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July 21, 2025
 

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VOTE DISPARITY

JAPAN / Politics
Feb 26, 2016
Census confirms population shrinkage, vote-value disparities
The 2015 census is the first to confirm Japan is shrinking, but it also shows why the value of people's votes is being warped nationwide.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 19, 2016
Abe eschews further delays, vows to cut 10 Lower House seats in line with census
The prime minister pledges to slash 10 seats in the Diet's House of Representatives sooner than his LDP party has proposed.
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2015
Time for serious electoral reform
Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers from rural areas are already gearing up to fight much-needed electoral reform to reduce the vote disparity between rural and urban areas.
EDITORIALS
Nov 27, 2015
Time to fix the vote-value disparity
Lawmakers have dallied long enough: Chastised again by the Supreme Court, it's time they got down to business and resolved the disparity in vote values between districts.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 25, 2015
Supreme Court says December election 'in state of unconstitutionality,' but won't nullify results
The top court decides that the last Lower House election was borderline unconstitutional due to the high level of vote-value disparities among constituencies.
EDITORIALS
May 27, 2015
Stop dragging feet on vote disparity
Political parties, especially the ruling LDP, are taking far too long to solve the deplorable disparity in the value of votes among electoral districts.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 1, 2014
Campaigns under way but outcome no surprise
Two weeks after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to dissolve the Lower House and call a snap election, campaigning has officially kicked off with more than 1,000 candidates vying for the 475 seats in the Diet's lower chamber.
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2014
Foot-dragging on vote-disparity fix
The parties and lawmakers need to set aside their own interests and bring the gap in the value of votes within constitutionally acceptable levels.
EDITORIALS
Mar 18, 2014
Overhaul the electoral systems
Diet members need to set their sights on overhauling the electoral systems for both houses before the next national election and explore what kinds of systems would better suit the different roles of each chamber.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jan 15, 2014
Three cases, three paths to legitimacy for Supreme Court
When I began studying Japanese, one of my goals was to be able to read the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan's version of The Wall Street Journal. Achieving that goal, however, meant realizing that it is possibly The Most Boring Newspaper on Earth.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2013
Top court balks at voiding 2012 poll
The Supreme Court declares that the 2012 Lower House general election was “in a state of unconstitutionality” due to the large disparity in vote value among constituencies, but declines to nullify its outcome.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 24, 2013
Lower House passes vote disparity bill
The Lower House passed a bill Tuesday that would cut five of its 300 districts amid mounting pressure to rectify vote-value disparities that have plagued national elections.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 23, 2013
Is legislation weighty enough to rebalance election system?
While the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe enjoys high support rates, hovering around 70 percent, its very legitimacy is being questioned.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 27, 2013
LDP undaunted by vote-value rulings
Despite a spate of high court rulings that last year's general election was unconstitutional and even invalid due to large vote disparities, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party doesn't think it is necessary to hold another Lower House campaign as long as it works on election reform, Secretary General...
EDITORIALS
Mar 27, 2013
Keep minority views alive
The Liberal Democratic Party discloses a flawed proposal to alter the electoral system toward less vote-value disparity between Lower House districts.
Japan ruling bloc loses majority in Upper House after election drubbing
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, leaves at the party's headquarters following announcement of Upper House election result projections in Tokyo early Monday.
Polls open for key Upper House election that could shake Japanese politics
People vote during Japan's Upper House election at a polling station in Tokyo on Sunday.
Sunken WWII Japanese warship Teruzuki found off Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands. A team from the U.S. nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust has discovered the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki on the deep seabed off the Solomon Islands as the 80th anniversary of the war's end approaches.
‘Japanese First’ Sanseito emerges as powerful force after Upper House poll
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya in Tokyo on Sunday night
Japan team finds ancient ocean full of squids
The ancient ocean was full of squids, whose population exceeded that of fish or ammonites, a Japanese research team mainly from Hokkaido University has found through a new method using technology.
Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate
A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.
Pentagon looks to unleash ‘military drone dominance’
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosts a drone demonstration at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on July 10.
‘Noto Democracy’ and the slow work of civic change
Yukio Iokibe’s “Noto Democracy" centers on Motoyuki Takii, a former junior high school teacher who publishes a handwritten newspaper every month to encourage the residents of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, to engage in local politics.
In microbes we trust: Embracing the nature of fermented food
You don't need an oven to make Kenji Morimoto's easy and delicious Miso Sticky Toffee Crepe Cake.
Touring the Silk Road — without leaving Tokyo
One of the entrances to Pao Compound, a nine-story Silk Road-inspired complex in Tokyo's Higashinakano neighborhood

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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