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May 05, 2024
 

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Junko Takahashi
For Junko Takahashi's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2003
Koizumi to quit if coalition loses its majority on Nov. 9
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday he will leave his post and step down as president of the Liberal Democratic Party if the three-party ruling coalition fails to retain a majority in the Nov. 9 House of Representatives general election.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2003
Voters put Tanaka, Kato scandals behind
As Makiko Tanaka and Koichi Kato try to stage their political comebacks, voters in their districts appear to have dismissed the money scandals that forced them out of the Diet and instead believe they can change politics for the better.
Japan Times
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Oct 25, 2003
NCP has grand policy designs but LDP poll support falls shy
The New Conservative Party says the core policy issues in the Nov. 9 general election are boosting national security, revising the Constitution and reviving the economy, but its own tallest order will be getting its few members voted in.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2003
Koizumi fails to evict LDP elder
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi tried Thursday to persuade two octogenarian former prime ministers to retire from politics because of their age, effecting a quiet exit in the case of Kiichi Miyazawa but running up against a brick wall in the shape of Yasuhiro Nakasone.
Japan Times
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Oct 17, 2003
New Komeito frets over lack of spotlight
Leaders of New Komeito feel a sense of crisis ahead of the Nov. 9 general election for the House of Representatives.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2003
Japan announces pledge of $1.5 billion to Iraq
Japan will provide Iraq with grants worth $1.5 billion in 2004 to support the country's reconstruction, the government announced Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003
Lower House dissolved
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the House of Representatives on Friday and set Nov. 9 as the date of a general election.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2003
Fukuda condemns 'North Korea's selfish' ban
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda on Tuesday condemned North Korea's declaration that Japan would be barred from participating in the next round of six-way talks over Pyongyang's suspected nuclear weapons program.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2003
Lower House OKs two-year extension of antiterror law
The House of Representatives passed a bill Friday to extend the 2001 antiterrorism law by another two years, paving the way for the law's enactment on Oct. 10 and dissolution of the Lower House the same day.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2003
Lawyers advising victims of gas leak
Lawyers representing victims of an August mustard gas leak from Japanese wartime chemical weapons abandoned in China submitted a petition Friday to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, demanding an official apology and compensation for the victims and their families.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2003
Plaintiffs lobby Koizumi over weapons ruling
Two Chinese plaintiffs who successfully sued Japan over weapons abandoned in China at the end of the war urged Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Wednesday not to appeal a court ruling ordering the state to pay 190 million yen in compensation.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2003
Government takes abandoned arms ruling 'seriously'
The government "takes seriously" a court ruling holding it responsible for Japan's wartime abandonment of chemical and conventional weapons in China, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2003
Koizumi promises to pummel postal services into submission
Flush with his sweeping victory in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowed Friday to privatize postal services in April 2007.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2003
Koizumi hauls Aso into line on posts plan
Acting quickly to erase differences in the new Cabinet, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday that posts minister Taro Aso "fully supports" his plan to privatize the postal services in April 2007.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2003
Public support rise for Koizumi seen as vindication
The jump in approval ratings for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reshuffled Cabinet in several media polls is a vote of confidence from the public, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2003
Key ministers keep jobs as Koizumi plays it safe
Having surprised everyone by naming young Shinzo Abe as the new secretary general of the LDP on Sunday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi opted for a more staid formula in announcing his new Cabinet on Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2003
Profiles of top LDP executives
Following are profiles of the three Liberal Democratic Party executives appointed Sunday by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in a shakeup of the LDP executive lineup:
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2003
Lower House set to be dissolved in October for election, Koizumi hints
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi gave a strong hint Saturday that he will dissolve the House of Representatives in October, saying he will make a decision on the timing after taking into consideration Lower House by-elections scheduled for late October.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2003
Koizumi wins new mandate to lead LDP
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was re-elected head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Saturday, a sweeping victory in a vote by LDP politicians and the party's local chapters over his three challengers.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2003
Fukuda's position looks safe despite reshuffle speculation
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi strongly suggested Friday that he will retain Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda as his top spokesman if, as expected, he is re-elected president of the LDP this weekend.
Japan says Biden's description of nation as xenophobic is 'unfortunate'
The National Diet building in Tokyo
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
Japan drops to 70th in press freedom rankings
A businessman reads a newspaper outside a train station in Tokyo.
Traders spooked by intervention risk trim record yen shorts
Traders edged back from record bets on yen weakness this past week, in a period that included a likely bout of intervention by Japan to prop up the currency.
'Monster' Inoue ready to tear down Luis Nery in title defense at Tokyo Dome
Naoya Inoue (left) and Luis Nery following a pre-fight news conference in Yokohama on Saturday, two days ahead of their super bantamweight title fight.
Debate on constitutional revision at a standstill despite Kishida's pledges
With less than two months left before the conclusion of the current session of parliament, any possibility that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can deliver constitutional reform before the end of his term as Liberal Democratic Party president in late September, as he has promised, appears remote.
Sapporo court ruling on Ainu fishing rights presents tough questions
A traditional Ainu preserved food called <i>satchep</i> (dried fish) being made at the government-run National Ainu Museum and Park, nicknamed Upopoy, in the town of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, on Dec. 25. The Sapporo District Court ruled last month that the Raporo Ainu Nation's rights as an Indigenous people did not extend to having an inherent right to fish for commercial reasons.
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.

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Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

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