The Year of Japan-Russia and Abe’s Best-Laid Plans
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been working hard to build a positive relationship with Putin’s Russia, but does any substantial reward wait at the end of the rainbow?
Tag Archives: Yamaguchi Prefecture
Anti-Base Movement Defeated in Nago
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported on February 4, 2018.
Henoko: A Needless Military Base
Futenma Marine Corps Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa, must close—on that much everyone agrees. But the insistence by the United States and the Japanese central government on building a replacement facility in another part of Okinawa is bitterly opposed by Okinawa’s people and prefectural government.
The Deplorables: Marines Continue Flights over Okinawa School
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported on January 18, 2018.
Today in Japan (11.11.17)
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported on November 11, 2017.
Shinzo Abe and the Yakuza
The crackdown on yakuza, including the group called the Kudokai, which is registered as an especially dangerous criminal gang under Japanese law, has recently reached abnormal levels. However, the fact that the Kudokai is also an organization reported to have once had connections with Shinzo Abe before he became prime minister eludes most people.
House of Councillors Election Vote Disparity
With the passage into law on July 28 of the House of Councillors electoral district reform bill, there has been some amelioration of the wide disparity in the weight of individual votes. Nevertheless, many believe that the reforms of the new law as well are far too timid. It will still remain the case that one person’s vote in some prefectures will have the weight of almost three peoples’ votes in other prefectures.
