LDP mulls support for Yuriko Koike's re-election as Tokyo governor
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is considering supporting the re-election of Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike in the July 5 gubernatorial poll, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday. LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, who sees Koike as "a candidate who can win," apparently overrode the wish ...
Two Tomin First members quit over Yuriko Koike's leadership style
Two founding members of Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites First), a regional party effectively led by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, plan to abandon the party on Thursday citing frustrations over the closed nature of top management, sources said. Shun Otokita and Reiko Ueda, both members ...
New Koike-allied party to field dozens of candidates in Abe's snap election, Wakasa says
A new party envisioned by a lawmaker close to popular Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike plans to field several dozen candidates in an upcoming general election expected for Oct. 22, the lawmaker said Wednesday. Independent lawmaker Masaru Wakasa said on a radio program that he will ...
DP defector and ally of Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike to form new party
A defector from the Democratic Party and an ally of popular Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike reach a broad agreement to launch a new party by Sept. 28.
Koike tests possibilities and perils of populism in Japan
Abe occupies Koike's ideological comfort zone, so she needs to cannibalize his base to get any traction. It is thus imperative that she presents an alternative policy agenda to highlight their differences and tap into simmering dissatisfaction with the status quo.
Opposition parties are once again in realignment mode but it remains to be seen whether they can put together a force capable of defeating the LDP.
Beleaguered Abe on the ropes as support weakens
The public has seen the true face of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and doesn't like what it sees.
Fundraising loopholes, a political norm
The Liberal Democratic Party lost a large number of seats to Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's upstart Tomin First Party in the Tokyo assembly election. Media surveys reveal that the public is dismayed by recent scandals involving the LDP, in particular the one surrounding educational ...
Doubt cast over Tomin First's national appeal
"Politics will eventually be replaced by imagery. The politician will be only too happy to abdicate in favor of his image, because the image will be much more powerful than he could ever be." — Marshall McLuhan, in a 1972 interview The resounding victory in the ...
Tokyo vote prompts crisis of confidence for Renho's Democratic Party
Sunday's Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election dealt a hard blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with his Liberal Democratic Party suffering a historic defeat and securing only 23 seats — the lowest-ever figure for the LDP. But another big loser in the election may face problems ...
Success of Koike's Tomin First echoes Ishin no Kai movement
A popular, media-savvy figure originally from the Kansai region wins the governorship by running as a reformer, then forming a political party to take on the Liberal Democratic Party in the local assembly election. Upon winning a plurality of votes, the party teams up ...
Tokyo election loss places Abe in jeopardy
It wasn't so long ago that Shinzo Abe appeared on course to becoming Japan's longest-serving prime minister ever. But after his conservative Liberal Democratic Party's crushing defeat in Sunday's Tokyo assembly election, Abe's iron grip on power has finally shown signs of slipping — a ...
