Japan must improve intel so firms can prosper: NSA official-turned-CEO
A former U.S. National Security Agency official says Japan needs a better intelligence-gathering apparatus not just to respond to terrorism but to protect Japanese companies as well.
Hostage crisis over, Abe looks to 2016 to launch constitutional amendment drive
With the Islamic State hostage crisis over, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his long-sought goal of revising the Constitution should be chased in summer 2016.
Constitutional change necessary to protect Japanese citizens: Abe
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says in the wake of the tragic outcome of the hostage crisis that constitutional change will be needed to protect the lives and assets of Japanese citizens.
Yasuhiro Okudaira, a founding member of the Article 9 Association for defending the Constitution, died of a heart attack at his home in Tokyo early Monday, the association said Friday. He was 85. Okudaira was a professor of law at the University of Tokyo and ...
Nomura says 'Abenomics' more likely to derail amid doubt over tax pledge
Nomura Holdings Inc. says the probability that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policies will end badly is increasing. The worst-case scenario for Toshihiro Uomoto, the company's chief credit strategist, to the end of 2017: the economy contracts in the first half of 2016, Abe delays ...
Diet session opens with focus on security as hostage crisis continues
The Diet opens with expectations for the Abe administration to focus on security legislation in his quest to get the Japanese military more "proactively" involved overseas.
LDP to seek multiparty project team to draft revised Constitution
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is considering launching a project team with opposition parties that are open to writing a revised Constitution in order to work out a draft, a party executive said Monday. The project team is aimed at reaching a quick agreement aside ...
As Abe pulls to the right, few go with him
How far has Japan shifted to the right? Is it trying to shed its legacy of postwar pacifism? Experts give their opinions on the LDP’s latest moves as the new year opens.
Year ahead may mark turning point for SDF
The 70th year since the end of World War II may be a watershed for the Self-Defense Forces if they undergo the historic changes planned by the Cabinet.
Abe's goal of constitutional reform faces many challenges
This will be a tough year for the Abe administration as the calendar is full of policy goals that are unpopular with voters, observers say, particularly on defense policy.
More than half of the respondents to a Kyodo News opinion poll do not support Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's handling of security policies, which include allowing the nation to begin aiding allies under armed attack, despite the ruling bloc's victory in Sunday's election. The nationwide ...
Over 80% of incoming Lower House members back amending Constitution
More than 80 percent of the winning candidates in Sunday's election approve of amending the Constitution, far exceeding the two-thirds majority required to propose a constitutional amendment for a national referendum.
