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Alex K.T. Martin

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Alex K.T. Martin

Alex K.T. Martin is a Tokyo-based journalist and senior writer at The Japan Times, primarily focusing on feature stories. Previously he was a Tokyo correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.

JAPAN / PARTY LINE

Jun 25, 2010

Kan right to debate sales tax: Edano

Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Yukio Edano brushed off concerns that a sales tax hike could dampen consumer spending and defended DPJ President and Prime Minister Naoto Kan's decision to invite debate on the unpopular levy just weeks before election day.

JAPAN / DECISION 2010

Jun 25, 2010

Kan wades deep into tax hike fray

Despite misgivings in his own party, Prime Minister Naoto Kan has pledged to raise the 5 percent consumption tax in a few years to fund snowballing social security costs and avoid a fiscal crisis like the one that engulfed Greece.

JAPAN / DECISION 2010

Jun 24, 2010

Parties focus on economy, taxes

With the campaign officially kicking off for the July 11 Upper House election, political parties are weighing in on rebuilding the economy and government finances, hoping their platforms will translate into votes.

JAPAN

Jun 17, 2010

Rocky Diet ends; just 35 bills passed

The first ordinary Diet session under a Democratic Party of Japan-led government wrapped up Wednesday, kicking off a campaign season that will culminate with an Upper House election next month.

JAPAN / ANALYSIS

Jun 17, 2010

DPJ's Diet handling gets low marks

Last Christmas, then Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama led the Democratic Party of Japan into its first ordinary Diet session, telling reporters he wanted to give the public a "sense of hope" as a gift and vowing "tangible results" to improve their livelihoods.

JAPAN

Jun 15, 2010

Kan urges Diet to unite for fiscal fix, draws fire

Prime Minister Naoto Kan called Monday on the opposition camp to back his plans to launch a joint panel to discuss ways to restore the nation's battered finances, but he also came under fire.

JAPAN

Jun 12, 2010

Kamei resigns over postal reform bill

New Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government had its first casualty Friday as financial services minister Shizuka Kamei stepped down in protest because the Diet session won't be extended to act on his controversial pet bill to scale back the postal system privatization.

JAPAN

Jun 11, 2010

Weak poll may spur tieup with LDP defectors: Edano

The Democratic Party of Japan may reach out to other parties if it fails to gain a majority in next month's Upper House election, the new DPJ secretary general hinted Thursday.

JAPAN / ANALYSIS

Jun 9, 2010

Don't count Ozawa out of the scene yet

When Naoto Kan announced his candidacy for the Democratic Party of Japan presidency last week, he told reporters DPJ kingpin Ichiro Ozawa "should remain silent" for a while after quitting as secretary general, considering how his political money scandals helped speed the downfall of Yukio Hatoyama as...

JAPAN

Jun 5, 2010

New Prime Minister Kan to 'rebuild trust'

Naoto Kan was voted in as prime minister by the Diet on Friday, shortly after the ruling Democratic Party of Japan elected him as its new president.

JAPAN

Jun 4, 2010

Kan front-runner to replace Hatoyama

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Naoto Kan is expected to win the Democratic Party of Japan presidency, get voted in by the Diet as prime minister, then form a new Cabinet — all on Friday.

JAPAN / ANALYSIS

Jun 3, 2010

DPJ poll worries to persist

Back when it was still in the opposition camp, the Democratic Party of Japan used to criticize the then ruling Liberal Democratic Party for its frequent shuffling of prime ministers, without an election.

JAPAN

Jun 1, 2010

Hatoyama finds SDP joining his foes

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's administration found itself in an increasingly tight spot Monday after the Social Democratic Party bolted from the ruling bloc and then turned around and signaled it would side with a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet.

JAPAN

May 27, 2010

SDP walks a tightrope as it flirts with leaving coalition

When Mizuho Fukushima was re-elected president of the Social Democratic Party in December, she promised to pull the SDP out of the ruling coalition if the Futenma air base was relocated within Okinawa, as called for in a 2006 agreement with the United States.

JAPAN

May 20, 2010

JCP chief rates his U.S. visit a big success

Japanese Communist Party Chairman Kazuo Shii said Wednesday his recent visit to the United States was a success and he was able to convey the JCP's vision on nuclear weapons and Japan-U.S. relations.

Japan Times

JAPAN / EXPLAINER

May 18, 2010

Yoshimoto Kogyo: Entertaining the nation

One would have to be a hermit, literally shut off from all media, to avoid exposure in Japan to the comedians and other entertainers managed by Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., the nation's oldest and arguably most powerful entertainment agency.

JAPAN

May 15, 2010

LDP policy platform targets economy, DPJ

The Liberal Democratic Party revealed a draft Friday of its platform for the summer Upper House election, promising economic recovery and growth while vowing to end the mistakes of the Democratic Party of Japan-led government.

JAPAN

May 13, 2010

Parties pin poll hopes on sports star power

The summer Upper House election is looking increasingly like an athletic competition as both ruling and opposition parties field sports stars to woo independent voters.

JAPAN

May 11, 2010

DPJ to field judo star Tani as candidate

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan announced Monday it will field women's judo superstar Ryoko Tani for the proportional representation segment of the summer Upper House election.

JAPAN

Apr 29, 2010

Hatoyama's plan to move marines to Tokunoshima gets icy reception

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Wednesday revealed his plan to move as many as 1,000 of the 2,500 U.S. Marines based at the Futenma air station in Okinawa to Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture during a meeting with former Lower House member Torao Tokuda, a native of Tokunoshima, Tokuda's son...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.

Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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