Much ado about retirement ages and Japan's politicized bureaucracy
The scandal surrounding top prosecutor Hiromu Kurokawa has kicked off a debate on retirement ages and interference in Japan's civil service.
LDP secretary-general: The power behind the PM
Those in the position are de facto the most powerful person within the party after its president.
The Japanese Communist Party's quest to unify a shattered opposition
Last month, for the first time in 16 years, the Japanese Communist Party met to revise its basic political program. Part of the reason was that the party hopes a change of rhetoric, at least, will make it easier to form an opposition coalition ...
Suicide suspected as body of ex-DPJ lawmaker Yukiko Miyake found on Tokyo beach
Former Lower House lawmaker Yukiko Miyake was found dead in Tokyo several days ago, with police suspecting she might have killed herself, investigative sources said Monday. Public broadcaster NHK said her family had reported her missing to police late last month, and that officers had ...
Ichiro Ozawa: The kingmaker and destroyer in Japanese politics
Reformer, kingmaker, shadow shogun, destroyer. With so many labels, no politician stands out like Ichiro Ozawa among Japan's conformist legislators.
Ichiro Ozawa may be on verge of comeback as Japan's DPP and Liberal parties form joint Diet group
One of Japan's most influential and divisive political figures in recent decades may be staging another comeback. On Thursday, Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa and Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People, met at the Diet, where they agreed to form a ...
Japan's Board of Audit: unlikely guardians of the Constitution?
As well as uncovering government waste, the bean counters have pushed back — politely — over state secret exemptions.
Liberal Party is reborn in Seikatsu no To rebranding ahead of possible election
Seikatsu no To (People's Life Party) has rebranded itself as the Liberal Party, adopting the name of a recently defunct conservative party in a bid to lure right-of-center voters away from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The party registered its name change at the internal ...
Can the DPJ reinvigorate Japanese democracy?
Columbia University's Gerald Curtis recently wrote, "It is a sad commentary on Japan's politics that after nearly 70 years of democracy a competitive party system has all but disintegrated." The Democratic Party of Japan is a culprit in this disintegration and slim hopes for a ...
Ozawa keeps hope for regime change alive
Diet heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa, leader of Seikatsu no To (People's Life Party), admitted Monday that the opposition camp failed to give voters an alternative to the ruling bloc in the Lower House election but stressed that change is still possible if they join hands. "The ...
Top court upholds guilty verdict for former secretary of Ozawa
The Supreme Court has upheld lower court rulings that found a former secretary to veteran lawmaker Ichiro Ozawa guilty of failing to report political funds, the top court said Wednesday. On Tuesday, the court's No. 3 Petty Bench led by Justice Masaharu Ohashi turned down ...
Ozawa sees risk of militarism with Abe
When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe loosened the limits of the pacifist Constitution to drop a ban on the Self-Defense Forces fighting overseas, many experts said it was a step toward becoming a "normal country" able to do more in its own defense. But Ichiro Ozawa, ...
