Referendum law revision passage during current Diet session very unlikely
The passage of an amendment to Japan's national referendum law aimed at improving voter convenience for a possible referendum on revising the Constitution is now unlikely to occur during the current extraordinary session of the Diet, which ends Dec. 9. At a meeting on Wednesday, ...
Abe admits involvement in guest selection for publicly funded cherry blossom-viewing party
The prime minister was allowed to recommend as many as 1,000 guests, with his wife, Akie, also making recommendations, government officials said in the Diet.
Abe becomes Japan's longest-serving prime minister
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe became the nation’s longest serving prime minister on Wednesday, beating previous record holder Taro Katsura by having served for a total of 2,887 days.
Mission unaccomplished — Abe's drive to revise pacifist Constitution
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe surged back to power seven years ago, pledging to bolster the nation's defenses in response to a growing threat from China and aiming to amend the pacifist Constitution. Now on track to become Japan's longest serving prime minister, Abe has kept ...
A fresh scandal blossoms as Abe gets set to become longest-serving prime minister
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces fresh allegations that he used the annual cherry blossom-viewing party, a government-sponsored event, to entertain supporters and therefore violated the election law.
LDP might delay talks on constitutional referendum bill to avoid Diet extension that could hurt Abe
The drive to change the process for revising the Constitution is being blunted by fears the opposition will get more time to dig up dirt on Abe’s cherry blossom scandal.
Japan may halve guest list for future cherry-blossom parties as Abe takes flak
The government is considering halving the number of guests invited to future cherry blossom-viewing events as part of a broad review amid allegations that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has used the publicly funded gathering for his own benefit, officials said Thursday. To address growing criticism ...
Abe nips Tokyo cherry-blossom party in the bud as critics cry cronyism
The government will not hold a publicly funded cherry blossom-viewing event next year after critics said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has used it to entertain his supporters.
Japan to go ahead with using descriptive questions in university entrance exams from 2020
Japan will carry out plans to introduce descriptive questions for Japanese and mathematics subjects under a new unified university entrance examination system starting in fiscal 2020, education minister Koichi Hagiuda said. "We will work to create a good exam that is easy to score," Hagiuda ...
Lawmaker with ALS becomes first in Japan to use speech synthesizer during Diet session
A lawmaker with severe physical disabilities attended his first parliamentary interpellation Thursday since being elected in July and became the first lawmaker in Japan to use an electronically generated voice during a Diet session. In the session of the education, culture and science committee, Yasuhiko ...
Abe vows level playing field for students taking English tests for Japan university entrance
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday the government will consider measures to address inequalities in opportunities for students taking private-sector English tests under a planned unified university entrance examination system. At a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting, Abe said the government will develop a ...
