Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 29, 2013
Komeito fires warning shot at Abe
New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi said Sunday the debate over lifting the ban on collective self-defense may affect his party’s coalition with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who heads the conservative LDP, is intending to lift the ban by changing ...
National | Focus Sep 28, 2013
Abe uses U.N. stage to push more proactive security role
by Noriyuki Suzuki
Delivering his message to a global audience at the United Nations last week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe outlined his vision of Japan as a pacifist nation willing to engage more actively in international security. Abe told the annual U.N. General Assembly in New York ...
National Sep 26, 2013
Abe tries to counter militant image in U.S.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says in New York that Japan will be a "proactive contributor to peace" and scoffs at being labeled a "right-wing militarist."
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 25, 2013
Abe: No time frame on collective defense goal
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he doesn't have a specific time frame for changing the ban on collective self-defense as he prepares to address the U.N. General Assembly.
National Sep 21, 2013
Abe's government to put collective self-defense on back burner until spring
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will postpone until next spring a decision on whether to alter the government’s interpretation of the Constitution to allow Japan to engage in collective self-defense, amid wariness in junior coalition partner New Komeito, a government source said Saturday. It is ...
National Sep 21, 2013
Collective self-defense combat in faraway lands unlikely, Onodera says
Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera has attempted to dispel concerns that the Self-Defense Forces might use force in a far-off land if Japan lifts its ban on collective self-defense, saying such a scenario isn’t being entertained by current debate. The remarks Friday come as the ...
Editorial Sep 18, 2013
Mr. Abe's ominous defense moves
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's approach to changing the government's traditional position on the right to collective self-defense undermines the foundation of Japanese democracy.
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 3, 2013
Japan looks to military guidelines with U.S. to define strike ability
Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera indicated Tuesday that revised bilateral security guidelines with the United States could define Japan’s capacity to mount attacks on the military bases of hostile nations. “Japan would like to jointly consider with the United States how (the two countries) can ...
Politics & Diplomacy Aug 29, 2013
Abe's collective self-defense ploy may be too hard a sell: New Komeito chief
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's initiative to lift Japan's self-imposed ban on engaging in collective self-defense may not gain public support, New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi suggests
National Aug 25, 2013
Legal process for collective defense eyed
The government wants a new law to spell out the legal procedures for collective self-defense as Prime Minister Abe pushes to reinterpret the Constitution.
National Aug 21, 2013
Amendment 'needed' for shift on self-defense
It would be hard for the government to reinterpret the Constitution in order to drop its ban on collective self-defense without amending the war-renouncing charter, a new Supreme Court justice says.
Politics & Diplomacy Aug 20, 2013
New legislation bureau head eager to discuss collective self-defense
The new head of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau said Monday he is eager to discuss rethinking the government’s current interpretation of the war-renouncing Constitution. Ichiro Komatsu, a former ambassador to France, said the bureau will be “proactively involved” in debating any changes to the ...