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JAPAN
Dec 28, 2012

Nippon Mirai breaks up as Ozawa, allies veer off

The members of Nippon Mirai no To (Tomorrow Party of Japan) agreed Thursday to split the antinuclear party as strife emerged over who should lead it following its meltdown in the Dec. 16 Lower House election.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2012

Time for Japan to let go of the status quo, U.S. leadership expert counsels

Japan isn't going to end decades of economic malaise, nor will its corporations meet the challenge of overseas rivals, unless bold changes are made, warns an expert on leadership from Harvard University who was in Japan recently to give a series of lectures.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2012

Aso takes reins of shrinking economy with fiscal gusto

Taro Aso, son of a cement magnate and a champion of pork-barrel spending when prime minister, is Japan's sixth finance chief in three years, auguring expanded fiscal stimulus in the world's third-largest economy.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Dec 27, 2012

Pop embraced conservatism in 2012

The 2012 general election might not seem to have any bearing on the state of pop music in Japan, but there was an eerie similarity in the way both the electorate and the pop world turned back the clock and wrapped conservatism in a neurotic embrace.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2012

LDP boss urges unity, break with factionalism

After romping back to power following three years in the opposition, the Liberal Democratic Party chief called for unity and a break with tradition Wednesday in a bid to consolidate power ahead of the Upper House election in July.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2012

Shift to right risks mistrust in foreign capitals

Liberal Democratic Party leader Shinzo Abe returned to the prime minister's office facing a host of diplomatic challenges. But perhaps none is greater than the wariness, and fear, abroad that his rightwing, nationalistic views will strain Tokyo's relations with Washington and create further tensions...
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2012

DPJ test ends as Noda's team quietly bows out

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his Cabinet resigned en masse Wednesday morning, quietly closing the door on the Democratic Party of Japan's first attempt to lead the nation and making way for the old Liberal Democratic Party's return to power.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Dec 27, 2012

Nationalism takes back seat to the economy

The lineup of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet seems to underline his determination to learn from his mistakes.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2012

Abe taps two women for key posts in LDP

Incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tapped two high-profile female lawmakers Tuesday for the top executive posts of the Liberal Democratic Party in an apparent effort to garner the support of female voters ahead of the Upper House election next summer.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2012

Formed in childhood, roots of Abe's conservatism go deep

Shinzo Abe, 58, who becomes prime minister again Wednesday, is regarded overseas, particularly in Asia, as one of the most-known — and probably most notorious — hawkish politicians in Tokyo.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LIGHT GIST
Dec 25, 2012

The year in quotes: 25 windows on the way things were in 2012

It was a year dominated by Japan's spats with its most powerful neighbors, China and South Korea, over tiny specks in the sea, and by national soul-searching over nuclear power and the calamity that struck Japan in March 2011. It ended with the stunning political resurrection of the Liberal Democratic...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 23, 2012

How to care for the children when we're at odds with the planet?

Perhaps this column should begin with a disclaimer like those found on CDs and DVDs that are intended to help protect kids from obscenity — Parental Advisory: Explicit Content.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2012

Linchpin for Thai amnesty — or more violence

Last week the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) decided to press murder charges against former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his deputy Suthep Thaugsuban in connection with their role in a military crackdown against anti-government red-shirt protesters during April and May of 2010....
COMMENTARY
Dec 19, 2012

Boxed in, Japan swings right

Henry Kissinger once famously remarked that a great power does not retreat forever. This is a particularly apt comment on China's and South Korea's contributions to the outcome of last weekend's elections in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2012

U.S. school massacre won't change views on guns

We live in a society that makes it very, very easy to kill kids, though we want to pretend that isn't true.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 18, 2012

Economy, split of antinuclear vote, aided LDP

The economy prevailed over nuclear power in the minds of voters in Sunday's general election, dealing a setback to antinuclear parties, including the newly established Nippon Mirai no To (Tomorrow Party of Japan) and the Social Democratic Party.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Dec 17, 2012

LDP aware voters just punished DPJ

The Liberal Democratic Party's overwhelming victory Sunday means hawkish Shinzo Abe is going to be prime minister again.
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2012

LDP back in the saddle again

The Liberal Democratic Party, which was badly defeated in the Lower House election in August 2009 and had to give up power to the Democratic Party of Japan after ruling the nation almost without interruption since 1955, made a comeback in Sunday's general election. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 17, 2012

For Tokyo, Osaka voters, election revolved around economy

The multitude of parties and issues on the table Sunday made it difficult for voters to make up their minds, according to those who spoke with The Japan Times on the streets of Tokyo and Osaka.
Reader Mail
Dec 16, 2012

The criminally noisy politicians

Michael Hoffman's Dec. 2 Timeout column, "Silent majority blasted by political noise," lent me yet another moment to think about Japanese politics and election campaigns.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2012

Tokyo rally seeks to keep alive quest to end nuclear power

With energy policy turning into one of the focal points of Sunday's Lower House election, more than 1,000 people opposed to atomic power staged a march in Tokyo on the eve of the poll to demand a nuclear-free society.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 15, 2012

'Face of election' Kawamura of Nagoya now the odd man out

After deciding not to run in this weekend's Lower House poll, Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura's status as the "face of the election" has faded and his frustration is clearly growing.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 14, 2012

Older voter glut helps politicians avoid long-range problems

Japan faces structural problems that threaten future generations, including snowballing government debt, swelling social security costs, a low birthrate and a rapidly aging population.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 14, 2012

Assad regime firing Scud missiles in Syria

Government forces have fired at least half a dozen short-range ballistic missiles at rebel groups in northern Syria over the past several days, according to U.S. officials, a potentially significant escalation of a civil war that has killed more than 40,000 people.
COMMENTARY
Dec 12, 2012

U.K. party leaders playing politics with press rules

Most people like talking about themselves, including those in the press. Since publication of Lord Justice Leveson's report into press culture, practices and ethics at the end of last month, Britain's newspapers have been consumed with discussing their own future. From among the many recommendations...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 12, 2012

ASEAN jittery over major power rivalry in Asia

Despite the continuing growth of East Asia as a new engine driving the world economy, the prospect of a U.S.-China rivalry and the troubled relations between Japan and China pose challenges for the region's future stability, experts from Southeast Asia said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2012

Ex-envoy to U.S. heartened by eventful stint

Ichiro Fujisaki's four-year stint as Japan's ambassador to the U.S. saw turbulent events — the Great East Japan Earthquake, shifting political power in Nagata-cho and President Barack Obama's re-election — to name but a few.

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