Ex-Reagan aide says Abe has yet to eclipse Nakasone in terms of strategic vision
In the wake of the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling bloc victory in the Upper House election in July, Shinzo Abe appears set to eclipse Yasuhiro Nakasone this year as the fourth-longest-serving prime minister in postwar Japan. But as many point out, the issue is not ...
Prime Minister Abe should focus on reviving the economy, not revising the Constitution.
Most Thais accept junta-drafted constitution, nation's 20th charter since 1932
A large majority of Thais voted in favor of the military-drafted constitution, according to the early results of Sunday's national referendum announced by the Election Commission of Thailand. With about 94 percent of the votes counted, around 61.5 percent of voters backed the draft charter ...
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's political power is unrivaled — does he have the wherewithal to make the most of it?
Abe's pick of nationalistic Inada as defense chief riles China
China's state-run media has slammed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's choice of right-leaning nationalist Tomomi Inada as the country's new defense minister. China Central Television said on Wednesday the appointment showed "how Japan's security policy is swinging all the more to the right," urging heightened vigilance ...
If the pope can retire, why can't Japan's elderly Emperor?
Pope Benedict XVI did it. Dutch Queen Beatrix did it. So why is it so hard for Japan's elderly Emperor to abdicate? NHK reported last month that Emperor Akihito, 82, wanted to abdicate "in a few years," something unprecedented in modern Japan. Ordinary Japanese sympathize with ...
For Abe, it will always be about the Constitution
Nobody here on the Community page has weighed in on Japan's Upper House election last July 10, so JBC will have a go. The conclusion first: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe scored a hat trick this election, and it reaffirmed his mandate to do whatever he ...
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has betrayed the Japanese people in his handling of his drive for constitutional revision.
A dark age dawns for politics in Japan
"Historic," that much-overused word, seems almost acceptable as a description of the Upper House elections earlier this month that gave Japan — for the first time in its postwar history — a government strong enough to get serious about rewriting the Constitution. Arguably other factors ...
Constitutional change may target Japan's elderly
In the week prior to the recent Upper House poll, the Kochi Shimbun asked 100 people at random what the significance of "two-thirds" was in relation to the election. Only 17 answered correctly that it was the minimum portion of Diet lawmakers needed to ...
Hiroshima court rules law denying inmates right to vote constitutional
A Japanese court has found an election law provision denying prisoners the right to vote in a national poll is constitutional, in the latest ruling in a series of lawsuits filed over the controversial issue. The Hiroshima District Court on Wednesday rejected a claim by ...
Views from Gifu: Now Abe has the numbers, is it time to tweak the Constitution?
People have their say on whether Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should push for constitutional revision now that he has the numbers in both houses of parliament to force a referendum on the issue.
