Flaky or fact? Are 'power spots' wacky ... or what?
After minus-ion bottled water to transform your entire being, and natto (fermented soybeans) that was claimed to effortlessly turn chubbies into model specimens, "power spots" look to be taking their turn at the pinnacle of Japan's ever-fleeting (but ever-marketable) fascination with the slightly otherworldly. Hit ...
Thousands in grip of new exam fever
Whether because they are bored, driven to absorb as much of life's wonder as they can, or because they regard certificates as legups on the career pole, many Japanese of all ages are flocking to fonts of knowledge on everything from kanji (Chinese written ...
Organized chaos marks a 'sacred' romp
When the clock struck midnight on the morning of February 18, 9,000 loinclothed men screaming the collective "yahoo" word "washoi" at the top of their voices threw themselves into a desperate struggle to grab and hold on to one of the two large or ...
What happens when blog bullies get hot under the collar
In April last year, Jiji Press technology reporter Tsuruaki Yukawa felt as if he had enemies all around him. Yukawa, 48, is one of a growing number of journalists and others in Japan who publish Weblogs, or blogs, which are frequently updated Web-based journals that ...
Jimmy Wales: Power to the Wikipeople
An Internet search for almost anything these days will likely lead you straight to Wikipedia, the worldwide online encyclopedia. But unlike conventional encyclopedias whose entries are written by acknowledged academics and editors, those in Wikipedia are open to contributions from anyone at all. Even as ...
I was surprised when Jaime Xavier Lopez, the head of Sacred Heart, a notorious "martial-arts" group, told me to meet him at the government's Office of Cadastral Surveys and Property, where he has his day job. Or that's where he did work, since he ...
Insider lashes 'lip service to human rights'
Written laws are like spiders' webs; they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor, but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful. -- Anarchis, 6th century B.C. 'How can we talk of human rights in East Timor? Respect for human ...
Ex-PM lauds his exit as a 'public service'
The ousted prime minister welcomed me to his spacious compound where I met his son and daughter, both home from studying overseas, and his muddy, wriggling puppies that quickly Pollacked my best chinos. The media image of Mari Alkatiri is of an unsmiling, severe and ...
Japanese NGOs focus on relief, reconciliation -- and coffee co-operatives
The violent troubles in 2006 drove many staff of Japanese nongovern- mental organizations out of East Timor. The NGOs I visited had modest offices and accommodations, and the staff lived frugally -- unlike the "lords of poverty" I have encountered elsewhere in the international ...
East Timor is an ill-starred land that has endured more than its share of violence, neglect and deprivation. In 2006, only four years after it gained independence, violent clashes erupted yet again on the streets of Dili, East Timor's capital. The troubles began in February ...
TIRED OR EMOTIONAL: A space robot knows
Office meetings occasionally flit between two extremes. Either they're so tedious that you want to sleep, or they take an interesting turn when someone gets hot under the collar and starts ranting without listening to anyone else. What's needed in these situations, obviously, is a ...
Close your eyes, count to 10 . . . and play to your heart's content
It seems only natural that everyone should have a wild time, at least once in their life, because for the most part our mortal span is occupied with studying, making a living or raising a family. All that, of course, can be fun -- ...
| Party Name | Total (pre-election seats) |
Electoral districts | Proportional representation |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LDP | 316 (198) | 249 | 67 | |
| JIP | 36 (34) | 20 | 16 | |
| CRA | 49 (172) | 7 | 42 | |
| DPP | 28 (27) | 8 | 20 | |
| Sanseito | 15 (2) | 0 | 15 | |
| Mirai | 11 (0) | 0 | 11 | |
| JCP | 4 (8) | 0 | 4 | |
| Reiwa | 1 (8) | 0 | 1 | |
| Tax Cuts | 1 (5) | 1 | 0 | |
| CPJ | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | |
| SDP | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | |
| Minor parties | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | |
| Independents | 4 (10) | 4 | 0 |
