Search - politics

 
Menu
Search
 
November 13, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
16,124 results
Sort by: Relevance Newest Oldest
After adjusting your search parameters, press Enter on your keyboard or click on the red magnifying glass to run your query again.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 30, 1999

Japanese politics, a model democracy

JAPANESE DEMOCRACY: Power, Coordination and Performance, by Bradley Richardson. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997. 325 pp.. $17. Do the revisionists have any clothes? Bradley Richardson argues that the interpretations of Japan popularized by the revisionist school do not bear scrutiny and that...
COMMENTARY
Dec 3, 1999

Bully politics back in vogue

Many important bills are pending in the current extraordinary Diet session that closes Dec. 15, and the government and the ruling tripartite coalition no doubt are considering an extension of the session. The three opposition parties, meanwhile, are gearing up to quash the bills and present a no-confidence...
JAPAN
Feb 12, 1998

Politics losing center stage, Japanese Olympian says

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 11, 1997

Factional politics return to sway appointments

Staff writer
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2023

Yamaguchi by-election puts spotlight on dynastic politics

Nobuchiyo Kishi thought reminding voters of his politician relatives was a good move, but he has been accused of just taking over the family business and not caring about voters' problems.
Features
Jul 4, 2004

Questionnaire findings spotlight younger people's political gloom

Are you satisfied with current state of politics? Do you support a particular political party? How do you see the future of Japan? They say that the younger generation isn't interested in politics, do you agree? These were some of the questions that The Japan Times recently asked Japanese nationals in...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jul 4, 2004

Seiichi Kanise: Media insider casts an outsider's eye on Japan

After 17 years' experience as a top-flight news reporter both at home and abroad, in 1991 Seiichi Kanise began a 10-year stint as a TV news anchorman. Then, after covering a wide range of news events, in 2003 he accepted an offer from the Tokyo-based Bunka Hoso (Nippon Cultural Broadcasting Inc.) radio...
COMMENTARY
Aug 23, 2009

Japan has plenty of work to do in transforming how it governs

The world is changing dramatically and political governance is at stake.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 24, 2000

Revealing the nation one grain at a time

THE POLITICS OF AGRICULTURE IN JAPAN, by Aurelia George Mulgan. London & New York: Routledge, 2000, 856 pp.,82 British pounds/$125 (cloth). In 1890, a young German academic agreed to evaluate a survey of landowners in the German provinces east of the Elbe River. Overcoming the limitations of biased...
COMMENTARY
Mar 10, 2002

Modern delusions of equality

LONDON -- Ask a total stranger about his or her sex life and, though he may be taken aback, he is likely to take it in stride. For what's so secret about sex? Ask a total stranger about his or her income, and she is likely to biff you for your impudence. Money is all secrets and lies.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2001

Wanted: a leadership strategy

Japan has stepped into the 21st century under not-so-comfortable political circumstances. Public approval ratings for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori remain extremely low, and half of the nation's voters say they have no political party to support. While the government has launched one stimulus...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 20, 2019

Working mom fights the odds to become sole female LDP lawmaker in Kyushu

On a recent chilly November morning, aspiring politician Maiko Takahashi was undergoing a trial by fire as she stumped for just the second time in her life, addressing an ebb and flow of commuters near Oita Station.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / Heisei Icons
Apr 25, 2019

Junichiro Koizumi: Maverick reformer left Japan all shook up

Junichiro Koizumi is regarded as the most accomplished politician of the Heisei Era, according to one survey.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2011

What political moderates can learn from America's political extremes

What is a campaign platform that most Americans would support but will never get a chance to vote for?
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2005

Koizumi's bare-knuckle power play may soon haunt him

Sunday's election for the Lower House stands out as abnormal, but not because of its abruptness. Many surprise elections have been held before. On March 14, 1953, for instance, then Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, who was president of the Liberal Party, dissolved the Lower House following the passage...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Dec 5, 2004

Joji Yamamoto: Time to serve

Joji Yamamoto was a young, idealistic politician with a bright future -- but all that promise dissolved on Sept. 4, 2000, when he was arrested on suspicion of fraud.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2003

Political reformers of Japan unite!

The new buzzword in Japanese politics these days is "manifesto." The Japanese language does not use capital letters, but if it did, you can be sure "manifesto" would be written with a capital M to convey the weighty tone with which it is pronounced by those who believe it is the answer to Japan's political...
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 29, 2023

The Japanese Diet expels some GaaSyy

From running his mouth on YouTube to running for office — and now, possibly, running from the law — GaaSyy’s journey has been a wild one.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2020

Biden may be winning, but America’s future isn’t

Places where politics were all consuming and all important are invariably places with big problems. America is now such a place.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 8, 2020

John Baumlin: Getting out the U.S. vote in Japan

The national chair of Democrats Abroad Japan says it's not difficult for Americans overseas to continue to engage in their democracy.
Sanae Takaichi, newly elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, speaks during a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 6, 2025

Four questions that determine Takaichi’s success

From breaking with Komeito to revisiting the U.S. trade deal, new Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi has the potential to shake up Japanese politics.
China's "wolf warrior" diplomacy is like a relentless chess match, putting democracies like Japan on the defensive, forcing them to counter Beijing's aggressive moves and deceptive feints while executing a strong, coordinated defense.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 13, 2025

How Takaichi should navigate Beijing’s diplomatic threats

These incidents reveal a consistent pattern in Beijing’s diplomatic arsenal, the weaponization of progressive language, the inversion of victim and aggressor narratives.
Shoko Kawata stumps in the city of Yawata, Kyoto Prefecture, last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2024

Japan's youngest female city mayor is focused on women's empowerment

The election of Shoko Kawata, 33, was unexpected — but was a welcome change for some.
Posters for candidates in the Tokyo No. 1 district on Wednesday in Tokyo
JAPAN / Media
Oct 23, 2024

In the heart of Tokyo, LDP and CDP rivals duke it out as election day nears

While the ruling and main opposition candidates are the clear front-runners, a third-party challenger is also hoping to wrestle his way in.
Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr delivers a speech in Najaf, Iraq, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 21, 2023

Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr hints at comeback with torching of Swedish Embassy

By having his supporters torch the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad, the unpredictable Shiite cleric has dragged an administration run by his rivals into a diplomatic crisis.
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 25, 2024

Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other

In a departure from boys' club politics, candidates including four women, a writer and an ex-martial artist are making their case for a seat in parliament.
People applaud during a campaign event in Tokyo on Thursday. Those running in the July 7 poll will be battling to govern the sixth-largest city in the world by population.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 20, 2024

Tokyo governor poll campaign kicks off with 56 candidates in running

Ideas on how to reverse the capital's declining birth rate and make spending transparent are topping the agenda.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
Tokyo ranked world’s richest city by GDP, with Osaka-Kobe also rated highly
Tokyo has a gross domestic product of $2.55 trillion, just ahead of New York’s $2.49 trillion and Greater Los Angeles’ $1.62 trillion, according to CEOWorld’s global wealth index.
Tokyo looks to keep ‘monster parents’ at bay with new protocols
New guidelines are addressing struggles by teachers to deal with the burden of parents who make irrational complaints that go beyond what is considered socially acceptable, often referred to as "monster parents," which is overwhelming their workload.
China delivers warning to U.S. and Japan with third aircraft carrier
The Fujian, China's third aircraft carrier, carries out sea trials at an unknown location in May last year.
Japan lawmakers eye firm response to Chinese envoy's threat to behead PM
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on Friday.
As Japan’s female leader rises, can she cross sumo’s sacred line?
Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (front center) delivers a speech on the first day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center on Sunday. Centuries of belief and tradition still underpin the all-male association's stance of excluding women.
Takaichi doesn’t mince words on Taiwan, but dramatic policy shift unlikely
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responds to questions during a House of Representatives Budget Committee session in parliament on Tuesday.
Florist Nicolai Bergmann flourishes outside the box
Florist Nicolai Bergmann shops for fresh flowers at the Ota flower market in Tokyo on Friday.
China delivers warning to U.S. and Japan with third aircraft carrier
The Fujian, China's third aircraft carrier, carries out sea trials at an unknown location in May last year.
Jenson Button brings end to an illustrious racing career intertwined with Japan
Jenson Button races for Honda during the Singapore Grand Prix in September 2008.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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
By Yukana Inoue

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality
Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER