Virus brings Japan's debate on constitutional revision to a standstill
Until the pandemic settles down, the government’s call for restraint on big events means no meetings, rallies or snap elections for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s revision-minded LDP.
Coronavirus overshadows milestone as Abe marks 3,000 days in office
Abe is also battling against time as Tokyo is counting down to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer.
Armed conflict response fears linger as MSDF's Middle East mission starts
With the Maritime Self-Defense Force having fully started its information-gathering mission in the Middle East as part of the effort to ensure sea lane safety there, concerns over what its contingent can effectively do to that end—given its operational limits—continue to grip the government. Although ...
Past special courts in Japan for leprosy patients ruled unconstitutional
A court in Kumamoto on Wednesday ruled for the first time that special trials for segregated leprosy patients set up outside of standard courtrooms in the past were unconstitutional, but the court rejected a demand for damages. The Kumamoto District Court made the judgment in ...
Tokyo High Court rejects appeal over law forcing Japanese couples to use same surname after marriage
The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday rejected a damages suit filed by four people arguing that a national law forcing couples to use the same surname after marriage is unconstitutional. Yoshihisa Aono, the 48-year-old president of software development firm Cybozu Inc., and three others had ...
Some lawmakers, including representatives of the Liberal Democratic Party, have made the case for a state of emergency clause to be added to the Constitution, basing their argument on the current crisis around the new coronavirus outbreak, drawing criticism from opposition parties. At Friday's meeting ...
Multiple scandals putting Abe on defensive as Diet session gets underway
With opposition parties focusing on a spate of scandals, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will have to go on the defensive in the upcoming Diet session.
Opposition grills LDP on risks facing Japan's SDF mission to Mideast
Any overseas SDF mission is politically sensitive, but U.S.-Iran tensions are so high that debate on the constitutional hazards has ensued even before the Diet has opened.
Abe vows reforms and voices hope for successful Tokyo Olympics in 2020
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledges to promote reforms — ranging from social security to the Constitution — while expressing hope the country will successfully host Tokyo 2020 games.
How socialism and the left wing failed in Japan
Three decades ago, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Malta Summit signified the end of the Cold War and the defeat of left-wing forces, including the socialists and communists. The communists lost power in the East, and the socialist parties in the West ...
Tetsu Nakamura's death in Afghanistan exposes a gap of perception in Japan
Following the assassination of Dr. Tetsu Nakamura in Afghanistan earlier this month, the government of Afghanistan held a memorial ceremony for him as his body was delivered to the airplane that would take it out of the country. President Ashraf Ghani was one of ...
Japan discussed collective self-defense with U.S. in 1955, records show
In 1955, Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu told U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles that Japan could send its Self-Defense Forces overseas to protect the U.S. territory of Guam, Japanese diplomatic records showed Wednesday. Such an SDF dispatch for the purpose of defense would be ...
