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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Aug 29, 2018

Wanting to make a difference, Bolivia-born Noemi Inoue turned Japanese and entered politics

Shocked by gender inequality and wanting to do something about it, Noemi Inoue decided to naturalize and stand for her local council.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Aug 26, 2017

'Visions of Ryukyu: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics': Dueling conceptions of the archipelago

Okinawa at times is like heaven and hell in equal measures: tropical beaches next to ammunition dumps. A garrison island where people come to take vacations, the most politicized region of Japan can seem like being teleported back to the agitprop heyday of the late 1960s.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 18, 2017

Trump is the water beetle of American politics

Trump's feral cunning in manipulating the masses is instinctive, and his presidential term will be as novel as his campaign was.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 8, 2016

Glass ceiling yet to be broken in Japan politics

Japan will this year mark 70 years since the nation saw women win Lower House seats for the first time in April 1946.
COMMENTARY / World / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Dec 29, 2014

'Comfort women' politics in Japan, Korea, U.S.

Perhaps the wartime existence of 'comfort women' owes its notoriety in recent years to Japan's retroactive bad conscience, South Korean politics and the unwarranted U.S. propensity to be a moral scold.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2014

American politics are paralyzed on principle

Americans are avoiding unpopular choices by hiding behind ideological platitudes.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 14, 2014

America's money politics

The success of big money was even greater than widely expected in America's mid-term election.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Jul 7, 2014

Future leader shows promise with African aid work, British schooling, and Japan politics in sight

When Doga Makiura arrived in Rwanda in 2012, the 18-year-old was amazed to find not the stains of the 1994 genocide, but a tidy airport, impressive high-rises and welcoming people.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2015

Politics of identity and the death of feminism

Slavish devotion to identity politics has some American feminists swooning dangerously for right-winger Carly Fiorina.
EDITORIALS
Apr 10, 2002

Another casualty of money politics

The resignation from the Diet of Mr. Koichi Kato, former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, is yet another reminder that corruption is deeply embedded in the nation's political system. He made the decision, rightly, to take "social, political and moral responsibility" for the tax evasion...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 4, 2022

The populism trap that is throwing U.K. politics into chaos

A rapid turnover of leaders, the fallout of the war in Ukraine and an ever-worsening energy crisis are threatening stability in the home of parliamentary democracy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 23, 2021

Can Japan fix the gender gap in its politics?

Currently, only 10% of Diet members in the House of Representatives and around 20% in the House of Councilors are female.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 7, 2016

Injecting a little music into Japanese politics

"Let's not put politics into music."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 12, 2015

Gerald Curtis, the ultimate insider in Japanese politics, retires

Gerald Curtis will retire this month from Columbia University, where he has been teaching since 1968.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 26, 2004

Foreign language of Japanese politics

TALKING POLITICS IN JAPAN, by Ofer Feldman. Portland: Sussex Academic Press, 2004, 214 pp., $65 (cloth). One of the greatest frustrations of studying the Japanese language is constantly being lectured by native speakers of the language, as well as fluent foreigners, on its inherent difficulty and grammatical...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2017

Nazis and elite hipsters

German Deputy Finance Minister Jens Spahn's apparent bet on the rise of Trump-style populism is risky.
COMMENTARY
Aug 21, 2009

Decay of Japanese politics

Japan's politics in recent years has lacked dynamism and incurred people's distrust. The purpose of politics is to present a vision for the nation's future, identify the systems and policies needed, and ensure the safety and prosperity of the nation and its people. Recently, though, Japanese politics...
COMMENTARY
Nov 15, 2004

Loyal vote for pork politics

On Nov. 5, the Tokyo District Court sentenced Muneo Suzuki, a former Lower House member of the Liberal Democratic Party, to two years in prison for bribery, misreporting donations and perjury. Suzuki, who once served as state minister in charge of development in Hokkaido, was a key member of the LDP's...
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2000

Students schooled in politics, not apathy

Hiroshi Harada, a 23-year-old associate of the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, better known as Matsushita Seikei Juku, gets up before 6 a.m. every day, does exercises to an NHK radio program and cleans up around the institute's main gate with other associates.
EDITORIALS
Jun 14, 2000

When politics itself is an issue

Campaigning officially started on Tuesday for the June 25 Lower House election, which is of particular significance to Japan because it will basically determine the nature and direction of Japanese politics at the beginning of the 21st century. As such, the general election -- the first in three years...
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 14, 2020

What's stopping women in Japan's politics from making history? A lot.

Viewed mainly as 'decoration,' female politicians struggle to win support of the Liberal Democratic Party's powerful factions.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2015

New Japanese voters emerge from school unaware of their potential at polls

With the voting age lowered to 18 from 20, an estimated 2.4 million people, including high school students, will be allowed to vote for the first time in next summer's Upper House election.
Keir Starmer, leader of Britain's Labour Party and now prime minister, speaks to supporters at a reception celebrating his election win in London in July 2024.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2025

Britain’s political system is undergoing a risky revolution

The British have traditionally prided themselves on the uniqueness of their political system; an aristocratic arrangement that evolved peacefully into a democratic one.
The LDP's Takuo Komori stepped down from his post as parliamentary vice minister for internal affairs after it was revealed he had underreported political funds.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2024

Will the LDP funding scandal change Japanese politics?

What can we learn from the LDP funding scandal? One thing is certain: The saga fits a pattern that is anything but unseen in Japanese politics.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 25, 2024

LDP’s reform report appears light on firm actions targeting faction politics

Two weeks of hurried debate is unlikely to eradicate factionalism, which has long been seen as a defining trait of the party, experts say.
A protest for equal voting rights for African Americans in Washington. Critics argue that identity politics distract from real issues of power, but racial solidarity has played a key role in the U.S. and beyond as a means of liberation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2024

Two cheers for identity politics

Many people no longer identify themselves with their profession or class but seek meaning and purpose in the traits that make them different from others.
Former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama says she is stepping back from traditional politics to focus on cultural influence through her podcast, reflecting a broader trend of Black women redefining political engagement.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2025

Michelle Obama is quitting politics. Or is she?

Her misgivings about politics and the spotlight that she and her husband commanded in the White House as historic figures have only grown in recent years.
South Korea's opposition Democratic Party leader, Lee Jae-myung, speaks after being discharged at Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 10, 2024

South Korea opposition leader hopes for end to 'politics of hate' after attack

The 67-year-old male suspect told police he wanted to prevent Lee from becoming president and his party from winning the election.
Wins by conservative parties and losses by their leftist green opponents in the EU elections reflect broader trends of political polarization and nationalism not only in Europe, but also the world. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 13, 2024

Impact of EU elections on global politics and Japan's foreign policy

Japan is concerned about the rise of right-leaning parties that might undermine support for Ukraine and send signals to revisionist powers like China.

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