Tokyo Review
Politics
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5.2KCan Maehara Unite Japan’s Opposition?
The Democratic Party's new leader, Seiji Maehara, faces a tough task in building an opposition coalition - but his first challenge is...
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4.2KIs Trump Still a Safe Bet for Japan?
As Donald Trump's presidency signals a new paradigm for American politics, Japan faces tough questions about the future of its most important...
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7.9KKoike’s Korean Problem
Though elected as a crusading reformer, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is showing her right-wing roots - and risking her fragile coalition -...
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7.2KThe High Cost of Running for Office
Lord Buckethead, a political candidate who ran against UK Prime Minister Theresa May in the 2017 general election, became an internet sensation...
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7.2KUntangling Yasukuni
The complex history of Yasukuni Shrine makes it an intractable problem for Japan's foreign relations; the uneasy compromise of senior politicians avoiding...
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6.6KCandidate Recruitment Secures the LDP’s Future
Twenty F̶o̶u̶r̶ [First Century Liberal Democratic] Party People
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5.5KImagining an Effective Opposition
Japan lacks effective and coherent political opposition - but is it even possible to imagine what that might look like?
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3.4KTreading Carefully on Casino Resorts
The LDP begins laying the ground for a bill on a deeply unpopular issue – the opening of casino resorts, which stir...
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8.0KJapan’s New Politics and the Rule of Law
Recent years have witnessed Japan’s most dramatic program of legal and political reforms since the end of the Second World War, reforms...
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4.2KOpposition Chaos gives Abe Room to Breathe
Support for the government may be falling, but the shock resignation of the Democratic Party's top leadership shows that the crisis in...
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3.6KBureaucrat Whistleblowers Spell Trouble for the LDP
Japan’s powerful bureaucracy has existed symbiotically with the LDP for generations; but recent scandals suggest some ministry officials are done covering for...
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4.9KAbe’s Tough Week is No Knockout Blow
Shinzō Abe faces tough polling in the wake of scandals and an electoral defeat - but the Prime Minister's grasp on power...