Japan
Japan: Koizumi’s popularity slumps amid debate on social inequality
By Joe Lopez, March 7, 2006
Following last September’s election in Japan, the political fortunes of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appeared to be riding high. He emerged victorious, with his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP...
Market reform and Japanese nationalism: the twin policies of Koizumi’s government
By John Chan, November 14, 2005
In the wake of his government’s victory in the September 11 lower house elections, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is accelerating his agenda of radical free-market restructuring and t...
Koizumi’s “landslide” win in Japan’s election
By John Chan, September 15, 2005
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has emerged victorious from last weekend’s election with his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) winning an absolute majority in the lower house of the Diet ...
Koizumi calls snap election after setback over Japan Post privatisation
By James Cogan, August 12, 2005
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the lower house of parliament on Monday and called early elections for September 11. The decision was Koizumi’s response to the rejection by t...
Japan renames holiday to honour wartime Emperor Hirohito
By John Chan, May 21, 2005
On May 13, the Japanese parliament passed a bill to rename a national holiday in honour of the late Emperor Hirohito, in whose name Japanese imperialism carried out a brutal campaign of colonial expan...
Japanese train crash linked to employee stress
By Dragan Stankovich, May 11, 2005
A commuter train jumped the tracks in western Japan on April 25 and crashed into an apartment complex, killing 107 people and injuring more than 450 others in the deadliest rail accident in the countr...
Tokyo extends troop deployment in Iraq
By Joe Lopez, December 23, 2004
The Japanese government earlier this month approved plans to extend its deployment of troops in Iraq for a further 12 months. As a result, 550 Japan Self Defence Force soldiers will remain stationed i...
Group suicides in Japan: a symptom of social malaise
By Joe Lopez, October 20, 2004
Two cases of group suicide in Japan have again highlighted the tragic consequences of the country’s sharpening social and economic tensions. All of those who killed themselves were young and app...
Koizumi reshuffles Japanese cabinet to pursue right-wing agenda
By Joe Lopez, October 13, 2004
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi late last month carried out a major cabinet reshuffle aimed at pressing ahead with his agenda, in particular in the area of economic restructuring. Having cut...
Four workers die in Japanese nuclear plant accident
By Joe Lopez, August 27, 2004
On August 9, a fatal accident at a Japanese nuclear power plant raised new concerns about the safety of the country’s nuclear energy program. Four contract workers were killed at a plant in Miha...
Former US soldier arrives in Japan
Charles Jenkins: a pawn on the international chessboard
By Adam Haig, August 2, 2004
On July 18, Charles Jenkins, the 64-year-old former US Army sergeant alleged to have defected to North Korea in 1965, arrived in Tokyo for medical treatment of an undisclosed abdominal ailment. Just a...
Ruling coalition suffers backlash in Japan’s upper house election
By Joe Lopez, July 28, 2004
The results of Japan’s upper house election on July 11 revealed a continuing political backlash against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s economic and foreign policy agenda, in particular...
