Record 17 million voters cast ballots early for Upper House election
The number of people who cast their ballots for Sunday's House of Councillors poll under the country's early-voting system totaled 17,062,771 — a record high for an Upper House election, the internal affairs ministry said. The number of early voters in the 16-day period from ...
Ex-Russian arms tycoon quietly wields influence in British leadership race
A former Russian arms tycoon who had connections at the highest levels of the Kremlin is a major donor to Britain's ruling Conservative Party and counts himself a friend of the man expected to be the country's next prime minister. Alexander Temerko, who forged close ...
Citizen campaigns seek to increase voter turnout in Upper House election
Thanks to Japan's fairness guidelines, NHK offers free air time to all political parties participating in national and regional elections, a service that earlier this month resulted in the leader of the Party to Protect Citizens From NHK, which advocates the elimination of NHK's ...
Candidates struggle to navigate difficult waters of social media ahead of election
A good summary of how the 2019 House of Councilors election has played out online comes via Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of the cartoon “Yu-Gi-Oh!” During his promotion of a new art book, he shared an illustration on his Instagram page that was meant ...
Four Kansai issues stirring up Upper House election
While the sensitive issue of constitutional revision and the looming consumption tax hike to 10 percent in October dominate media discussion of what's important in the Upper House election Sunday, there are other problems and issues, some especially acute in the Kansai region, that ...
The campaign office of the Liberal Democratic Party's Matsuji Nakaizumi, an incumbent running in Sunday's Upper House election, features something rather unusual: Dozens of endorsement posters signed by top party heavyweights. LDP bigwigs have also visited Akita and stumped for Nakaizumi at an unprecedented pace ...
The virtuous cycle keeping Abe in power
Shinzo Abe's instincts in setting the politcal agenda and deciding the timing of elections have kept him in good stead.
With pacifist Constitution at stake, apathy reigns in Japan ahead of Upper House election
Politically speaking, the upcoming Upper House election is a huge deal for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. After all, it's a vote that could determine the fate of his long-held ambition to amend the postwar pacifist Constitution. But voters, it seems, see Sunday's poll as anything ...
Path to the Diet still strewn with high hurdles for Japan's women
When anti-nuclear activist Junko Isogai ran for office in Niigata, her campaign had an awkward dimension: not just speeches and chats with constituents, but efforts to entertain potential backers. "I was asked to pour sake, make flattering conversation and act in a way men wouldn't ...
Even though there's an election this Sunday, politicians aren't engaging in active discussions on ways to address Japan's demographic woes.
'Dear young people, don't vote!' say Japan's senior citizens in campaign viral video
As the nation readies for the upcoming Upper House election set for this Sunday, a video targeted at Japan's youths is going viral owing to its controversial message delivered by a group of senior citizens: "Dear young people, don't vote!" In the video message, a ...
Ahead of Upper House vote, Komeito and Abe remain apart on revision of pacifist Constitution
While Prime Minister Abe touts constitutional revision as the focal point of Sunday’s election, that topic is conspicuously absent from campaign speeches by the LDP’s coalition partner, Komeito.
