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BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2012

Experts: 10% tax too minor to dent deficit

The Cabinet on Friday made good on its vow and moved forward on doubling the consumption tax by 2015, but some experts and lawmakers already see it as only a tiny step in cutting the ever-expanding fiscal deficit.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Jan 28, 2012

Okada: Officialdom must sacrifice to sell tax hike

Winning the public's support to hike the consumption tax is the government's priority as their backing would force opposition parties to drop their stance against tax reforms, new Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada said.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2012

Cabinet defies opposition, OKs draft for sales tax hike

The Cabinet officially approved a draft proposal Friday to raise the consumption tax to 10 percent by October 2015 to cover swelling social security costs and restore Japan's fiscal health.
EDITORIALS
Nov 25, 2011

New Upper House president

The Upper House has elected Mr. Kenji Hirata, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan in the chamber, as its new president to succeed Takeo Nishioka, who died suddenly of pneumonia Nov. 5. Difficult tasks await this little-known lawmaker, the most pressing being quick rectification of the...
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2011

Noda takes flak in Diet over extra budget, free trade

Opposition lawmakers lashed out at Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Monday over what they said is the administration's unclear stance on whether to join free-trade talks, criticized components of the third extra budget for the Tohoku region reconstruction and called on him to dissolve the Lower House...
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2011

Yasukuni stance takes practical shift

In a major U-turn, new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Friday that neither he nor any of his Cabinet ministers will make official visits to controversial Yasukuni Shrine, reversing his previous position that visits by national leaders should be not be considered problematic.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2011

LDP putting recovery at risk, Kan says

Prime Minister Naoto Kan called again Wednesday for the opposition camp to support the budget and related bills in the Diet, saying failure to do so will put the economic recovery at risk.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2011

Sengoku tries to get opposition to back off

Opposition parties shouldn't boycott Diet deliberations attended by two key ministers targeted by nonbinding censure motions in the Upper House in November, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, one of those singled out, said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2010

Yanagida resigns over gaffe

Justice Minister Minoru Yanagida resigned Monday amid the fallout over his joking about his Diet duties, and after Prime Minister Naoto Kan effectively pressured him to step down.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2009

Aso portrays DPJ as national security threat

Prime Minister Taro Aso said Tuesday the Democratic Party of Japan's foreign policy of the poses a serious threat to the nation's security and prosperity.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2009

Bill drafted for JCG, MSDF to inspect North vessels

A project team of the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc endorsed the outline of a special bill to enable both the Japan Coast Guard and the Maritime Self-Defense Force to inspect vessels sailing to or from North Korea suspected of being involved in arms shipments.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 5, 2009

Dead ends, about turns abound in the politics of roads

About a year ago, the government was all in a lather about extending the gasoline tax. Local governments and the ruling coalition, not to mention interested bureaucracies, wanted to continue the tax because they said the revenues were necessary to build more roads. Opposition parties were against the...
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 2009

Mr. Aso outlines goals

In a policy address before the Diet on Wednesday, Prime Minister Taro Aso, as expected, gave priority to helping the nation tide over the current economic crisis. Correctly observing that all of the world is simultaneously entering an unprecedented recession and that Japan cannot escape it, he noted...
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2008

LDP panel OKs bill for one-time holiday

A Liberal Democratic Party panel approved a bill Wednesday to make Nov. 12, 2009, a one-time national holiday to mark the 20th anniversary of Emperor Akihito's accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Oct 1, 2008

Shionoya embraces teachers union, 'morals'

Education minister Ryu Shionoya said Tuesday that the Japan Teachers Union (Nikkyoso) should cooperate with the ministry on improving education, dismissing critical remarks by short-lived transport minister Nariaki Nakayama, who resigned Sunday after attacking the union and calling it "a cancer."
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2008

Additional budget for stimulus in the works

The government will draft a supplementary budget for the current fiscal year to secure financial resources for an economic stimulus package to be drafted by month's end, economic and fiscal policy minister Kaoru Yosano said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2008

Fukuda hints at second override

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda hinted Tuesday that he would again use the ruling coalition's two-thirds majority in the Lower House to override the Upper House if it fails to pass budget-related bills — including one on the gasoline and other auto-related taxes.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 24, 2007

Tax transfers from rich areas to rural poses problems

On the surface, the ruling coalition's tax reform package for fiscal 2008 contains a number of promising proposals, including the transfer of local corporate tax revenue from better-off prefectures to fiscally distressed rural areas, a new system to let people combine stock investment returns with dividends...
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2007

MSDF duty over, Ozawa tells Fukuda

supplies fuel to a Pakistani destroyer in the Indian Ocean on Monday. It was the last refueling Japan will perform under the antiterrorism law that expires Thursday. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MARITIME SELF-DEFENSE FORCE/KYODO

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan