SHIZUOKA — It was supposed to be Ichiro Ozawa's master plan, a strategy that would drive the final nail in the coffin of the Liberal Democratic Party and oust it from Shizuoka Prefecture for good. Instead, Democratic Party of Japan candidate Naoko Nakamoto has found ...
NAGANO — Last summer's historic victory by the Democratic Party of Japan in the Lower House election shook the national political structure to the core, including voting patterns. The Liberal Democratic Party had long dominated the block votes of interest groups. For these organizations, it ...
MIYAZAKI — When So Watanabe, a 32-year-old former Mainichi Shimbun reporter, indicated late last year he would represent the Democratic Party of Japan and take on Liberal Democratic Party incumbent Shinpei Matsushita, 43, for the Miyazaki Prefecture seat in Sunday's Upper House election, the ...
With beads of sweat pouring down his forehead, veteran Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Toshio Ogawa addressed a small crowd in Tokyo late last month, begging for their support in the Upper House election. The 62-year-old Ogawa told the gathering their votes would allow his ...
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Sunday that he wants to consider expanding the corporate tax base in parallel with a proposal to cut corporate tax rates. Speaking on a Fuji Television program, Kan's remarks apparently signal that he may review preferential taxation for some industries. The ...
HAMAMATSU, Shizuoka Pref. — When two-time Olympic judo gold medalist Ryoko Tani said in May she would run in the upcoming Upper House election — without giving up her goal of winning gold at the 2012 London Olympics — many wondered: Can she pull ...
The 3 million-plus jobless people and 17 million without full-time work will probably be casting their vote in the July 11 Upper House election for whichever party can offer ways to stabilize employment and provide economic security. While one of the reasons behind the Democratic ...
Two tiny parties that clashed with the ruling Democratic Party of Japan over policy and then made different decisions on whether to stay in the DPJ-led bloc face a fight for survival in the Upper House election. The Social Democratic Party took the more dramatic ...
Your Party is campaigning on a growth-oriented policy in hopes of striking a chord with businesspeople unhappy with the economy. Compared with the Democratic Party of Japan and Liberal Democratic Party, which both somewhat back big government with their vow to hike the consumption tax ...
April was an unusual month for politics as several new parties debuted in short order. One is Shinto Kaikaku (New Renaissance Party), launched by Liberal Democratic Party defector Yoichi Masuzoe, who has often been the public's pick for prime minister in opinion polls. Another is ...
Political parties and candidates hoping to use the Internet to appeal to today's tech-savvy voters were disappointed when the Diet failed to make it legal in time for the July 11 Upper House election. But with both the ruling and opposition parties eager to embrace ...
The last House of Councilors election in 2007 heralded a change of regime, with the then ruling Liberal Democratic Party losing control of the chamber. That loss was followed by the swift resignations of two LDP prime ministers, before a crushing defeat in the ...
