The governors of Hokkaido and Oita won re-election to a fourth term Sunday as the first wave of the quadrennial unified elections produced victories for the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling bloc. In Hokkaido, Gov. Harumi Takahashi, 61, ran as an independent and beat rival independent ...
Abe vows to stay the course in third term as prime minister
Shinzo Abe vowed Wednesday to continue pursuing his economic, diplomatic and security policies after Diet members re-elected him to a third term as prime minister. Abe also said he had gained strong support from the public in December's snap general election. During the campaign, he had ...
Ishin-DPJ tieup, Kepco's greed to play key roles in April polls
In terms of domestic politics, the recent Lower House election was merely a prelude to next April's nationwide local elections.
In no-surprise poll, parties' main players re-elected in Kinki
In an election that produced no surprises, it's little wonder the biggest political names in the six prefectures that make up the Kinki region (Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara and Wakayama) were all returned to the Diet, though one or two had a close ...
Low voter turnout mars Abe's claim of election triumph
The Liberal Democratic Party won 43.12 million votes in Sunday’s snap poll, nearly 3 million fewer than in the 2009 election, which it lost.
More than half of the respondents to a Kyodo News opinion poll do not support Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's handling of security policies, which include allowing the nation to begin aiding allies under armed attack, despite the ruling bloc's victory in Sunday's election. The nationwide ...
Novelty party in Hokkaido shows that 105,000 voters want 'none of the above'
While many voters struggled to find a party that matched their hopes for the nation's future, voters in Hokkaido had an easy way out: a box marked "No party to support" on the proportional representation section of the ballot. Shiji Seito Nashi (No Party to ...
Controversial to the end, Shintaro Ishihara bows out of politics
Hawkish former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara officially puts an end to his nearly 50-year political career after losing his Diet seat in Sunday's Lower House election.
Abe emerging as a rare strong leader
Most Japanese prime ministers come and go, their names soon forgotten. Yasuhiro Nakasone was an exception in the 1980s, as was Junichiro Koizumi in the early years of this century. Now, Shinzo Abe could be emerging as one of the rare strong ones after ...
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 ...
Abe claims mandate for economic, security policies despite lowest turnout ever
Emerging as the big winner in the Lower House election, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declares he has a renewed mandate to keep pushing his policy agenda.
Kaieda quits as DPJ chief after humiliating ejection from Diet
Humiliated by the loss of his seat in the Lower House election, Banri Kaieda resigns as president of the Democratic Party of Japan.
