Eric Johnston - The Japan Times

October 31, 2025

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Eric Johnston

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Eric Johnston

JAPAN

Mar 10, 2017

Moritomo Gakuen head to resign, withdraw controversial school application

Moritomo Gakuen President Yasunori Kagoike announced his intention to resign Friday after telling Osaka Prefecture that he was withdrawing an application to approve the opening of a new elementary school.

JAPAN

Mar 9, 2017

On-site investigation at Moritomo Gakuen suddenly cut short; new fraud claims emerge

Thursday night visit by prefectural officials shut down when the school's staff allegedly interfered with the investigation.

JAPAN

Mar 8, 2017

Japan's border islands to get ¥5 billion boon for tourism, defense

The government has earmarked ¥5 billion in increased economic assistance to 71 islands off the coast of eight prefectures, as concerns over declining populations are compounded by recurring intrusions into sovereign territory by foreign vessels.

JAPAN

Mar 7, 2017

Moritomo Gakuen overstated school construction costs in ministry filing, records show

Moritomo Gakuen, under fire for a questionable land deal with the government, vastly overstated construction costs for a new elementary school in paperwork submitted to the land ministry, records show.

JAPAN

Mar 6, 2017

Osaka governor blocks opening of scandal-tainted school until after review

Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui says he will not approve the opening of an elementary school at the center of a national political scandal involving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife, Akie.

BUSINESS

Mar 3, 2017

RCEP envoys make progress on trade deal in Kobe but complexity threatens timeline

Negotiators from 16 nations accounting for half the world's population inched closer to drafting a multilateral trade treaty after five days of negotiations that went late into Friday evening.

JAPAN / Politics

Mar 2, 2017

Grilled over Osaka land deal, Abe balks at demand for probe into LDP

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe rejects demands for an investigation into his Liberal Democratic Party over the school land deal in Osaka some are now calling the “Akheed scandal.”

JAPAN

Feb 28, 2017

Osaka Prefecture relaxed school-approval system rules after Moritomo Gakuen request

Osaka's governor said Tuesday the prefecture relaxed regulations regarding the approval system for opening schools after a nationalist private kindergarten operator made a request, but denied it influenced the decision.

BUSINESS

Feb 27, 2017

16-nation RCEP talks resume in wake of TPP's demise

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership begins five days of negotiations on hammering out a 16-nation trade pact to fill the shoes of the aborted TPP.

Japan Times

JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE

Feb 26, 2017

Nippon Ishin no Kai bill targets gambling woes in bid to move casino policies forward

The opposition party Nippon Ishin no Kai is proposing new legislation to deal with problem gamblers, hoping to speed up the debate after a bill legalizing casinos in Japan was rammed through the Diet in December.

JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE

Feb 26, 2017

Kyoto working to get its interpreter/guides up to global speed

With over 3 million visitors from abroad visiting the ancient capital of Kyoto in fiscal 2015, getting around with an official interpreter would have meant relying on government-qualified guides.

Japan Times

JAPAN / Politics

Feb 24, 2017

Akie Abe's message deleted from nationalist school's website as PM's wife gives up honorary title

Akie Abe gives up her honorary title at a nationalist school making real estate and hate speech waves in Osaka that is also linked to defense chief Tomomi Inada.

JAPAN / Politics

Feb 24, 2017

With the TPP dead, Asia-Pacific eyes turn to Kobe meet for regional trade framework

With the demise of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, attention in the Asia-Pacific region has turned to Kobe, where representatives from 16 countries gather Monday for the next round of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Japan Times

JAPAN / View from Osaka

Feb 18, 2017

Abe walks a fine line between Trump and Asia

In defending his attempts to bond with U.S. President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Diet members last week that however critical other countries, and much of America, might be of Trump, he, and by extension Japan, has no other choice but to forge close relations with the president.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Feb 16, 2017

NPA's sex trafficking data for 2016 just tip of the iceberg: NGOs

The National Policy Agency reports that forced prostitution and human trafficking victimized 46 people across Japan in 2016, but one group says the figures are just the start.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 15, 2017

Toshiba's woes weigh heavily on government's ambition to sell Japan's nuclear technology

Toshiba's announcement it will write down nearly u00a5712.5 billion in losses involving its U.S. nuclear unit is seen as a setback for the government's strategy of selling the nation's nuclear technology.

JAPAN

Feb 14, 2017

Apa under fire again, this time for anti-Semitic remarks

The Apa Group finds itself once again facing international criticism, this time for anti-Semitic comments made in a magazine distributed to hotels it owns and runs in Canada.

Japan Times

JAPAN / Politics

Feb 10, 2017

Business leaders critical of Abe's overtures to Trump

Senior business leaders, former diplomats and government advisers, and national security experts Friday warned that while Japan's relationship with the United States is the foundation for regional security, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attempts to forge a close relationship with U.S. President Donald...

BUSINESS

Feb 9, 2017

Kansai leaders say Trump must be taken seriously, but not always literally

Japan's leaders need to take U.S. President Donald Trump seriously, but not always literally, and must exercise great caution in interpreting what he says. But Japan must also stress to him the importance, and benefits, of the U.S.-Japan security and economic relationship.

JAPAN

Feb 8, 2017

Osaka pushes Yumeshima for casino and resort, 2025 World Expo

Osaka's political and business leaders are moving forward with plans to develop Yumeshima, a man-made island in Osaka Bay, into what they hope will be the site of an integrated resort with casino gambling by 2024 and the World Exposition in 2025.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.

Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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