Shinzo Abe

North Korea May Help Abe’s Goal to Revise Japan’s Constitution: North Korea’s claim it conducted a nuclear test could give the newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to revise the mandate of the pacifist constitution of the country and legalize the right to defend itself. Abe returned yesterday from a two-day visit to China and South Korea, where he improved relations with Japan’s two largest Asian trading partners. All three countries have condemned the statement of the...Read Full Story

Asian politics Banyan's notebook Japan's upper-house election results A bad night for the DPJ by H.T. | TOKYO NAOTO KAN, Japan’s prime minister, who tried to convince voters that the country’s debt-ridden economy looked dangerously like Greece’s, now faces the fight of his life to stay in office after his party’s disastrous performance in upper-house elections on July 11th. Less than six weeks after Mr Kan took office, the odds of yet another leadership crisis have just shortened dramatically...Read Full Story

Yasukuni Shrine is the place where Japan's war dead, including Class-A war criminals are enshrined. Every year…every every year on/around Aug. 15th, Japanese leaders visit the shring to pay respects, much to the chagrin of Korea and China who suffered at the hands of those war dead. The visits threaten relationships, cause trips and plans to be cancelled and objections to be raised from around East Asia…and perhaps rightfully so. This year, none of the 16 cabinet members of Prime...Read Full Story

Japan's fickle politics make prime minister a tough job to hold on to. Yukio Hatoyama said Wednesday he would resign after just eight months, becoming the fourth prime minister to step down in as many years. A list of the most recent to serve: _ Junichiro Koizumi's five-year term made him one of the longest-serving prime ministers. The charismatic leader implemented economic reforms and tried to trim Japan's bloated budget during a gradual economic recovery. But he also increased tensions...Read Full Story

According to a new book , “Scoop” by Pascal Roustain, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan was explaining to President Bush the various ways a Japanese person would bow when meeting someone. He then got on his knees to prostrate himself before Bush in order to indicate this was the position the president wanted people to be in when conversing with him. If one considers how Bush reacted to those in America who dared opposing his political decisions, the prime minister’s position...Read Full Story

TOKYO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Almost four out of five Japanese voters want Prime Minister Taro Aso to quit within months and just over half want the opposition to win power, a poll showed on Monday, the latest bad news for the ruling party in an election year. Public support for 68-year-old Aso, already slumping after policy flip-flops and gaffes, took another hit when close ally Shoichi Nakagawa quit as finance minister last week after being forced to deny he was drunk at a G7 news conference in...Read Full Story

Tokyo - Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is aiming for a parliamentary lower house election on October 26, the country’s biggest newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported Saturday. Quoting sources within the LDP, it said the lower house of parliament would probably we dissolved on October 3, by which time the party would have a new president who would have been made prime minister by the lower house, where the LDP has a majority. There are five candidates to succeed outgoing party...Read Full Story

Wed, Sep 21 2011 19:00 IST | 0 Views | Add your comment SHARE: India Wednesday conveyed to Japan that defence ties between the two countries will continue to be robust and that New Delhi attached great importance to its relations with Tokyo. This was conveyed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony to visiting former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. "New Delhi will continue to promote defence ties with Japan," Antony told Abe when the latter called on him. Antony also...Read Full Story

Font size: AFP (Left to right): Japanese Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader Taro Aso. Main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) leader Yukio Hatoyama. Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. Former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda.   YOKOSUKA, Japan, August 25 (AFP): In Japan’s election on Sunday, the two candidates for the prime minister’s post are carrying on a...Read Full Story

Koizumi’s repeated visits to Yasukuni shring have exasperated relations with South Korea and China. Koizumi said he would go, every year, and he did. This year, however, was the first time he went on the direct end-of-war anniversary, Aug. 15th. Koizumi made visits in the past on days after Aug. 15th in an attempt to appease Japan’s neighbors. Koizumi says he feels frustrated that his gesture went unappreciated by China and South Korea. On his way out, he chose Aug. 15th this year...Read Full Story