Mariko Yasumoto - The Japan Times

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Mariko Yasumoto

For Mariko Yasumoto's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

JAPAN

Jul 8, 2010

Hatoyama legacy bedevils DPJ in Okinawa

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — Even though former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama broke his promise to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma out of Okinawa, his involvement in the matter ended the moment he left office.

JAPAN / ANALYSIS

Apr 15, 2010

Hatoyama looks vulnerable after fruitless U.S. trip

WASHINGTON — When he visited the United States nearly seven months ago, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama was making his diplomatic debut as the head of a new administration launched after a historic national election.

JAPAN

Jan 25, 2010

Base foe Inamine to be next Nago mayor

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. — Base-relocation opponent Susumu Inamine was headed for victory in Sunday's mayoral race in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, making it unlikely the city will host a U.S. Marine Corps base Japan and the United States formally agreed to relocate in 2006, late projections by Kyodo News showed.

JAPAN

Dec 26, 2009

Hatoyama shoe on other foot?

in the area of social welfare."

JAPAN

Dec 6, 2009

DPJ plan to cut U.S. forces said behind Futenma delay

Behind Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's stalling on the future of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture seems to lie a long-held wish to reduce the presence of U.S. forces in Japan, as well as the determination of his former boss, Ichiro Ozawa, to keep a grip on the Diet.

JAPAN

Sep 27, 2009

Pledges easy part for Hatoyama

PITTSBURGH — Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama may have just scored on his diplomatic debut, but now it's time for him to deliver.

JAPAN

Sep 26, 2009

How Hatoyama will alter U.S. relations still unclear

NEW YORK — Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama promised U.S. President Barack Obama that Tokyo will remain a close ally of Washington, but it's not yet clear how the bilateral relationship will develop under his administration, which seeks more equal ties with the United States.

JAPAN

Aug 31, 2009

Ozawa reaches goal; clout to grow

The Democratic Party of Japan's major election victory Sunday was what acting President Ichiro Ozawa had been aiming for, ensuring his influence on the political scene will grow further.

JAPAN

Jul 4, 2009

Recession pinches G8 Africa aid

Africa shared top billing with climate change at last year's Group of Eight summit, but the global financial crisis has since undermined developed nations' efforts to meet the financial commitments they made to the continent.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jun 14, 2009

Will Hatoyama brothers revive rivalry with Aso?

Kunio Hatoyama's resignation Friday as internal affairs and communications minister has fueled speculation he could join his brother Yukio, leader of the main opposition party, in a two-pronged family attack on Prime Minister Taro Aso, the grandson of their grandfather's archrival.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 23, 2009

All eyes turn to race for governor's office in Chiba

CHIBA (Kyodo) The upcoming Chiba gubernatorial election will be drawing an unusual amount of attention as an indicator of whether the public still wants the Democratic Party of Japan to unseat the Liberal Democratic Party in the next national election in spite of the fundraising scandal that has hit DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 18, 2009

Koizumi's clout wanes; LDP out of favor

Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi still ranks high in public opinion polls as the lawmaker most suitable as prime minister, but his political clout no longer appears to be what it once was.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 3, 2009

DPJ-backed unknown's victory bodes ill for LDP

YAMAGATA (Kyodo) Speculation continues to mount that Prime Minister Taro Aso's days are numbered, as his political foes step up their attacks following the recent resignation of one of his closest Cabinet allies, but signs of his administration's decline were already evident weeks ago during an election in the Tohoku region.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 7, 2009

Aso's verbal stumbles give kanji book writers a shot in the arm

Prime Minister Taro Aso's support rate keeps plummeting due to public doubts over his leadership ability and a series of policy flip-flops, but he may deserve a bit of kudos for brightening up one area of the nation's dismal economy.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 13, 2009

North not priority of summiteers, Obama

SEOUL — Despite their frequent meetings, Prime Minister Taro Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak have produced no substantial results on issues linked to North Korea, dashing hopes that the two leaders may achieve a breakthrough in the deadlock on the Korean Peninsula.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jan 7, 2009

Women's dream of becoming airline pilots getting less elusive

More Japanese women are fulfilling their dream in a field long dominated by men and have achieved what was once thought to be a pie in the sky for females — flying a commercial airplane.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Oct 22, 2008

Film 'Grandpa' looks at fate of Brazilians here

Kenichi Konno, 96, flew 26 hours to Japan every year for 15 years until he turned 94, all for concern about the fate of Japanese-Brazilian emigrants.

JAPAN

Aug 23, 2008

Language, not labor, key for Japanese-Brazilians

Cinthia Nagashima, 24, has been unemployed since she lost her factory job in May and is now aware of the need to study Japanese more strongly than before. Japanese fluency was a requirement for her previous job, too, but Nagashima, who is from Brazil and speaks little Japanese, was able to get it as the economy was still buoyant and the manufacturing industry was facing a serious labor shortage in 2006.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Aug 1, 2008

Japanese-Brazilian families: a failure to communicate

Monica Omura was at a loss when her son, Masashi, 7, began ignoring her. It's not that he became rebellious. He just couldn't understand what his mother said to him in Portuguese — their native language.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jul 26, 2008

War-separated aged seek nationality

Gloria Fuji Mangao could not stop crying when her father told her to take good care of her mother and get along with her siblings. It was the last time she saw him before he was deported to Japan soon after the end of World War II.

Two people try to take a selfie under the illuminated cherry blossoms in Kyoto’s Gion district last year.

Sakura stories revisited: Getting in the mood for hanami

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.

For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on

By Lance Henderstein

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa

A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa

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