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November 13, 2025
 

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CULTURE / Books
Aug 31, 2008

All you need to know about Japan's politics

GOVERNING JAPAN: Divided Politics in a Resurgent Economy, by J.A.A. Stockwin. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2008, 298 pp., £19.99 (paper) Arthur Stockwin, who was until recently Nissan Professor of Modern Japanese Studies at the University of Oxford, is the leading British expert on Japanese politics....
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.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2015

Fanatics, charlatans and economics

National chauvinism and religious fundamentalism are here to stay, and with them the terrorism that extremists of all stripes embrace, because both phenomena are ideally suited to the age of the individual, providing imaginary answers to personal angst.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 27, 2011

Futility and resignation make for poor drama in Japanese politics

"Sheer futility," Quoheleth says. "Sheer futility: Everything is futile!"
EDITORIALS
Oct 28, 2009

Mr. Hatoyama states his politics

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama made his first keynote address to the Diet on Monday. He should be commended for summing up his "politics of fraternity" in his own words — thus dumping the practice of pasting together sentences written by bureaucrats from various ministries.
CULTURE / Books
May 31, 2009

The violence specialists of Japanese politics

Japanese voters are frustrated because even if they throw the bums out of office, they know the opposition is much the same. These days money is the root of political scandals and influence buying, but here we examine how violence became institutionalized in Japan's politics from the first parliamentary...
COMMENTARY
Nov 17, 2002

Winds of change in South Korean politics

MANILA -- What did I miss most after I had left South Korea nearly a year ago, a South Korean journalist asked me during a recent visit to Seoul. "Actually, it is Korean politics," I answered to his disbelief.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2000

Japan's visionless politics

Many Japanese watched on television at least part of the face-to-face debates between U.S. presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush. Both candidates are said to be more or less middle-of-the-road types,with no defining differ ences in political philosophy. In my view, however, Bush showed himself...
CULTURE / Books
Feb 29, 2000

Japanese politics are gray, not green

GREEN POLITICS IN JAPAN, by Lam Peng Er. Routledge, March 1999, 232 pp., $90. The next 100 years have been dubbed the century of the environment. While this pronouncement may be a bit premature, even inflated, it reflects the swelling interest in environmental issues. From global warming and dioxins,...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 23, 2023

The Hiroshima summit will affect global politics for years to come

The Hiroshima summit was a historic and consequential event that reaffirmed Japan’s leadership role in the world.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2018

Two pioneers in the new politics

Britain's Boris Johnson and America's Alex Jones work to create and further the themes and dramas of contemporary populism.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
May 4, 2017

Politics and pop: a perfect pairing

It's official: You can't escape politics in America. On a recent trip to Seattle, everyone I spoke to wanted to talk about President Donald Trump. Fittingly, the 2017 edition of the Museum of Pop Culture's Pop Conference, which I was invited to speak at, took on a political theme with "Sign O' The Times:...
JAPAN / History
Apr 29, 2017

Power politics: Japan's most popular political platforms

Looking back at some of the political platforms that have been heavily endorsed by voters over the past century in a bid to predict where the country might be headed under the 'third generation' of postwar Japanese.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2013

Work-life balance? Not in politics

Tamayo Marukawa, 42, seems to have it all. A University of Tokyo graduate, she scored one of the most coveted jobs in Japan as an announcer at TV Asahi. A popular presence there for 14 years, she left for a seat in the Upper House six years ago as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.
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 / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 28, 2001

Politics in entertaining TV shocker

Though the Koizumi revolution has yet to yield anything substantial in terms of fiscal policy, the prime minister's enormous popularity has certainly brought politics closer to the average person, which, considering how apathetic most Japanese were about government a year ago, is a notable achievement....
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2001

No game plan for a new politics

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's days are numbered. The latest popularity survey by one vernacular newspaper has found that public trust in his administration has plummeted to 9 percent. Not only the leader of a coalition party but also members of his Liberal Democratic Party are now speaking of the possibility...
COMMENTARY
Nov 23, 2000

Japanese politics come up short again

Politics in Britain is characterized by a confrontation between the Conservative Party and the Labor Party. Each has its own policy platform, and voters choose between them, forcing changes in government. Likewise in the United States, the Republican and Democratic Parties alternate in power, running...
A Palm Sunday procession makes its way toward a government-sanctioned Catholic church in Youtong village in China's Hebei province
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2023

The Holy See shows how to deal with China

In China, the relationship between politics and religion is unique, and the Holy See has adopted a sophisticated approach to diplomacy with Beijing.
Labyrinth organizer Russell Moench sparked controversy with transphobic tweets, leading booked artists to pull out of the highly regarded electronic music festival’s 2023 edition.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2023

Art and politics clash at Labyrinth 2023

A controversy surrounding the prestige electronic music festival sparks an old debate over separating art and the artist.
New Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (left) and and his predecessor, Wen Jiabao (center), attend the 12th National People's Congress where Chinese President Xi Jinping was first elected in Beijing in March 2013.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2023

China's opaque politics and the Li Keqiang mystery

Li reportedly had bypass surgery and was taking drugs after a liver transplant, both of which would have increased the risk of a heart attack.
Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist, leaves his house to attend a court hearing in Dhaka on May 2.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 7, 2024

Nobel winner Yunus to lead Bangladesh after shunning politics

Though he’s mostly stayed away from politics, Muhammad Yunus is one of Bangladesh’s most famous faces.
In Japan, terms like "progressive," "liberal," "conservative," and "nationalist" may sound familiar but do not align with their meanings in other democracies.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 25, 2024

How to understand labels in Japanese politics

The issues that define political labels are often unique to Japan. As a result, quite a few Western authors will pick them up and use them.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters on Sunday, the day of a general election in which his party failed to secure even a simple majority together with its junior coalition party, Komeito.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 28, 2024

Breaking down the LDP’s punishing defeat

The LDP has been delivered a crushing electoral setback. How did this happen? What comes next? What does this mean for policymaking? Some of the key questions answered.
Tomoko Tamura, chairperson of the Japanese Communist Party, attends a debate with other party leaders in Tokyo in October. Her party urges voters to end the LDP’s business-centered politics and U.S. dependence by supporting its social, economic and foreign-policy reforms.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 16, 2025

JCP vows fairer taxes, stronger social safety net and a commitment to peaceful diplomacy

Tamura says LDP’s politics are now in a terminal and critical state with the party unable to respond to domestic and international issues or the wishes of the people.
Japan’s ruling coalition is weakening as rising populist parties like Sanseito gain support, raising concerns that Japan could shift toward unstable multiparty coalition politics similar to Israel’s fragmented Knesset.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 25, 2025

Is Japan drifting toward fragmented and ineffective politics?

In a system with many small parties, even minor players can hold the balance of power in forming coalitions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a plenum session of the Knesset in June.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2025

Has Japan’s Diet finally begun its ‘Knessetization’?

My focus is entirely on whether Japan's parliament will finally begin to “Knessetize” (referring to Israel's parliament, and by extension, unstable coalition politics.)
An extra edition of a newspaper announces Sanae Takaichi becoming Japan’s new prime minister on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 22, 2025

Japan’s new 'Iron Lady' can play 'heavy metal' politics

One of the few things the world knows about Takaichi is her fondness for heavy-metal music.
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

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