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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Feb 3, 2013

Hidetoshi Masunaga: making revolution through the Constitution

On Dec. 14, 2012, two days before the Lower House election in which the Democratic Party of Japan headed by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was eclipsed as the conservative Liberal Democratic Party swept back to power in a landslide, a one-page advert with a huge banner headline appeared in a vernacular...
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 26, 2021

LDP’s triple by-election loss a long-term worry for Suga

Opposition victory in Hiroshima could fuel further questions about a vote-buying scandal there, with any revelations having a knock-on effect on September's LDP presidential race.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Dec 24, 2020

Generational change and policy differences test LDP-Komeito political bonds

The Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito recently marked 21 years of alliance, having ruled Japan as a coalition for 18 of those years. But are they growing apart?
COMMENTARY / World / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 20, 2014

Jokowi's victory brings high hopes and challenges

In July, Joko Widodo, universally known as Jokowi, won a decisive victory in Indonesia's presidential elections. Even before assuming office in October, he faces extravagant expectations in a nation that has endured mercurial (Sukarno), repressive (Suharto) and feckless (B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid,...
Japan Times
WORLD
May 4, 2014

Polish immigrants find their footing in Britain

Ten years after Tomasz Dyl left his small hometown near Krakow as a 13-year-old to start a new life in Southampton on England's south coast, his personal trajectory has become emblematic of the story of Polish migration to the U.K.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 22, 2010

Can't vote? No problem, you're empowered!

What are you planning to do with yourself this summer? If you're Japanese, have you given any thought to the country's upcoming Upper House elections?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2007

Aceh peace pays off for election victor

BRUSSELS -- After the second anniversary of Aceh's tragic tsunami, peace seems to have finally come to the troubled province. Official results of the Dec. 11 provincial elections came with the new year. They confirmed a landslide victory for one faction of the former rebels.
EDITORIALS
Nov 8, 2002

A house divided

There are two ways of interpreting the midterm elections held in the United States on Tuesday, both of them valid. On the one hand, the Republicans did very well -- perhaps not better then expected, since they held the advantage going in, but certainly much better than the Democrats had hoped they would...
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2002

Electronic voting should be used for Diet, Koizumi says

The electronic voting system used for the first time in Japan over the weekend in a local election should be used in Diet elections due to its speedy ballot-counting ability, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2001

LDP's Tokyo politicians voice dissent

They are closely watching the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race. In fact, they will be the first to receive the verdict of voters on the party under its new leader.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2001

In Thailand, good losers teach a key lesson

SISAKET, Thailand -- "If the counting is fair, losers must accept the results," said Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, trying to calm down an anxious nation as rioting spread to over a dozen provinces in the wake of national elections Jan. 6. Having just lost the premiership as his party was trounced...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2014

Bovine voter registration in rebel-held Ukraine

A cow, literally, could have voted in the elections for rebel-held regions of eastern Ukraine on Sunday. Nobody really cared who would win.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Dec 2, 2007

Dalai Lama: Ocean of wit and wisdoms

Lhamo Thondup was born on July 6, 1935 in Taktster, a small village in the Amdo region of northeast Tibet. But neither his parents — farmers who grew barley, buckwheat and potatoes — nor his three elder brothers and one elder sister (a younger sister and brother came later) were to discover his true...
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2005

Postal reform just the start

With the Diet's Oct. 14 passage of the postal-services privatization bills, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has reaped a reward for his daring decision to dissolve the Lower House. But the postal privatization is only the first of many issues that the government has to address to streamline its operations...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2005

Japan needs to train Iraqi officials to be self-reliant, diplomat says

Japan should help to train Iraqi engineers and local administrative officials who will play key roles in rebuilding the nation, according to a Foreign Ministry official who heads Japan's diplomatic office in the southern Iraq city of Samawah.
EDITORIALS
Oct 31, 2002

Low-key polls mirror political reality

Just as expected, no change whatsoever. That is the prevailing impression of the by-elections held on Sunday in five Lower House constituencies and two Upper House districts. The by-elections ended in an overwhelming victory for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, whose candidates scored five wins....
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 1, 2021

Historic roundup of Hong Kong opposition draws defiant protest

The arrests of 47 opposition figures represented the most sweeping use of the national security law imposed by China last year.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2020

New Zealand gives U.S. a lesson in pandemic democracy

The U.S., a nation founded on the principle that all people are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights, would do well to heed the example given by New Zealand.
EDITORIALS
Dec 3, 2013

Fukushima voter discontent

Voters' defeat of incumbent mayors in Fukushima Prefecture should flag the Abe administration that they not happy with the slow pace of reconstruction from the nuclear disaster in March 2011.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2001

Koizumi takes LDP helm

Junichiro Koizumi was elected Tuesday as the 20th president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, gaining 298 votes in the initial balloting of the party's lawmakers.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 12, 2022

Dissecting Kishida’s post-election road map

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has important choices to make on how he leverages his renewed mandate and extra political capital after the LDP's strong Upper House election showing.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2021

When Halloween met election night in Tokyo

Many revelers said they felt excluded from the political process, and that there was more chance of a zombie invasion than the LDP being ousted from power.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 20, 2021

Russian election shows declining support for Putin’s party

The weekend's elections came amid a harsh crackdown on dissent by the Kremlin and murmurings of popular discontent.
An election poster board set up in Tokyo's Suginami Ward on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
May 28, 2025

Tokyo installs extra-large campaign boards ahead of metropolitan assembly vote

In some areas, boards with up to 70 slots are being installed, a move also intended to prepare for the Upper House election that will follow shortly after.
A general election must take place in the U.K. by late January 2025, which means plenty of time for expats abroad to register and vote.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Feb 26, 2024

As more U.K. expats get the vote, Japan’s ballot box stays closed

As of Jan. 16, Brits abroad — including the more than 17,000 in Japan — are able to register to vote regardless of how long they have lived overseas.
Spanish far-right Vox party leader Santiago Abascal (center) greets supporters as he arrives to deliver a speech at the party headquarters in Madrid on Sunday after Spain's general election.
WORLD
Jul 25, 2023

Setback for Spain's Vox points to limits of European far-right advance

Vox's share of seats fell to 33 from 52, suggesting an electoral ceiling for some European far-right parties even though their rise has worried leaders from Brussels to Berlin.
Taiwan officials have warned that Beijing is trying to nudge voters toward candidates who seek closer ties with China in the island's Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 8, 2023

Taiwan intelligence says China leadership met on election interference

Taiwan officials have warned that Beijing is trying to nudge voters toward candidates who seek closer ties with China.
Lai Ching-te, the presidential candidate of ruling Democratic Progressive Party, waves to supporters while riding in the back of a vehicle during a campaign event ahead of the elections in New Taipei City, Taiwan, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 12, 2024

Candidates make final pitches before voters head to polls in Taiwan

Many view the upcoming vote as one with potentially significant geopolitical consequences for both Taiwan and the region.
A view of Koror, Palau’s main town, on April 10
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 1, 2025

Inside the U.S. battle with China over a Pacific island paradise

Palau is again on the frontline as China and the United States and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control.
TikTok can advertise to more than 100 million users in Indonesia, but they now need to go on a different app or site to buy.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 28, 2023

TikTok’s e-commerce ambitions stall as global backlash grows

Complaints about how TikTok is squeezing local players has stalled the Chinese-owned social media platform's e-commerce ambitions

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