Search - proportional-representation

 
 
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

Ruling bloc rams Diet-seat bill through committee

In the absence of the opposition camp, the ruling triumvirate on Wednesday rammed a controversial bill aimed at reducing the number of seats in the Diet through a Lower House committee. The bill, which aims to do away with 20 proportional representation seats in the 500-member Lower House, is backed...
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2000

Panel snubs opposition, begins seat-cut talks

Amid fierce protest from the opposition camp, a Lower House committee began deliberating a controversial bill Tuesday that would reduce the number of Diet seats. The move is apparently an effort by the ruling camp to maintain the framework of the coalition by fulfilling a promise made earlier between...
JAPAN
Dec 31, 1999

Obuchi rings in the new year with old pledge for recovery

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi greeted the New Year with a pledge to keep striving for full-scale economic recovery and to create a society in which all generations can live in harmony. "In 2000, I want to push ahead with the 'economic renaissance' policy for real economic recovery," Obuchi said during...
JAPAN
Sep 24, 1999

More bumps ahead on road to new coalition

Following Tuesday's re-election of Keizo Obuchi as Liberal Democratic Party president, the secretaries general of three would-be political allies met for the first time Friday to launch full-scale talks toward forming a tripartite coalition.
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 1999

No mandate for Mr. Obuchi

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi has been re-elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party by warding off the challenge from former LDP Secretary General Koichi Kato and former LDP policy chief Taku Yamasaki. Many LDP Diet members have been quick to see his impressive victory as a vote of confidence...
COMMENTARY
Aug 13, 1999

Ozawa's future appears bleak

Japan is engulfed in severe political turmoil as the Diet session closes today. Things have turned out as I have been predicting since last fall regarding the coalition strategies of Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka, the chief strategist in Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's administration.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 1999

Diet flap over wiretap bills continues

The Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition party, is planning a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's Cabinet over Monday night's Upper House panel vote on wiretapping bills.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 1999

New Komeito up for tieup, Liberals or no

Staff writer
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

Kanzaki slams bill to cut Diet seats

New Komeito chief Takenori Kanzaki on Tuesday opposed plans by the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Liberal Party, to submit to the Diet today a bill seeking to cut 50 Lower House seats.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 1999

LDP plans bill to trim Lower House members

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will work to submit during the current Diet session a bill to trim the 500-member Lower House to 450 based on an earlier agreement with its coalition partner, the Liberal Party.
COMMENTARY
Mar 10, 1999

Clouds looming on the Diet's horizon

The situation in the Diet looks calm for now. The debate on the fiscal 1999 government budget, the most important item before the Diet, is proceeding smoothly. The budget bill has already cleared the Lower House and is expected to pass the Upper House around March 20, well before the start of the new...
JAPAN
Mar 2, 1999

Hatoyama submits Diet resignation

Kunio Hatoyama, deputy head of the Democratic Party of Japan, submitted his Lower House resignation Tuesday so he can run in the April 11 Tokyo governor's poll.
JAPAN
May 25, 1998

Diet member loses seat over aide's vote-buying

OSAKA -- The Osaka High Court on Monday nullified the 1996 election of a Diet member from the Liberal Democratic Party and barred him from running for office in the same constituency for five years, after his secretary was convicted of buying votes.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 1998

DPJ seeks to use gender-based quotas in fielding candidates

The Democratic Party of Japan, the nation's largest opposition party, announced Monday it plans to introduce a gender-based quota system for selecting candidates for national and local elections."It is the first time for a political party to introduce the system in this country, where it is widely known...
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2023

Upper House committee votes to expel GaaSyy from Japan's parliament

The decision, made unanimously among ruling and opposition lawmakers, will almost certainly be finalized during an Upper House plenary session on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2016
Jul 5, 2016

Japanese politics a man's world as few females stand in 2016 Upper House election

A key issue female Japanese voters focus on in election season is whether the men who dominate politics are serious about welcoming more women to their ranks.
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2017

Lower House electoral system needs an overhaul

Only comprehensive reform can resolve the Lower House electoral system's problems.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2010

Local politics cries out for partisan competition

OSAKA — With its constant factional infighting and Cabinet shuffles, Japanese national politics is a disheartening affair for the concerned voter. Last year's historic elections, however, demonstrated that voters can oust unpopular governments, and that party competition and accountability is emerging...
JAPAN
Sep 30, 1999

Parties agree to tackle redenomination of yen

As part of their policy arrangements for launching a new coalition government, the Liberal Democratic Party, Liberal Party and New Komeito on Thursday agreed to consider redenominating the yen, beginning early in the 21st century.
EDITORIALS
Dec 24, 2018

Eliminate disparity in the value of votes

Last week's Supreme Court decision that the 2017 Lower House election was constitutional should not slow efforts to reduce the nearly 2-to-1 disparity in the value of votes.
EDITORIALS
Feb 23, 2016

Get more serious on electoral reform

Electoral reform should focus on a fundamental solution to the disparity in the value of votes.
EDITORIALS
Apr 1, 2013

A makeshift reapportionment plan

A Lower House panel recommends a makeshift measure to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to rectify vote-value disparities among single-seat districts.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 3, 2021

Why politicians make the switch from Upper to Lower House

One almost never hears about a Lower House member trying to move to the Upper House, but movement the opposite direction has plenty of precedent.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2019

Will the Thai elections be free and fair?

And if they aren't, what should liberal and democratic political parties in Thailand do?
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 17, 2014

Low voter turnout mars Abe's claim of election triumph

The Liberal Democratic Party won 43.12 million votes in Sunday's snap poll, nearly 3 million fewer than in the 2009 election, which it lost.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 22, 2013

Hashimoto in limbo after trouncing

The future of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) co-leader Toru Hashimoto remained unclear Sunday evening following the party's poor performance in the Upper House election.
Ayaka Shiomura, running for an Upper House seat on a Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan ticket in the Tokyo district, was one of 42 women elected in Sunday's election.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 21, 2025

Japan elects record number of women to Upper House

Female candidates won 42 of the 125 seats contested on Sunday, up from 35 seats in the last election in 2022.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years