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COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2015

Kiev learning hard lesson about Western support

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has underestimated the determination of France and Germany to get the Ukrainian matter out of the way in the most efficient manner possible.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2015

New Ukrainian peace deal is wrapped in a time bomb

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will find it hard to spin the second Minsk cease-fire deal as his victory. At least Western leaders will still treat him as an ally.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 28, 2014

Abe to shift gears as Diet session kicks off

After drawing a storm of criticism and causing controversy with his Cabinet's reinterpretation of the Constitution earlier this year, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party now look ready to avoid contentious security issues and refocus on revitalizing rural economies during the extraordinary...
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2006

A tenable vision of efficiency

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms for creating a "simple, efficient government" have entered the final phase. In late May, the Diet enacted the administrative reform promotion law and four related bills aimed at continuing Koizumi's reform programs after he steps down in September...
EDITORIALS
May 8, 2003

Mr. Blair's vote of confidence

In his first political test after the Iraq war, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has fared well. His Labour Party suffered larger than expected losses in local elections last week, but such votes are usually protests against the party in power. The prime minister benefits from a weak opposition. Mr....
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 2, 2023

Aides worry Sunak’s successes can’t blot out Tory track record in office

The U.K. leader sees his performance in recent weeks as a taste of what he can achieve, but he’s saddled with a major disadvantage at the ballot box: His party's record since 2010.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 1, 2023

The ‘red wave’ washout: How skewed polls fed a false U.S. election narrative

Coupled with the political factors already favoring Republicans, biased polls earlier this year helped feed an ultimately false narrative: A Republican wave was about to hit the U.S.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 9, 2022

The world’s democracies ask: Why can’t America fix itself?

Conversations across continents reveal alarm over the United States' direction, as it slides away from ideals it once pressed other nations to adopt.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Oct 3, 2022

Persistent gender gap and use of social media key takeaways from Okinawa votes

On Sept. 11, multiple municipal elections were held simultaneously with the governor's election for the first time in Okinawa Prefecture's political history.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 18, 2021

It’s hard to get your voice heard in a Japanese election

Ten years ago, a British resident grabbed the mic from a Japanese politician. What would you say if you had that moment in the spotlight?
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 5, 2021

China to delay Hong Kong elections as it looks to overhaul system

Senior lawmaker Wang Chen said China will change the size, composition and formation method of an electoral committee that chooses Hong Kong's leader.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 18, 2020

Voting by mail in the spotlight as U.S. Congress debates how to secure November elections

Congress is scrambling for ways to safeguard the Nov. 3 U.S. elections amid the coronavirus pandemic, with a partisan fight shaping up over a Democratic proposal to require states to offer the option of voting by mail.
EDITORIALS
Jul 6, 2019

More gender balance in politics

The political parties have made progress in boosting the numbers of female candidates, but they can do a lot better.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 13, 2019

British lawmakers handed 11-day break to ruminate over ways to break Brexit deadlock

Britain's overwrought members of Parliament have been sent home for 11 days, to rest and reflect on how to get the country out of the Brexit deadlock. As they ponder the future of the divorce talks, which now look like dragging on until the end of October, here are some scenarios they will be weighing:...
EDITORIALS
May 19, 2018

Fix gender imbalance in politics

Tough challenges confronting the nation require policy responses from more diverse perspectives than male-dominated politics can offer.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 23, 2018

In Indonesia, a shadowy campaign, attacks on Islamist stokes unrest as elections loom

A spate of mysterious attacks on Islamic clerics, schools and mosques in Indonesia in recent weeks has ramped up tensions as the world's most populous Muslim-majority country heads into provincial elections and a presidential poll next year.
EDITORIALS
Mar 29, 2015

Letting popular will prevail

Political parties and lawmakers should not put off trying to resolve the vote-value gap between the nation's electoral districts just because recent high court rulings on the matter have been inconclusive.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 3, 2014

Tanigaki gets nod as LDP No. 2; hawkish Inada named party policy chief

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appoints Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki as secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and removes Shigeru Ishiba, his top political rival, from the party's No. 2 post.
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2014

A right-wing shock for Europe?

A new European Parliament will be elected this weekend on the heels of French poll that says fewer than 40 percent of France's citizens think the European Union is a good thing.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2013

Domestic factors also drive Putin's Syria gamble

Russian President Vladimir Putin's strategic win over the U.S. in Syria vindicates his foreign policy at a time when he faces difficulties at home.
EDITORIALS
Dec 1, 2010

Vote of confidence for the KMT

Local elections in Taiwan are considered a bellwether for national politics. By that standard, the Kuomintang (KMT), the ruling party on the island, should be feeling good. KMT candidates won three of five mayoral seats in the local elections held Saturday. While a lot can change between now and 2012,...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2010

Will nationalistic pursuits doom European Union?

WASHINGTON, THE WASHINGTON POST — The European Union is dying — not a dramatic or sudden death, but one so slow and steady that we may look across the Atlantic one day soon and realize that the project of European integration that we've taken for granted over the past half-century is no more.
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2009

Taiwan poll's weight overhyped

HONOLULU — Voters in Taiwan went to the polls in 17 counties and cities recently to elect mayors and magistrates. The ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party won 12 of the 17 seats and enjoyed an overwhelming victory in elections of county and city councilors and township chiefs. The opposition Democratic Progressive...
COMMENTARY
Aug 6, 2002

Koizumi safe amid instabilit

The long Diet session has come to an end, and politicians have gone on summer vacation. The first half of the latest session was marred by a number of political scandals; during the second half, legislators were busy deliberating on a number of important bills. A sense of vanity, though, pervades the...
Shun Otokita is the rarest of Nippon Ishin lawmakers: He was born and bred in Tokyo, where he got his start as a local politician.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 18, 2024

Can Nippon Ishin no Kai make inroads in Tokyo?

The Kansai-based party is aiming to broaden its support across Japan — starting with Tokyo's No. 15 district election next month.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight