Taro Aso

Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso apologized Tuesday for saying Japan has been unified under a single language and ethnic identity for the past 2,000 years, a comment viewed as ignoring the country's ethnic minorities including the indigenous Ainu. "If I made a remark that has ...

The fiscal 2020 draft budget shows that spending will jump for defense, free education and ballooning medical, pension and other social security costs.

Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso says Abe should not leave his successor the task of revising the supreme law, which proponents of revision say will clarify the status of the SDF.

Every year since 1952, the prime minister, via taxpayer funds, has hosted one of the nation's largest cherry blossom-viewing parties. But with allegations of cronyism and favoritism surrounding the selection of invitees by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his administration, next year's party has been ...

Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso said Thursday he had invited between 100 and 200 supporters to attend this year's edition of a publicly funded cherry blossom-viewing party at the center of a growing scandal. Opposition parties have been stepping up criticism that the annual event, ...

The government needs to compile an extraordinary budget of more than ¥10 trillion to bolster the economy, a senior ruling party official said Tuesday. "As uncertainty grows about the economic outlook, (the government) cannot remove the public's anxiety without a large-scale supplementary budget," Toshihiro Nikai, ...

Finance Minister Taro Aso indicated a new openness to introducing 50-year government bonds, days after the country's central bank chief suggested such a move could be helpful. "This is one topic of our considerations," Aso told reporters Friday in Tokyo when asked about the potential ...

Finance Minister Taro Aso on Friday dismissed the need to boost fiscal stimulus to counter the impact of the consumption tax hike, despite expectations the government and the Bank of Japan may act to reduce pressure on the world's third-largest economy. The government rolled out ...

Abe demonstrated that he is clearly in the driver's seat, posturing his allies for advancement in the LDP ranks, keeping bandwagoners contained and edging out rivals altogether.

The Financial Services Agency plans to compile a fresh report on post-retirement financing after its previous report sparked a controversy with its estimate that an elderly couple living to age 95 will need ¥20 million in life savings on top of public pensions, according ...

Key members close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, including Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, are likely to retain their posts in a Cabinet reshuffle that is planned for September, according to ruling lawmakers. Abe sees the contributions of Aso, ...