Tag - diet

 
 

DIET

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a Lower House budget committee session in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2024
Kishida insists corporate donations have no effect on LDP policy
The responses came during Lower House budget committee questions from Akira Nagatsuma, policy chief of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida waits for the start of the Lower House Budget Committee in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 5, 2024
Parties clash over release of LDP's internal funds scandal probe
The opposition had demanded that the LDP publish a list of all party members responsible for the underreporting of political funds in the last five years.
Former Prime Minister Taro Aso speaks during a forum in Taipei in August.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 2, 2024
Ex-PM Aso retracts sexist remarks against top diplomat
In a speech on Sunday, Aso described Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa as an "obasan."
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a Lower House plenary session in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2024
Kishida faces heat from all sides over political funds scandal
The prime minister finds himself in hot water not only with the main opposition party, but also with his own ruling party.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a policy speech during a plenary session of the Lower House in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 30, 2024
Kishida comes full circle in policy speech with emphasis on 'power'
Amid low approval ratings and soul-searching for the ruling party, the prime minister made "power" a key theme in his policy speech.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa vows to promote a "mutually beneficial" relationship with China in a diplomatic policy speech on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 30, 2024
Japan foreign minister wants 'mutually beneficial' ties with China
Kamikawa also expressed wariness over intensifying military cooperation between China, Russia and North Korea.
Lawmakers observe a moment of silence for victims of the New Year's Day quake on Friday at a Lower House plenary session.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 26, 2024
Japan's Diet starts 150-day session, with LDP funds scandal in focus
The government's response to the New Year's Day earthquake in central Japan is also likely to be a key item on the agenda.
The Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo. In the wake of a political funding scandal, some are calling for the dissolution of the LDP's factions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 16, 2024
Eliminating factions isn’t the answer to the funding scandal
In the wake of a political funding scandal that has embroiled the LDP, some are calling for the dissolution of the party's factions. That would be a mistake.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (second from left) attends a Lower House steering committee meeting in Tokyo Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 16, 2024
Japan parliament to convene 150-day regular session on Jan. 26
Once the parliament opens, opposition parties are set to grill Kishida, who heads the LDP, over a secret slush fund scandal.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida faces reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 8, 2024
LDP lawmaker arrest further blurs Japan PM's fate
Yoshitaka Ikeda became the first lawmaker arrested in the latest political fundraising scandal involving the LDP's largest faction.
Officials with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office raids the office of Lowr House lawmaker Mito Kakizawa in Tokyo's Edo Ward in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 6, 2024
Lawmaker Mito Kakizawa to admit to vote-buying allegations
The Lower House lawmaker's admission to vote-buying allegations in a Tokyo mayoral election will come after an initial denial.
Reporters gather in front of the Upper House parliamentary building on Thursday in Tokyo. Prosecutors raided LDP lawmaker Yasutada Ono's office, which is located in the building, the same day.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 28, 2023
Second LDP member’s office raided over political funds scandal
Upper House member Yasutada Ono became the second lawmaker to have his offices searched by prosecutors in connection with the scandal.
Investigators from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office arrive to search the headquarters of the powerful Abe faction within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo on Dec. 19.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 26, 2023
Has the funding scandal doomed the Abe faction?
With criminal investigations under way, there is impetus for the younger generation of the Abe faction members to break away and form a rebranded group.
Seiji Maehara (center) with other members of his new party, Free Education for All, at the parliament on Thursday
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 21, 2023
Seiji Maehara launches new party to unite opposition against LDP
The former foreign minister's new Free Education for All party aligns in its major policy priority with Nippon Ishin no Kai.
A Mainichi poll this week gave Fumio Kishida's Cabinet a nearly 80% disapproval rate, the worst result since the newspaper began surveying in 1947.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 21, 2023
No, seriously, this is one Japan scandal that’s important
With no clear rival, and potential challengers likely reluctant to take their shot with support so low, Kishida may yet hang on in the near term.
Ten or more lawmakers of the LDP's largest faction, including former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, may have received over ¥10 million each in kickbacks, according to the sources.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2023
Ten or more Abe faction members may have received over ¥10 million in kickbacks
Among other LDP factions, Shisuikai, led by former party Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, is also suspected of failing to report fundraising revenues .
Liberal Democratic Party headquarters is seen in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2023
LDP lawmakers questioned amid fundraising scandal
The scandal has already resulted in the replacement of all four ministers belonging to the Liberal Democratic Party's largest faction.
The Tokyo headquarters of the Unification Church in Shibuya Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 13, 2023
Japan enacts law to monitor Unification Church assets
The special legislation is designed to ensure that victims of the organization's malpractices have a source of relief.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Kenta Izumi attends a news conference on Friday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 10, 2023
CDP dithers over no-confidence motion against Kishida Cabinet
The CDP leadership is expected to make a decision on a no-confidence motion after monitoring sentiment in other parties as well as public opinion.
The Upper House plenary session on Wednesday passed the bill to revise the cannabis control law to allow medical use of cannabis.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 6, 2023
Japan's parliament passes bill to legalize cannabis-derived medicines
It also plugged a loophole in existing prohibitions against marijuana by criminalizing its use.

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces