Japan
New Japanese government under pressure to slash social spending
By John Chan, November 12, 2009
The government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is facing growing demands from big business to ditch its election promises, slash social spending and rein in mushrooming public debt.
Japan’s new government seeks to refashion US alliance
By John Chan, November 4, 2009
In the lead-up to US President Barack Obama’s first visit to Japan, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has signalled that his government is wanting to readjust the country’s longstanding alliance with ...
Democrat government installed in Japan
By Peter Symonds, September 17, 2009
The Hatoyama government is the end product of a lengthy process that followed the break-up of the post-war relationships in the 1970s and 1980s. Powerful sections of the establishment concluded that a...
Japan: Democrats prepare to slash public spending
By Peter Symonds, September 11, 2009
Even before it is sworn into office, the Hatoyama government is preparing to make deep cuts to the previous government’s stimulus spending.
The historic decline of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party
By Peter Symonds, September 9, 2009
The ignominious electoral collapse of the LDP amid the greatest global economic crisis since the 1930s is another sign that politics, not only in Japan but internationally, is entering uncharted and s...
Japan’s election: Divided Democrats prepare for office
By John Chan, September 7, 2009
The Democratic Party of Japan won a landslide victory in the country’s general elections on August 30. Yet despite its control of both houses of parliament, the next government will not be in a stro...
Japan’s new government: Promise and reality
By John Chan, September 2, 2009
The gulf between the limited election pledges of the Democrats and the social realities facing broad layers of working people will quickly become evident.
Japanese voters sweep Liberal Democrats from office
By Peter Symonds, August 31, 2009
The opposition Democratic Party of Japan routed the Liberal Democratic Party in lower house elections yesterday, ending more than 50 years of almost continuous rule.
Japanese government faces landslide electoral defeat
By Peter Symonds, August 29, 2009
Japan is poised on the eve of a political sea change. All the opinion polling points to a landslide defeat in tomorrow’s election for the Liberal Democratic Party, which has held power almost contin...
Japan’s elections: the Communist Party’s role
By Peter Symonds, August 28, 2009
At a critical turning point in Japanese politics, the Communist Party is positioning itself as a safety valve for the political establishment.
Japan’s fragile economy overshadows general election
By John Chan, August 25, 2009
The Japanese economy officially grew by 0.9 percent in the second quarter. The news, however, is unlikely to affect the outcome of Sunday’s general elections.
Japanese prime minister dissolves parliament and sets election date
By Peter Symonds, July 23, 2009
The ruling LDP heads into a general election trailing behind the opposition DPJ in all the polls and facing an end to its virtually unbroken 53-year rule.
