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Japan Times
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Jul 2, 2004

JCP says Koizumi's reforms to hurt small companies, jobs

The Japanese Communist Party hopes to thwart Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reform initiatives, saying they favor big corporations and would destroy small companies and erode job security, JCP leader Kazuo Shii said.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2004

Kin of kidnapped fret lack of focus on Pyongyang in Upper House poll

KOBE -- Seven months ago, on the eve of the House of Representatives election, North Korea's abductions of Japanese was one of the main campaign topics.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 23, 2004

Smarting from pension snafu, LDP has modest poll hopes

The Liberal Democratic Party must "humbly accept" the harsh public outrage over its recent forced passage of contentious pension reform bills as it strives to retain its strength in the July 11 House of Councilors election, the LDP secretary general said.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 8, 2004

Power of LDP support groups waning

About 5,000 people gathered in Sapporo on May 23 to attend a convention of the national association of special post office chiefs, a longtime supporter of and the biggest vote-gathering machine for the Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2004

New democracy masters coalition-building

HONG KONG -- Ironically, at a time when the United States is trying to bring instant democracy to the Middle East, Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world, is undergoing a complex, three-tiered democratic election virtually unnoticed.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2004

Government relieved as LDP wins all Lower House by-elections

Government and ruling coalition leaders breathed a sigh of relief Monday after the Liberal Democratic Party won all three House of Representatives by-elections held Sunday in a possible prelude to July's House of Councilors poll.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2004

DPJ to field activist singer Kina

The Democratic Party of Japan plans to field Okinawan singer Shokichi Kina, who held a peace concert last year in Baghdad, as a candidate in the House of Councilors election in July, party lawmakers said Saturday.
COMMENTARY
Mar 23, 2004

A decade of empty slogans

For all the shouting from the rooftops, political reform in Japan has made little headway. The latest reminder is the arrest of Kanju Sato, a former Lower House veteran of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, on charges of embezzling the salary of a state-paid secretary.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2004

DPJ's Sato tenders resignation from Diet

House of Representatives lawmaker Kanju Sato tendered his resignation from the Diet on Thursday amid allegations that he pocketed the state-paid salary of a woman falsely registered as his secretary.
EDITORIALS
Feb 19, 2004

Upper House in need of reform

Should Japan keep its bicameral parliamentary system? Put another way, is the House of Councilors, or Upper House, really necessary? The question is not new. Many Japanese have long regarded it as the "rubber stamp" of the more influential House of Representatives. Now the issue is coming under scrutiny...
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2004

LDP-New Komeito ties criticized

Democratic Party of Japan leader Naoto Kan on Wednesday criticized the Liberal Democratic Party for depending heavily on New Komeito to stay in power.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2004

DPJ to support Korean pundit for Upper House

The Democratic Party of Japan will field the head of the Tokyo bureau of the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo in the House of Councilors election this summer.
COMMENTARY
Feb 2, 2004

Chirac faces mixed fortunes

PARIS -- Poll ratings have suddenly begun to substantially improve for both French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. That said, a wide gap still separates the two men. While 56 to 58 percent of those polled have a favorable view of Chirac, Raffarin's confidence rating...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2004

DPJ set to submit own proposals on Constitution

The Democratic Party of Japan said Tuesday it will issue constitutional amendment proposals by 2006.
COMMENTARY
Jan 12, 2004

Koizumi flaunts propensity to curtail 'drastic' reforms

Japan is at a historic turning point, both domestically and internationally. Symbolic of this are pension reform, highway system privatization and the troop dispatch to Iraq. But Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's "structural reform" initiative appears to have lost momentum since he took office in April...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2003

Climber's next ascent: the Upper House

Ken Noguchi, who in 1999 became the world's youngest person to conquer the highest peaks on seven continents, is contemplating running in the next House of Councilors election on the Liberal Democratic Party ticket, according to party lawmakers.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2003

LDP to expel arrested Diet member

The Liberal Democratic Party is ready to expel Hiroshi Kondo, one of its members in the House of Representatives, after his arrest for alleged vote-buying in the campaign for the Nov. 9 general election, according to senior party lawmakers.
COMMENTARY
Dec 1, 2003

LDP's diminishing appeal

In the Nov. 9 Lower House election, the governing Liberal Democratic Party lost 10 seats while the opposition Democratic Party of Japan gained 40. New Komeito added a few seats thanks to its cooperation in the election with the LDP, its ruling-coalition partner. The Social Democratic Party and the Japan...
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2003

Yamasaki plots political comeback

Taku Yamasaki, a former Liberal Democratic Party vice president who lost his Diet seat in the Nov. 9 general election, might run in next summer's House of Councilors race. Sources said Thursday that Yamasaki is considering running on the proportional representation part of the Upper House race.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2003

Japan Highway to focus on profit

The newly appointed president of Japan Highway Public Corp. pledged Thursday to prioritize the quasigovernmental firm's profitability and the repayment of its huge debts ahead of its planned privatization in fiscal 2005.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2003

Tsujimoto admits to defrauding state out of cash for nonexistent secretaries

Former House of Representatives member Kiyomi Tsujimoto pleaded guilty Thursday to defrauding the state out of nearly 19 million yen in government-paid salaries for her policy secretaries.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2003

SDP local chapter representatives agree against DPJ merger

Regional chapter representatives of the Social Democratic Party confirmed in Tokyo on Friday the party's decision not to merge with the Democratic Party of Japan.

Longform

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