Conservative Landslide in Unified Local Elections
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported on April 12, 2019.
Tag Archives: Taro Yamamoto
Abe Regime Makes Direct Attacks on Press Freedom
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported on February 6, 2019.
The End of the Liberal Party
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported on January 23, 2019.
Yamamoto Faces Operation Vengeance
Taro Yamamoto is a man who must be destroyed, and the Japanese establishment has a very impressive record when it comes to destroying men like this one. Yamamoto’s fundamental crimes are that he is young, marvelously handsome, superbly charismatic, and utterly hostile to the conservatives who rule this nation.
Tadatomo Yoshida Elected Head of SDP
Whenever we go to cover a Japanese political party event, it is usually the case that we are the only non-Japanese in the room. You had to figure that the leadership race of the venerable but now largely insignificant Social Democratic Party (SDP) would be another one of those and, of course, it was. But, really, there were only a couple of dozen Japanese reporters there too.
The Uncertain Road to Opposition Consolidation
There’s one thing that all of Japan’s significant, existing opposition parties seem to agree upon; and that’s that none of them have any hope of overthrowing Liberal Democratic Party rule on their own in the presumed double elections of July 2016. They must combine their forces in some new manner in order to present a credible alternative that people might actually vote for.
Party Performances and Election Day Fallout
What follows is a party-by-party survey of what these elections mean for the twelve largest political parties in Japan. The ruling party’s 65-seat pick up was not all that it could have hoped for in light of the sky-high approval ratings of the Abe Cabinet, but it was definitely good enough to provide the basis of a stable government for the next three years.
Opposition Party Meltdown Puts Abe in Command
Last Sunday’s unusually predictable House of Councillors elections produced their predictable results: the LDP and New Komeito seized a strong majority in the chamber and thus will now firmly control both houses of the Diet. For the next three years the “twisted Diet” will be untwisted and, if governed with restraint, this administration should be able to see almost all of its bills enacted into law. An era of relative political stability may now be commencing.
Taro Yamamoto on the Anti-Nuclear Movement
Actor Taro Yamamoto explains why he has become active in the anti-nuclear movement and what happened when a group of anti-nuclear activists stormed the Saga prefectural headquarters.
