For Sachiko Sakamaki's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda says doubling the consumption tax is a necessary remedy to address soaring debt and social welfare costs, and while his opponents don't disagree, they're still not going to let him do it. The Liberal Democratic Party has rejected repeated calls from ...
Former Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said he opposes Bank of Japan inflation targets proposed by members of his ruling party because rising consumer prices would hurt the elderly and salaried workers. "I'm very much opposed," Fujii said in a interview earlier this week at ...
Newly elected Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama has a maximum of four months to convince voters to oust the party his grandfather founded from five decades of government rule. Hatoyama, 62, was chosen president of the DPJ on Saturday, replacing Ichiro Ozawa, who ...
Taro Aso was so confident that he would call a quick election after becoming prime minister in September that he postponed moving into the official residence. Two months later, his plans, and his government, are in tatters. The global financial crisis has put the election ...
Japan's history is one of family dynasties, from the Emperor's 1,400-year lineage to the father-son inheritance of kabuki theater roles. And then there's the Cabinet chosen by Prime Minister Taro Aso. Aso filled 11 of 17 Cabinet positions with descendants of former lawmakers last month. ...
Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, head of Asia's wealthiest metropolis, says the United States and China will form stronger ties and leave Japan behind because of the two countries' "money worship." "The U.S. will gravitate more and more toward China at the expense of Japan as ...
