Search - proportional-representation

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
May 30, 2007

Far from the end of the United Kingdom

PRAGUE — Three hundred years after the first Scottish Parliament voluntarily voted itself out of existence in 1707, the Scottish National Party has won a plurality in the devolved Scottish Parliament that is one of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's great legacies. Does an SNP-led government herald...
EDITORIALS
Jan 10, 2007

Candidates who can win

As it has become certain that an Upper House election, which will decide the nation's political direction, will be held July 22 unless the regular Diet session is extended, political parties have started serious preparations. While the opposition Democratic Party of Japan's leader Ichiro Ozawa is busy...
COMMENTARY
Dec 12, 2006

Abe at crossroads of reform

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's two-month-old administration stands at the crossroads of how to implement the reform agenda inherited from the previous government of Junichiro Koizumi.
EDITORIALS
May 26, 2006

Weak effort to equalize votes

The Upper House has passed and sent to the Lower House a bill to revise the Public Offices Election Law in order to rectify disparities in the relative value of a vote in Upper House elections. The bill, submitted by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito, is likely to...
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2006

DPJ positions to change with new guard

Seiji Maehara's decision Friday to resign as Democratic Party of Japan president will probably test the largest opposition party's solidarity and its conservative stance on defense, according to observers and DPJ sources.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2006

LDP panel OKs expat vote expansion

A ruling Liberal Democratic Party panel endorsed a proposal Wednesday to expand the scope of national elections in which people living overseas can vote, LDP officials said.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2006

DPJ's Nagata hints at resignation over credibility of e-mail

Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Hisayasu Nagata has offered to resign from the Diet after failing to authenticate e-mail he claimed proved shady financial links between Livedoor Co. founder Takafumi Horie and a son of Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2005

DPJ's Goto to resign from Diet

In another political blow to the nation's largest opposition party, veteran lawmaker Masanori Goto of the Democratic Party of Japan said Monday he will resign after two key aides admitted earlier in the day to illegally paying campaign workers in the Sept. 11 general election.
COMMENTARY
Dec 13, 2005

Keys to the LDP's viability

The Liberal Democratic Party has ruled Japan since it was established in 1955 -- except for 11 months in 1993 and 1994. Last month it celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding.
COMMENTARY
Oct 4, 2005

DPJ out to change its ways

The rout of the Democratic Party of Japan in the Sept. 11 Lower House election raises the question: Will it be able to recoup its losses and make itself strong enough to snatch power from the Liberal Democratic Party?
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2005

LDP rookie serves self high-class dish of crow

Taizo Sugimura, the youngest of the 83 new Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers elected earlier this month to the House of Representatives, apologized Tuesday for stating he hoped to dine at high-class restaurants during his new career as a Diet politician.
COMMENTARY
Sep 19, 2005

A mandate to finish the job

The Sept. 11 general election produced stunning results unprecedented in Japanese political history. Unaffiliated voters gave overwhelming support to the governing Liberal Democratic Party, handing the LDP-New Komeito coalition more than two-thirds of the 480-seat Lower House. Paradoxically, conservative...
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2005

Bill eyed to let Japanese abroad vote for candidates

The government aims to submit a bill during the regular Diet session next year to revise the Public Offices Election Law to allow eligible Japanese voters living overseas to cast ballots for candidates in national elections, a top government official said Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2005

Voter loyalties split but all seek better future

Voters turned out in droves for Sunday's Lower House election to cast ballots in favor of reforms, hoping the policy steps taken by the victors will strengthen the economy and make people's lives better.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2005

Ex-disarmament envoy wins, touted as foreign minister

Kuniko Inoguchi, former ambassador to the U.N. Conference on Disarmament, was set to win a seat in the House of Representatives election Sunday, according to Kyodo News projections.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2005

Posts foe Yashiro undone by New Komeito's Ota

Akihiro Ota, deputy secretary general of New Komeito, retained his seat in Sunday's general election in the Tokyo No. 12 district, which had been a symbol of the ruling coalition's campaign cooperation.
Sep 12, 2005

'Assassin' Koike bests 'rebel' Kobayashi

Environment Minister Yuriko Koike wrested the Tokyo No. 10 district seat in Sunday's election from former Liberal Democratic Party member Koki Kobayashi.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2005

New Komeito secure in Kansai but maybe not in Nagata-cho

OSAKA -- "We'll always win in Kansai."
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2005

Loyalties to party, candidates put to test

Politics are about making decisions, and some of the most difficult ones are those based on where loyalties lie.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2005

1,132 candidates face off for Lower House election

Campaigning for the Sept. 11 House of Representatives election officially kicked off Tuesday with 1,132 candidates throwing their hats in the ring for 480 seats.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2005

Koizumi reinvents race as issue-specific affair

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is changing the face of election campaigns, and one place this is being felt is the Liberal Democratic Party's Kyoto prefectural chapter, which traditionally has been the LDP's nerve center for local candidates.
JAPAN / POLL SHOWDOWN
Aug 29, 2005

Tanaka says New Party Nippon focusing on decentralization

Yasuo Tanaka, head of the brand-new New Party Nippon, is aiming his party at building public hope for a brighter future by working at the local and prefectural level to wrest power from central administrative and political authorities.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POLL SHOWDOWN
Aug 24, 2005

New parties to team up against LDP: Watanuki

Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) will cooperate with another new party in the Sept. 11 general election and oppose Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal privatization drive, leader Tamisuke Watanuki said.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji