July 09, 2012
More than one-third of voters would back a coalition government of the nation’s two largest parties, but most voters appear disappointed with all parties on the national level, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.
July 09, 2012
Yuichiro Ito won a third term as governor of Kagoshima Prefecture on July 8 by defeating anti-nuclear challenger Yoshitaka Mukohara.
July 08, 2012
Major donors pledged on July 8 to give Afghanistan $16 billion (1.28 trillion yen) in development aid over the next four years as they seek to prevent it from sliding back into chaos when foreign troops leave, but demanded reforms to fight widespread corruption.
July 08, 2012
BEIJING--China's Foreign Ministry said it would continue to take "necessary measures" to safeguard its sovereignty over a number of disputed islands in the East China Sea after Japan said it was considering a plan to "buy" them from private landowners.
July 07, 2012
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda confirmed the central government plans to buy the Senkaku Islands, fearing ownership of the disputed isles involving Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara could cause irreparable damage to relations with China.
July 07, 2012
Anti-nuclear protesters are increasingly focusing their anger on Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who decided to resume operations at the Oi nuclear power plant despite widespread public opposition.
July 07, 2012
KABUL-- The United States has named Afghanistan a major non-NATO ally, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on July 7, a move that could reinforce Washington's message to Afghans that they will not be abandoned as the war winds down.
July 06, 2012
Tokyo Electric Power Co. and nuclear regulatory authorities “intentionally” delayed taking measures against earthquakes and tsunami, causing a "man-made disaster" at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Diet-commissioned investigators said.
July 06, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan will seek at least $4 billion from international donors this weekend at a crucial aid conference aimed at propping up the country after most foreign combat troops leave at the end of 2014.
July 05, 2012
Lambasting both Tokyo Electric Power Co. and the prime minister’s office, the Diet’s task force investigating the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant recommended an overhaul of the government’s crisis management system.
July 05, 2012
TAIPEI--Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara's inflammatory proposal to purchase four of the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea has now got Taiwan riled.
July 04, 2012
Japanese political heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa and dozens of other members of parliament who quit the ruling party in protest over a planned sales tax increase decided on July 4 to form a new party in a move likely to add to the government's headaches.
July 04, 2012
Amid their anger over Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to a disputed island off Hokkaido, Japanese officials were trying to determine the trip’s purpose and the timing, which “could not have been worse.”
July 04, 2012
The United States is moving ahead with plans to deploy its first Osprey military transport aircraft to Japan, despite strong opposition from residents over safety issues following two recent crashes, officials said July 4.
July 03, 2012
In June 1993, 54 lawmakers bolted from the ruling party, which was replaced by a coalition government two months later. Nearly two decades later, on July 2, 50 lawmakers left the ruling party to form a new political force.
July 03, 2012
YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK--Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on July 3 landed on a remote island chain seized from Japan by the Soviet Union at the end of World War Two, prompting protests from Tokyo which lays claim to the windswept archipelago.
July 03, 2012
DUBAI--Iran said on July 3 it had successfully tested medium-range missiles capable of hitting Israel in response to threats of military action against the country, Iranian media reported.
July 03, 2012
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia--Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev unveiled a $1 billion bridge to a remote Far East island on July 2, seen as a symbol of the Kremlin's eagerness to retain influence in the region at any cost to counter the rise of China.
July 02, 2012
Political kingmaker Ichiro Ozawa took a step toward forming a new party when he and 49 other lawmakers submitted letters of resignation to the ruling Democratic Party of Japan on July 2.
July 02, 2012
Fresh from talks that failed miserably in Okinawa Prefecture, Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto found a groundswell of opposition in Yamaguchi Prefecture against the U.S. military’s plan to station Osprey transport aircraft in Japan.