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JAPAN
Jun 12, 2008

Upper House hits Fukuda with censure

The opposition-controlled Upper House passed an unprecedented, but nonbinding, censure motion Wednesday against Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, hoping to marshal public discontent with his stagnant administration into calls for a snap election.
JAPAN
May 30, 2008

Reform bill sidesteps 'amakudari'

The Lower House passed a bill Thursday to reform the civil servant system, but the legislation omitted any steps to curb the notoriously corrupt system of "amakudari," the practice whereby bureaucrats retire into lucrative posts in industries they had overseen.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2008

'07 political storm really the calm before '08?

Last year was full of political turmoil — from scandals and arrests to suicide and a divided Diet — but there is no time to rest because 2008 may turn out to be a historical turning point if there is a general election, depending on which side wins, analysts say.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2007

Ruling bloc's MSDF bill is given to Diet

The ruling coalition Wednesday submitted to a divided Diet a special bill to enable the Maritime Self-Defense Force to continue providing logistic support in the Indian Ocean for U.S.-led antiterror operations in and around Afghanistan.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2007

Public reaction mixed on nation's next leader

Aso lacks," Shuichi Minoike, a 29-year-old office worker from Chiba Prefecture, said at JR Akihabara Station. Minoike said he is optimistic Fukuda will "utilize his established skills" when he faces critical decisions as the next prime minister, including the debate over extending the Maritime Self-Defense...
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2007

Abe announces he will resign

After less than a year in power, embattled Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday he intended to step down to clear the political gridlock created by the ruling coalition's defeat in the House of Councilors in July and to expedite the extension of the controversial antiterrorism law.
EDITORIALS
Sep 5, 2007

A recurring moral hazard

The resignation of farm minister Takehiko Endo, only a week after taking office, over the illegal receipt of state subsidies by a farmers' association that he heads is perplexing and disturbing. He is the fifth Cabinet minister Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has lost since coming to power in September 2006...
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2007

Opium King's ties believed went to the top

An obscure tomb in a small graveyard at a Chiba Prefecture temple marks the final resting place of Japan's wartime "Opium King," although the site betrays nothing of this dark cloud, nor the relationship the deceased had with key historical figures.
EDITORIALS
Aug 20, 2007

Downturn in economic recovery

The Cabinet Office has announced that Japan's gross domestic product for the April-June period grew 0.1 percent, or an annualized 0.5 percent, in real terms from the previous quarter. This points to slowing economic growth in Japan, although economic activities as a whole continue to expand.
Japan Times
JAPAN / UPPER HOUSE SHOWDOWN
Jul 13, 2007

Will election turn the tables on Abe & Co.?

The campaign for the July 29 House of Councilors election officially kicked off Thursday, with the ruling coalition, reeling from a string of scandals involving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet and the public pension debacle, facing a fierce battle with the opposition camp.
Japan Times
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Jul 6, 2007

Ozawa vows to exit if opposition camp fails to win majority

Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa declared Thursday that he would resign if the opposition camp fails to win a majority in the Upper House election July 29.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2007

Ruling bloc poised to steamroller pension bills

The opposition parties made one final attempt Friday to stop the ruling bloc from ramming pension system-related bills through the Diet with motions to censure Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2007

Pension fiasco bodes ill for ruling bloc in Upper House poll

With time running short before the July 22 House of Councilors election, the explosive pension data debacle is looking to be the killer issue for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his disintegrating Cabinet.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2007

Saudi Arabia hosts a theater of reform

PRAGUE -- Having raised expectations for real political reform in Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah has announced that the time for change has not yet arrived. After reshuffling the Cabinet, everything remains the same.
EDITORIALS
Mar 3, 2007

Streamlining strategic decisions

A government panel has proposed creating a Japanese version of the U.S. National Security Council. The main task of the new entity would be to work out long-range diplomatic and defense strategies as well as cope with emergencies not limited to defense. The success of the new body would depend on whether...

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami