Eric Johnston - The Japan Times

JAPAN / Politics

Nov 8, 2017

Nippon Ishin no Kai calls emergency meeting to decide future leadership

Nippon Ishin no Kai will hold an emergency meeting Nov. 25 to discuss whether it is time to elect new leaders as the party struggles with internal dissension following its poor performance in the Oct. 22 Lower House election.

JAPAN / Politics

Nov 3, 2017

Abe and Trump to rekindle friendship, but not all see rapport as positive for Japan, survey says

While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump are said to have a good personal relationship, 43.7 percent of those who responded to a recent survey by The Japan Times viewed it as bad for Japan, while 14.1 percent said it was bad for the U.S.

JAPAN / Politics

Oct 31, 2017

Diplomatic experts urge Trump to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table

Diplomatic experts from Japan, the United States and South Korea are calling on U.S. President Donald Trump to seek ways to get Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table, possibly in the so-called six-party talks framework that includes the three nations plus North Korea, China and Russia.

JAPAN / History / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE

Oct 29, 2017

Osaka threatens San Francisco ties over sister city's 'comfort women' memorial

The 60-year sister city relationship between Osaka and San Francisco looks to be heading for retirement if Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura and his allies in the city who oppose San Francisco's new "comfort women" memorial get their way.

JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE

Oct 29, 2017

Nippon Ishin ponders its fate after brutal defeat in Lower House election

Five years after Nippon Ishin no Kai first appeared on the national stage with promises of changing the country through an Osaka-based revolution, the party's future is in doubt following a crushing defeat in the Oct. 22 Lower House election.

JAPAN / Politics

Oct 27, 2017

Hashimoto cuts ties with Nippon Ishin after party's poor election showing

Toru Hashimoto, the former Osaka governor, mayor and co-founder of Osaka-based Nippon Ishin no Kai, has cut ties with the national party following its poor performance in the Oct. 22 Lower House election.

JAPAN / Politics / Decision 2017

Oct 18, 2017

In a small Nara city, Lower House vote set to test Kibo no To's strength against LDP

Ikoma, a small city of about 120,000 people, lies just over the border from Osaka in northern Nara Prefecture. It's known for its bamboo products, especially whisks used in the traditional tea ceremony. A cable car that travels up Mount Ikoma, opened in 1918, is said to be the oldest in Japan.

BUSINESS

Oct 14, 2017

Balance of power: Shift toward renewable energy appears to be picking up steam

Five years ago, Japan introduced a feed-in tariff system in a bid to promote the introduction of renewable energy on a large scale following the collapse of public trust in nuclear power due to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, and subsequent triple meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1...

JAPAN / View from Osaka

Oct 14, 2017

Osaka-Tokyo regional split seen keeping Koike's, Hashimoto's camps at arm's length

The rise and — so far — fall in popularity of Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's Kibo no To (Party of Hope) comes as no surprise in Osaka, where her ability to govern effectively, as opposed to deal with the media, has long been in doubt.

JAPAN / Politics / Decision 2017

Oct 12, 2017

Koike's Kibo no To takes a hit as popular Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura cuts support

Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura has withdrawn his support for Kibo no To in a blow to Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, who is also the fledgling party's chief. This setback comes less than two weeks after Omura agreed to cooperate with Koike and Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui, who serves as Nippon Ishin no Kai's co-leader....

JAPAN / Politics

Oct 6, 2017

Kibo no To and Osaka's Nippon Ishin in cautious collaboration with wide policy overlap

The basic platform of Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's new Kibo no To (Party of Hope), with promises of freezing the scheduled income tax hike to reducing the salaries and number of Diet members, has a familiar ring for many members of the Osaka-centered Nippon Ishin no Kai, which has agreed to cooperate with...

JAPAN

Oct 5, 2017

'Comfort women' row threatens Osaka-San Francisco sister city relationship

The debate over statues memorializing “comfort women” is threatening to upend six-decade sister city ties between Osaka and San Francisco.

JAPAN / Politics

Sep 30, 2017

Kibo no To and Nippon Ishin no Kai agree not to directly challenge each other in Tokyo and Osaka city districts

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike and Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui agreed Saturday that her new Kibo no To (Party of Hope) and his Nippon Ishin no Kai will not challenge each other in single-seat districts in their respective cities in the upcoming snap election.

JAPAN / Society

Sep 28, 2017

Lawyerless Turk challenges Osaka car dealer's snub of non-Japanese patrons, wins redress

In a highly unusual case that has surprised Japanese legal experts, a Turkish national based in Osaka sued a local second-hand car dealer for discrimination and won, all without the services of a lawyer.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Sep 27, 2017

Osaka court rules tattoo artist's work violated medical law, was not art or expression

An Osaka tattoo artist was found guilty Wednesday of violating the Medical Practitioners' Law in a case that drew international attention to Japan's tattoo culture.

JAPAN / Politics

Sep 25, 2017

Osaka's leaders complain about San Francisco 'comfort women' statue to U.S. Ambassador Hagerty

In a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty on Monday, Osaka's leaders expressed solidarity with America over North Korea but concern that San Francisco, Osaka's sister city, erected a monument to the wartime "comfort women" who were forced into Japanese military brothels before and during...

JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE

Sep 24, 2017

Local, national agendas shade parties' prospects in expected snap poll

As Japan gears up for an anticipated snap election at the end of October, Kansai politicians and parties are staking out their positions on issues of national interest but with their eyes very much on local political needs.

JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE

Sep 24, 2017

Kyoto's pricey lodging tax plan spurs fierce debate over necessity, tourism impact

A necessity for improving Kyoto's tourism infrastructure or a bad decision that might convince tourists to go elsewhere?

JAPAN / View from Osaka

Sep 16, 2017

Osaka, Okawa at the forefront of demographic changes altering power structures

On the surface, former Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and Kazuhito Wada, the head of Okawa village, Kochi Prefecture, have little in common. Hashimoto is brash, confrontational and more interested these days in getting rich as a private citizen than in being a politician. Wada is quieter, a team player who...

JAPAN

Sep 12, 2017

Depopulated Kochi village suspends idea of direct democracy

Just three months after the village of Okawa, Kochi Prefecture, drew national attention by announcing it might abolish its elected council due to a lack of qualified candidates and introduce direct democracy, the head of the sparsely populated municipality said Monday that talks on the issue would be...

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