Search - local-elections

 
 
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2001

Ministry plans e-voting legislation

The Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications has started working toward the introduction of electronic voting in local elections and may submit related bills to the Diet session slated to start later this month, government officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2000

Mori targets damage control, economic stimulus in session

During the extra Diet session convening today, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori hopes to fix the damage done to his ruling bloc by recent money scandals and boost the fragile economic recovery with a stimulus package worth more than 10 trillion yen, including 4 trillion yen in new spending.
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2000

Expected deadlock in Diet may bring dissolution

As talks with opposition parties began to break down Friday, the LDP-Liberal Party-New Komeito coalition went ahead and submitted a controversial seat-reduction bill to the Diet. Meanwhile, the Liberal Party and New Komeito jointly submitted another controversial bill -- one that would give permanent...
JAPAN
Nov 8, 1999

LDP gives partners nod to submit foreign suffrage bill

New Komeito and the Liberal Party will jointly submit to the current Diet session a bill to grant foreign permanent residents of Japan the right to vote in local polls, New Komeito Secretary General Tetsuzo Fuyushiba said Monday.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 1999

Short-sighted policy hinders disabled voters

Staff writer
JAPAN
Oct 28, 1997

Local poll loss has Shinshinto jittery

The defeat of a Shinshinto-backed candidate in the Miyagi gubernatorial race Sunday is still shaking the party, leaving its members worried about the Upper House election next summer.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 2, 2023

Chiba Prefecture woman arrested over Twitter threat to release sarin

Miyuki Yamamoto, who ran unsuccessfully for the Funabashi Municipal Assembly last month, was arrested on suspicion of obstructing business with fraudulent information.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 14, 2022

Defense spending debate threatens to divide ruling Liberal Democratic Party

Rather than raising taxes, some LDP lawmakers want the prime minister to issue government bonds.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 11, 2022

Senior LDP lawmaker visits Taiwan, saying more military spending needed amid China threat

LDP policy chief Koichi Hagiuda said in Taiwan that China's massive increase in military spending and the North Korean threat mean Japan needs to raise its defense budget.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 6, 2022

Japan to defer tax hikes for defense spending until 2027

The delay is planned in light of economic uncertainties stemming from rising prices, while strong opposition from members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to corporate and other tax hikes was also a factor, sources say.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2022

Kishida seeks to hike defense spending by more than 50% over five years

The new budget would put Japan closer to the target Kishida ordered last week of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense by 2027.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida looks on during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Week summit in San Francisco on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2023

Japan ruling bloc shocked as Kishida's approval keeps falling

A Jiji Press survey for November on Thursday showed the Kishida Cabinet's approval at 21.3%, the lowest level since his inauguration in 2021.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to face further headwinds at home, despite efforts to highlight his diplomatic achievements.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2023

Kishida focuses on diplomacy amid poor public support rates

Showing off his contribution to the discussions at the APEC summit, the prime minister expressed his eagerness to continue with diplomacy. 
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets with local residents during a walkabout with Conservative MPs in Winchester, England, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 20, 2024

Why Sunak’s Conservatives are talking about the 1993 Canadian election

A week of Tory rebellions and cataclysmic polls has left members of Sunak’s governing party plumbing new depths of despair over their prospects of staying in power.
Recent losses faced by the Conservative Party in local British elections indicate there are greater challenges ahead for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government in the upcoming national poll.
COMMENTARY
May 6, 2024

Can the Tories rebuild their train wreck of a party?

If you’re a centrist British voter, today’s Conservatives aren’t for you.
Makoto Nishimoto, who goes by the name "Super Crazy-kun," at a news conference in the city of Miyazaki in November 2022
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 24, 2024

Ex-Miyazaki city assembly member gets 4½ years over sexual assault

Makoto Nishimoto, who goes by the name "Super Crazy-kun," was sentenced for sexually assaulting a female acquaintance in September 2023.
Renho, who had been considered incumbent Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike’s main rival in Sunday's gubernatorial election in the capital, finished third behind Shinji Ishimaru, the former mayor of Akitakata in Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 8, 2024

Is cooperation with the JCP an asset or liability for the CDP?

Renho finishing third in the Tokyo gubernatorial race despite the backing of both parties raises questions for Japan's largest opposition group.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, during an event in November last year. Brazil blocked the social network after Musk refused to comply with a Brazilian judge's orders to suspend certain accounts.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2024

Musk’s X goes dark in Brazil after supreme court’s ruling

While the U.S. tends toward strong free-speech protections, many countries are taking aggressive steps to make companies more accountable for their online content.
Performers at Stand Up Indonesia Tokyo shows crack plenty of jokes, but the main purpose behind the group, organizers say, is to provide a space where Indonesian expats can express themselves about any struggles they may have about living abroad.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 14, 2024

Tokyo’s Indonesians get through life abroad with a couple of laughs

Stand Up Indonesia Tokyo is a community of comedians, comedy fans and others with connections to Indonesia seeking a reminder of home.
Yoshiki Taniguchi (right), mayor of Aioi, Hyogo Prefecture, apologizes to Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito ahead of a meeting between prefectural government officials and leaders of municipalities in the prefecture held in Kobe on Nov. 26. Taniguchi publicly questioned whether Saito had the credentials to become governor before his election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 5, 2024

'Old' media blames 'new' media for success of 'populist' candidates

Many young voters, especially those in their 20s, are believed to have supported Hyogo Gov. Saito due to his social media outreach.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba replies to Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara at a Lower House budget committee session in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Government makes slow progress on budget concessions

Opposition parties are making known their policy demands, and even seeking legal guarantees, in return for their support in passing the budget for fiscal 2025.
Ozgur Ozel, leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), has been thrust into the limelight in the few weeks since the jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ozgur Ozel, a member of his party seen as the only politician capable of challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the ballot box.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 7, 2025

Ozgur Ozel: From low-key opposition to face of Turkey protests

Until now the relatively low-profile head of the country's main opposition party, Ozel has been thrust into the limelight, both at home and abroad.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump from a Jaguar Land Rover automobile manufacturing plant in the West Midlandson, U.K., on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 9, 2025

Starmer gets diplomatic win he needs, if not the economic boost

The framework the two leaders unveiled goes some way to reversing the worst impacts on the U.K. of U.S. tariffs.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 13, 2025

Consumption tax set to dominate Upper House election debate

Broaching the subject has traditionally been seen as akin to kicking a hornet's nest.
"My heart and soul are in Deir el-Zor. No money, no homes or luxury in the world can compensate for what I’ve lost there," said Ehab Mzeal, a 41-year-old Syrian. However, he is grateful for his life in Europe, "I like Germany for one reason: it stood by us."
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Aug 8, 2025

A journey to belong: Migrants describe 10 years in Europe

Migrants from around the world discuss the rewards and challenges of their new lives in Europe.
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 25, 2025

Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage

Many prefectures are choosing increases higher than the 6% suggested by the ministry.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight