worries, hopes for economy

Voters had mounting concerns, including over nuclear fears and the economic slowdown, as official campaigning began Tuesday for the Dec. 16 general election. And one place where candidates, even their campaign posters, were conspicuously absent was a former high school in Kazo, Saitama Prefecture, ...

Fukushima key stumping ground as campaign starts

| Dec 5, 2012

Fukushima key stumping ground as campaign starts

The fate of the nation’s nuclear power program, its long-struggling economy, the sales tax hike, and recent strained ties with China and South Korea will be key points for voters to consider in the Dec. 16 Lower House election, for which official campaigning started ...

| Dec 5, 2012

Lower House polls over last 20 years

Following are Lower House elections over the past 20 years. Prime ministers at the time of dissolution are in brackets. July 18, 1993: The Liberal Democratic Party lost a majority in the Lower House, bringing to an end 38 uninterrupted years in power. Morihiro ...