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.
Crime & Legal Sep 28, 2013
Denying convicts suffrage unconstitutional: high court
Denying prisoners the right to vote is unconstitutional, the Osaka High Court rules, in the first judgment on a provision that disenfranchises those serving time.
Crime & Legal Jul 17, 2013
Wards win back their right to vote
The government settles a damages suit with an adult ward in Kyoto seeking the right to vote.
Politics & Diplomacy Jul 13, 2013
Vote-stripped homeless left in election limbo
Despite having Japanese citizenship, homeless people cannot exercise voting rights guaranteed by the Constitution because they can’t register their temporary accommodations as official places of residence. There are no signs the situation will be taken up by candidates in the July 21 House of ...
Politics & Diplomacy May 28, 2013
Revised election law allows wards to vote by proxy
The Diet enacts a law giving wards the right to vote, allowing about 136,000 more people to participate in the Upper House election this summer.
Politics & Diplomacy May 5, 2013
Article 96 invites sent out to Ishin, Your Party
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has urged opposition groups Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) and Your Party to help him revise Article 96 of the Constitution to make it easier to amend the supreme code. “I’m asking for cooperation in forming a majority” ...
Crime & Legal Mar 28, 2013
Appeal sparks outrage over voting rights curb
The father of a woman with Down syndrome who sued to regain her right to vote slams the state for appealing a court ruling that declared unconstitutional a legal provision that denies voting rights to adults under guardianship.
National Mar 16, 2013
Denying suffrage to wards said 'excessive'
Even though Japan's adult guardianship system may be necessary to protect the assets of those who need additional attention due to their mental state, experts says stripping them of their suffrage is an excessive infringement of rights.