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JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 1, 2012

DPJ's promise to change the system failed

The Democratic Party of Japan rode to power in 2009 and ended decades of Liberal Democratic Party rule by promising to turn politicians into the true decision-makers and end the practice of bureaucrats calling the shots on behalf of ministries instead of the people.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2012

Foes forced Noda to call dissolution

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda moved to dissolve the Lower House on Friday amid constant pressure from the opposition and also from Democratic Party of Japan members who wanted him to step down, but his gamble is unlikely to work in the ruling party's favor.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Nov 4, 2012

Angry mobster looms large over politicians

In Japan these days, the political world seems to be mirroring "Beat" Takeshi Kitano's latest yakuza film, "Outrage Beyond," which depicts Japan's ruling party as being well and truly in bed with the mob.
COMMENTARY
Oct 17, 2012

Give nuclear power a larger role

Roughly a year and a half after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Japanese government at a Cabinet meeting on Sept. 19 adopted its basic policy on new energy and environment strategies crafted as a response to the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant accident. The government had initially intended...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2012

Maehara vows extra scrutiny of BOJ

New economic and fiscal policy minister Seiji Maehara pledged a closer watch over the Bank of Japan to ensure it meets a 1 percent inflation goal, adding that purchases of foreign bonds may be a powerful tool for easing.
COMMENTARY
Sep 11, 2012

Let posterity see how the Iraq war was created

When the Iraq War Inquiry Group (of which I am a member) issued a public call for an inquiry into the decision-making that lay behind Australia's participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, members of the then-Howard government dismissed it in effect as yesterday's news.
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2012

Not a minute too soon

On April 25, a government panel proposed ways to improve the management of government documents after it had reflected on a deplorable omission on the part of the government — the failure to take minutes from a series of meetings held to cope with the 3/11 quake and tsunami and the subsequent Fukushima...
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2012

LDP readies two censure motions

It looks like Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his ruling Democratic Party of Japan are in for a rough ride in the current Diet session. The Liberal Democratic Party said Tuesday it is ready to submit censure motions against two Cabinet ministers.
JAPAN
Feb 29, 2012

Panel lays bare Fukushima recipe for disaster

The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant crisis was caused by Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s lack of preparation for huge tsunami and exacerbated by conflicting levels of authority and downright "distrust and meddling" by high-ranking officials, an independent investigative panel reported Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 19, 2012

Lost Kennedy photo now to be found in museums

John F. Kennedy is framed by the heads of seven TV cameramen. His hands are cupped in a some kind of explanatory gesture, but his mouth is closed. Perhaps he's just finished saying something about his chances in the 1960 election, which is just five days away.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 19, 2012

Lost Kennedy photo now to be found in museums

John F. Kennedy is framed by the heads of seven TV cameramen. His hands are cupped in a some kind of explanatory gesture, but his mouth is closed. Perhaps he's just finished saying something about his chances in the 1960 election, which is just five days away.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2012

New year could prove daunting for Noda

In the four months since winning the Democratic Party of Japan presidential election, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has survived by taking a cautious approach to governing, managing to compile the 2012 budget and several bills to finance restoration of the disaster-hit Tohoku region.
BUSINESS
Oct 12, 2011

Noda puts TPP back on radar

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Cabinet attempted Tuesday to speed up discussions on whether Japan should join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks, hoping to have a decision by early next month at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Hawaii.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2011

METI aims to wean nation off nuclear power: Edano

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will take the initiative in promoting renewable energy so Japan will be less dependent on nuclear power, Yukio Edano said shortly after taking the METI portfolio.
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 2011

Denuclearize despite the gaffes

Trade and industry minister Yoshio Hachiro resigned from his post Sept. 9, only eight days after his Cabinet appointment, over remarks that offended people affected by the Fukushima nuclear accidents. Mr. Yukio Edano, chief Cabinet secretary under former Prime Minister Naoto Kan, was sworn in as Mr....
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2011

Noda to face grilling about appointments

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is expected to face conflict in the Diet session that kicked off Tuesday as opposition parties prepared to grill him over his Cabinet appointments, most notably about short-term trade minister Yoshio Hachiro, who stepped down after making jokes about the Fukushima nuclear...
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 13, 2011

Hosono to reshape nuclear policy

New Environment Minister Goshi Hosono has vowed to reduce Japan's reliance on nuclear power but has said that halted reactors that pass stringent safety tests may be restarted if the nation's energy needs are not being met.
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.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Aug 30, 2011

Markets relieved by Noda but obstacles remain

Market watchers and political experts welcomed the victory of Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, an advocate of a tax hike and a fiscal hawk, in the Democratic Party of Japan's presidential race Monday but the new DPJ leader, who was expected to be appointed prime minister Tuesday, faces an uphill battle...
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2011

Budget request deadline delayed

The Cabinet approved plans Tuesday to delay the deadline for funds requests made by ministries for the fiscal 2012 budget by a month, citing work on the third supplementary budget and Prime Minister Naoto Kan's imminent resignation.

Longform

A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped