Search - local-elections

 
 
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2001

Will Koizumi factor win Tokyo for LDP?

The apparently overwhelming popularity of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will be put to its first real test in less than 10 days, when the results of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election — campaigning for which began Friday — are announced June 24. And in spite of his popularity, those involved...
EDITORIALS
Feb 6, 2018

Nago's mayoral race and the Henoko facility

The defeat of the mayor of Nago, Okinawa, who opposed the construction of the Futenma replacement facility in his city, should not be seen as an endorsement of the project by local voters.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 22, 2015

Hashimoto likely to continue political career, but in what role?

In the fall of 2007, Osaka's political leaders faced a problem.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 18, 2015

Osaka referendum causes turbulence for LDP, Komeito

Many in Japan's political world are asking themselves what the effect of Sunday's referendum in Osaka will be, and whether it will indeed mark the end of Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's political career.
JAPAN / Politics
May 17, 2015

Hashimoto announces exit from politics after Osaka rejects merger plan in referendum

Osaka voters rejected a referendum proposal Sunday to merge the city into five semi-autonomous wards, dealing a crippling blow to Mayor Toru Hashimoto.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2003

Party fell into line despite deep policy differences

They're sleeping in the same bed, but dreaming different dreams.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Politicians rethinking reliance on vote-gathering machinery

Staff writer It is election year in Japan again. About half of the seats in the Upper House will be up for grabs in the triennial election in July, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election -- often seen as an indicator of voting trends in national polls -- is expected in June.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2001

Politicians rethinking reliance on vote-gathering machinery

Staff writer It is election year in Japan again. About half of the seats in the Upper House will be up for grabs in the triennial election in July, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election -- often seen as an indicator of voting trends in national polls -- is expected in June.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2000

Historical irony haunts Chinese uprising

HONG KONG -- Last March 8, the Chinese government executed a former vice governor of the southeast province of Jiangxi, in the hope that this would demonstrate its determination to act against corrupt and oppressive officials.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Nov 11, 2021

The young generation risking it all to topple the Myanmar junta

The battle has made guerrilla fighters of university lecturers, day laborers, tech workers, students and artists and forced countless young men and women into a life on the run.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 21, 2021

Fewer independents vie for Vietnam's Communist Party-dominated assembly

Some 92% of candidates standing for the 500-seat National Assembly are party members.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2020

Why the Taliban is celebrating Trump's peace plan

The agreement does not require the terrorist group to recognize Afghanistan's legitimately elected government.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 15, 2019

LDP picks former assemblyman Yanagimoto to take on Osaka Ishin's Ichiro Matsui in mayoral race

Former Osaka municipal assemblyman Akira Yanagimoto of the Liberal Democratic Party has been tapped to run against Ichiro Matsui, the governor of Osaka Prefecture and head of Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka), in next month's Osaka mayoral race, with the focus on whether to abolish Osaka's 24 wards and...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Aug 7, 2017

Japan's shrinking rural population poses a dilemma for democracy

Deep in the Shikoku wilderness, along a steep winding road above a dark green river, sits the tiny village of Okawa. It's located in a region sometimes dubbed by enthusiastic travel writers as the "Tibet of Japan" for its comparative isolation within the mountains.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 19, 2016

Obama tells Trump to 'stop whining' as Donald doubles down on rigged poll claims

President Barack Obama lacerated Donald Trump on Tuesday over his repeated assertions that the Nov. 8 election is rigged against him, telling the Republican presidential candidate to "stop whining and go try to make his case to get votes."
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 18, 2016

Trump sharpens 'rigged' election allegations disputed by Republican lawyers

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday cited studies he said showed rampant voter fraud, saying the Nov. 8 election was "rigged" against him even as Republican lawyers called his allegations unfounded.
COMMENTARY
May 2, 2009

Jackie Chan wears a political jester's hat, too

LOS ANGELES — You might have already known that kung fu comic and actor Jackie Chan was crazy, but is he certifiably insane? Just the other day this legendary does-his- own-stunts man asserted that the Chinese people do not need Western-style freedom and democracy.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2008

Last chance for millions of Zimbabweans

PRAGUE — As the world rooted for former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in his recent efforts to end the violence in Kenya, many also found themselves wondering whether a weary Annan, or some other global leader, will be battling another fire by the end of this month: this time in Zimbabwe....
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2005

SDP stumped by call to back DPJ candidates

Confusion reigned among Social Democratic Party officials Wednesday after Democratic Party of Japan leader Katsuya Okada claimed he called the SDP chief and urged her party not to field candidates in April's House of Representatives by-elections and instead support DPJ candidates.
EDITORIALS
Oct 1, 2004

No illusions about Iraq

The situation in Iraq is deteriorating. That is not a popular view, but it is hard to dispute. The government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi cannot claim to control the entire country, and insurgents are stepping up attacks in an attempt to delay elections planned for January. Failure to hold that vote...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2004

China takes no chances in Hong Kong poll

HONG KONG -- It is now clear that China is quietly tearing up the fine promises it made in 1984 that Hong Kong would be permitted a high degree of autonomy when China resumed sovereignty over the city after 150 years of British colonial rule. Beijing is going to great lengths to ensure that prodemocracy...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Mar 6, 2004

Sun sets on Russian democrac

MOSCOW -- Relapses are always regrettable, particularly when the gains lost had been won at such a high cost.
Former Spanish football federation chief Luis Rubiales' forced kiss on player Jenni Hermoso drew global protests from women's rights advocates.
SOCCER
Sep 12, 2023

Luis Rubiales quits, but women’s soccer in Spain is still troubled

Even after the federation chief's resignation over his forcible kiss of a player, pay disputes are threatening to disrupt domestic leagues.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's Natsumi Sakai (center) celebrates with other CDP officials and supporters on Sunday in Tokyo's Koto Ward after being announced as the winner of the Tokyo No. 15 district by-election.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 29, 2024

Election trouncing a blow to Kishida, but snap election unlikely

The PM might order a Cabinet reshuffle and make leadership changes within the LDP to boost his popularity ahead of the party's presidential election.
Civil servants listen to the national anthem before the polls open as they wait for voters at a polling station for the Mongolian parliamentary elections in Sergelen sum in Tuv province, Mongolia, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 28, 2024

Mongolians vote as anger grows over corruption and economy

Analysts expect the ruling Mongolian People's Party to retain its majority.
Prime Minister of Mauritius and candidate for the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) Pravind Jugnauth (C) is surrounded by supporters during a campaign rally in Mahebourg on Oct. 20.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 10, 2024

Dynasties battle to lead Mauritius with democracy out of favor

Members of just three families have led the Indian Ocean archipelago since it gained independence from Britain in 1968.
Alice Guo, a fugitive former mayor of Bamban, Philippines, arrives at a regional trial court in Valenzuela City, Metro Manila, in September.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2025

China takes aim at Philippine democracy

China has been stepping up its information operations globally, using the Philippines as a testing ground for tactics designed to propagate anti-American narratives.
Indian paramilitary troopers stand guard in Srinagar, in India-administered Jammu and Kahsmir, on Wednesday following a terrorist attack near the Kashmiri mountain resort of Pahalgam. According to Pakistani officials, New Delhi is preparing a military response.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2025

India-Pakistan ties on the brink after Kashmir attack

New Delhi has downgraded ties with Pakistan in response to the Kashmir terror attack. But what could really bite is the suspension of a water treaty and possible military action.
Taiwan, under constant threat from AI-powered disinformation by authoritarian regimes, has emerged as a global leader in digital democratic defense.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2025

Taiwan provides a model for digital defense of democracy

As the U.S. and others struggle to confront AI-driven disinformation, Taiwan’s resilience has become its latest key export.

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