Tag - japan-politics

 
 

JAPAN POLITICS

EDITORIALS
Mar 9, 2015
A voice for 18-year-olds
It is hoped that lowering Japan's minimum voting age for elections from 20 to 18 — as the Diet now seems certain to approve in time for the Upper House election next year — will encourage political participation by more youths just as Japan faces a host of long-term policy challenges that will directly affect young people's future.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 5, 2015
Survival of 'freedom, democracy'
From top to bottom, Japanese society seems to be growing more introverted and to be shedding its openness toward the outside world. Can the ideal of 'freedom and democracy' survive this trend?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 25, 2014
A realistic agenda for voters to prevent the worst results
One wonders if the Japanese are realistic enough to vote against political parties and candidates in order to prevent the worst results even if they don't see candidates of their choice.
EDITORIALS
Dec 8, 2014
Amending the Constitution
The political landscape emerging from the Dec. 14 Lower House election will impact when or whether a revision to Japan's Constitution becomes a major agenda item.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Oct 19, 2014
Abe's inner circle sprouting horns over next tax bump
A major battle appears to be brewing between the office of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Finance Ministry — the most powerful bureaucracy in Japan — over whether to raise the consumption tax from the current 8 percent to 10 percent next fall.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 2, 2014
Ray of hope for democrats
For those Japanese who grumble about low voter turnouts in local and national elections, or who complain about the secretive character of political procedures, the open, democratic process of the recent Scottish referendum on independence was an object of envy.
EDITORIALS
Sep 28, 2014
Lower House electoral reform
A panel of experts has begun discussions on addressing Lower House electoral reforms, particularly the vote-value disparity between rural and urban districts, after talks among the ruling and opposition parties failed.
EDITORIALS
Sep 24, 2014
New Komeito's raison d'etre
Natsuo Yamaguchi, the just re-elected chief of New Komeito, and other party leaders should realize that if the party fails to ensure that Japan stays on the pacifist road with respect to the passage of new legislation, it will lose its raison d'etre.
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2014
Time to bridge the vote-value gap
Time is running for lawmakers to correct the 'unconstitutional' vote-value gap between constituencies for the next triennial election of the Upper House. Discord with the Liberal Democratic Party over the matter doesn't help.
EDITORIALS
Sep 16, 2014
Repairing Japan-China ties
The leaders of China and Japan need to take quick action to repair mutual ties that have unraveled since the Japanese government two years ago nationalized three of the Senkaku Islands — over which China also claims sovereignty.
EDITORIALS
Sep 4, 2014
Keep a close eye on new Cabinet
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reshuffled executive posts of the Liberal Democratic Party and his Cabinet apparently with the aim of setting up his re-election as the Liberal Democratic Party's president in autumn 2015.
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2014
Creeping Orwellian angst
Legislative attempts to criminalize the act of 'conspiracy' to commit some crimes as well as other government moves are enough to cause anxiety that Japan may be inching toward an Orwellian society.
EDITORIALS
Apr 28, 2014
Plug political funding loopholes
The fact that a question even exists on whether Your Party former chief Yoshimi Watanabe broke the law when he personally borrowed ¥800 million from a cosmetics company chairman ahead of elections points to the inadequacy of current laws on political funding transparency.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 27, 2014
Politicians running in place
Today, there's not so much political competition in Japan between the ruling and opposition camps as there is among opposition parties seeking to ally themselves with the ruling camp. Have individual lawmakers become less willing to take risks by speaking up?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 21, 2014
Is Japan a 'normal' country simply trying to stick out?
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's apparent aspirations for Japan to become a 'normal' country again are undermined by the government's attempts to impose conformity and limit freedoms.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Mar 30, 2014
Kaoru Yosano, liberal patriot
Some people's traits are not recognized for a long time even by those close to them. One such person is Kaoru Yosano, a 75-year-old former Lower House member — and a liberal politician full of patriotic fervor.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 17, 2014
Conservatives' insular mindset doesn't fit today's global reality
Japan has moved well beyond its islands, but in many respects, it has retained elements of an island mentality that is no longer compatible with its modern reality.

Longform

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