| Feb 09 | Indicted ex-Ozawa aide says he will not resign as lawmaker or leave DPJ (AP) |
| Tomohiro Ishikawa, a Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker and former aide to DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, said Tuesday he will not resign as a lawmaker or leave the party in the wake of his indictment over funding irregularities in connection with a land purchase in Tokyo. In announcing his intention to stay on, Ishikawa said at a press conference held in the city of Obihiro, Hokkaido, where his constituency is located, that his supporters have "strongly encouraged me to go back to the Diet as soon as possible and start my activity as a representative of this region." |
| Feb 09 | Kan survives G7 debut at Road to Nowhere (Japan Times) |
| Finance Minister Naoto Kan's first real exposure to the international arena was not in the dazzling lights of New York, London or Paris. It was in Iqaluit, a tiny town in the Canadian tundra, the name of which means "place of many fish" in Inuktitut. Kan attended a two-day meeting of the Group of Seven developed nations through Saturday, not to talk about angling but to discuss how best to return the global economy to a self-sustained recovery path. |
| Feb 09 | Prime minister, brother top list of lower house asset holders (Yomiuri) |
| Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his younger brother Kunio ranked first and second, respectively, in terms of personal assets possessed by 480 House of Representatives members, according to a calculation by The Yomiuri Shimbun based on a lower house report of its members' assets released Monday. The prime minister's assets amounted to about 1.64 billion yen, followed by about 816 million yen held by his brother, who was a former internal affairs and communications minister and member of the Liberal Democratic Party. |
| Feb 08 | No easy option with Japan’s Ozawa Ichiro (East Asia Forum) |
| Ozawa Ichiro has escaped indictment by the Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office again. Once again, his former secretaries were not quite so lucky, with three, including sitting Diet member Ishikawa Tomohiro, being indicted for political funds violations. Michael Cucek rightly points to the gross misconduct of the PPO in its Ahab-like pursuit of Ozawa - and perhaps the more egregious campaign by the media to paint Ozawa as the conniving, monstrous puppet master of the Hatoyama government. |
| Feb 08 | Giving up on Japan's Prime Minister Hatoyama (East Asia Forum) |
| Prime Minister Hatoyama's approach to his jobs has been adolescent. He has viewed both leadership of the DPJ and the prime ministership as showcases for his creativity rather than crushing burdens. The serious business of being the duly selected leader of a people has been reduced to the level of a school art project, with its creator completely unconcerned about the marketability of his final product. |
| Feb 06 | Will Japan emerge from its shell? - part II (yale.edu) |
| The dramatic end to Japan's half-century of conservative rule in a late August election led almost immediately to a public spat with the United States. An inward-looking Japan that had reflexively followed the American lead suddenly was no longer an obedient ally. At a time when the US was trying to woo a recalcitrant China to become a "strategic partner", Japan's insistence on reopening an agreement over US military bases seemed to upset the regional balance. But there are recent signs of a concerted effort on both sides to put underlying strategic interests back in the forefront, propelled in part by the recent eruption of frictions between China and the US. |
| Feb 06 | DPJ's Ishikawa, other Ozawa aides make bail (Japan Times) |
 Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Tomohiro Ishikawa, Ichiro Ozawa's former aide now under indictment for cooking the DPJ don's financial books over a shady Tokyo land buy, made bail Friday.
After paying ¥12 million through his lawyers, Ishikawa left the Tokyo Detention Center in the evening.
Mitsutomo Ikeda, an ex-aide of Ozawa, and Takanori Okubo, a current aide, also were released after making bail. Okubo paid ¥7 million and Ikeda ¥3 million.
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| Feb 04 | Prosecutors indict lawmaker Ishikawa over funding scandal (AP) |
| Prosecutors indicted lawmaker Tomohiro Ishikawa, a former secretary to Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, on Thursday on a charge of violating the Political Funds Control Law, sources close to the case said. Ishikawa, 36, a House of Representatives member, was arrested last month on suspicion of failing to report 400 million yen in Ozawa's political fund management body's 2004 report in connection with its purchase of land in Tokyo that year. |
| Feb 04 | Young female Japanese Parliament members to be grouped around Ozawa in new office (examiner.com) |
| A new office complex for Parliament member in Tokyo has lead to some groupings that the Japanese media feels is quite worth pointing out, particularly a floor in which currently embroiled powerful lawmaker Ichiro Ozawa is almost completely surrounded by younger female party members. The new two-building office complex, which is being built behind the House of Parliament, is scheduled to be finished in June of this year. |
| Feb 04 | Ozawa: Japan's secret shogun (Japan Times) |
| With the post-general election honeymoon over, the Japanese public has become increasingly aware that Ichiro Ozawa, secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), is the puppet-master behind Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet. Although he distances himself from formal policymaking within the executive branch, Ozawa in fact masterminds the entire legislative process, including the budget and appropriations. |
| Feb 04 | Protection of remote islets eyed (Japan Times) |
| The administration is planning a law that would give the central government, rather than local entities, the authority to manage and control specific remote, uninhabited islets in an effort to maintain Japan's exclusive economic zone. The Cabinet of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama could submit the bill to the Diet as early as this month, government sources said. |
| Feb 04 | Foreigner suffrage can fuel nationalism: Kamei (Japan Times) |
| Financial services minister Shizuka Kamei reiterated his opposition Wednesday to granting permanent foreign residents the right to vote in local-level elections, saying doing so could incite nationalism during polling times. Kamei, who heads Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party), one of the junior partners in Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan-led government, has been a vocal opponent of the drive, making it difficult to submit a local suffrage bill to the current Diet session. |
| Feb 03 | Kumamoto to demolish aging Arase Dam (Mainichi) |
 The Kumamoto Prefectural Government has announced that it will demolish the aging Arase Dam here, amid the nation's accelerating shift to a no-dam policy.
Local authorities plan to start demolishing Arase hydroelectric dam in the southern city of Yatsushiro in fiscal 2012, after concluding that it is most unlikely for the local government to renew their water rights for the Kuma River ahead of the expiration in March this year. The move will mark the first time for the country to demolish one of its large-scale dams already in operation.
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| Feb 03 | Hatoyama: Ozawa to lead Upper House campaign despite fresh grilling (Japan Times) |
| Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said again Tuesday he hopes Ichiro Ozawa will continue to lead the campaign for this summer's Upper House election despite being mired in a money scandal. Polls indicate that a majority of the public thinks Ozawa should step down from the Democratic Party of Japan's No. 2 post. Ozawa, credited with leading the DPJ to victory in last year's Lower House election, also suggested Monday he may resign if he is ever criminally charged, although he added that he doubts that would actually happen because he has not taken any illegal funds. |
| Feb 02 | Mahatma's teachings echo in Japanese Parliament (Reuters) |
| Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama invoked the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi during his policy speech at the 174th session of the Japanese Parliament, Diet, to outline the challenges facing Japanese society and the path to their amelioration. Beginning the speech by narrating the seven social sins inscribed at the Raj Ghat, Mr. Hatoyama confessed that he was struck by how Mahatma Gandhi's words "incisively" pointed to the problems facing Japan and the world today. The moment he stood before the Gandhi memorial, he resolved to begin his government's major policy speech by narrating the seven social sins listed by the Mahatma. |
| Feb 02 | New visa rule on insurance to be deleted (Japan Times) |
| The Immigration Bureau is planning to change a new guideline for foreign residents to ease concerns that those without social insurance will be forced to choose between losing their visa and entering the insurance system, a bureau official said Monday. But some foreigners warn the move won't be enough to entirely free them of the risk of being forced to enter the insurance system. |
| Feb 01 | Japan condemns Russian firing on fishing boats off Hokkaido (AP) |
| Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano on Monday condemned the firing by a Russian border patrol helicopter on two Japanese fishing boats in waters off one of four disputed northern islands. "Firing is an improper act that could lead to the loss of people's lives," the top government spokesman said at a news conference. "We must lodge a protest under any circumstances." |
| Feb 01 | Kan to make int'l debut at G-7 finance meeting in Canada (AP) |
| Finance Minister Naoto Kan will make his international debut this weekend when he attends a meeting of the Group of Seven developed nations in Canada's far north, at a time when the global economy is slowly emerging from a serious recession. Kan, who became Japan's finance chief in early January, will for the first time jointly meet with his counterparts from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United States. |
| Feb 01 | DPJ arrestees' stories don't jibe / Investigators say contradictions abound in Ozawa political funds (Yomiuri) |
| Three former or current aides to Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa who have been arrested in connection with alleged violations of the Political Funds Control Law by Ozawa's political funds management organization, Rikuzan-kai, have provided contradicting remarks to prosecutors, according to investigation sources. Detention periods for the three, including House of Representatives member Tomohiro Ishikawa who was formerly Rikuzan-kai's administrative chief, will expire Thursday. |
| Feb 01 | Haraguchi lukewarm on foreigners' suffrage (Yomiuri) |
| The government should not be hasty in submitting a bill to the ordinary Diet session to grant local voting rights to permanent foreign residents in Japan, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi said Saturday. Haraguchi also suggested any such legislation would have to be exhaustively considered. |
| Jan 31 | Eight countries press Japan on parental abductions (AFP) |
 Envoys of eight countries met the Japanese foreign minister Saturday to press the government to sign a treaty to prevent international parental child abductions.
Activists say that thousands of foreign parents have lost access to children in Japan, where the courts virtually never award child custody to a divorced foreign parent.
Japan is the only nation among the Group of Seven industrialised nations that has not signed the 1980 Hague Convention that requires countries to return a child wrongfully kept there to their country of habitual residence.
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| Jan 31 | Bullet marks found on fishing boats after shooting by Russian guards (AP) |
 A total of 20 bullet marks have been found on the hulls of two fishing boats that returned to a Hokkaido port after apparently being fired on by a Russian coast guard helicopter in waters off one of four disputed northern islands, the Japan Coast Guard said Saturday.
Meanwhile, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency said Russian border guards had admitted that they opened fire on the vessels off the coast of Kunashiri Island, confirming Japanese reports of the incident the previous day.
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| Jan 30 | Japan, U.S. to launch talks on cooperation in nuclear forensics (AP) |
| Japan and the United States will launch working-level talks in February aimed at promoting cooperation in the field of nuclear forensics, a sophisticated process to analyze the composition of nuclear materials, sources of both governments said Saturday. Nuclear forensics focuses on analyzing the nature, use and origin of nuclear materials, such as highly enriched uranium and plutonium that can be used to produce nuclear arms, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. |
| Jan 30 | Japan to pursue active diplomacy in 'new era' of int'l cooperation (AP) |
| Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Friday that Japan will pursue "active" and "dynamic" diplomacy with the arrival of what he calls a new era of international cooperation while enhancing ties with Asia- Pacific countries and taking the lead on global issues such as nuclear disarmament. On relations with the United States, which have been strained due to a row over a U.S. base in Okinawa, Okada said in a foreign policy address to parliament that the bilateral alliance remains the linchpin of Japan's foreign policy and vowed to promote understanding among the people of the importance of stationing U.S. forces in Japan as a deterrent. |
| Jan 29 | Foreign Ministry decides to cut allowances by 2% for expat employees (AP) |
| The Foreign Ministry has decided to cut by 2 percent the basic allowance and the spouse's allowance paid to its employees stationed at Japan's embassies and other diplomatic missions in developed countries, a ministry official said Friday. The ministry also decided to reduce the maximum limit on housing allowance offered to employees in locations where housing conditions have improved. The step will affect 65 of Japan's about 200 embassies, consulates and permanent missions overseas. |
| Jan 29 | More bullets mailed to top DPJ duo (Japan Times) |
| A bullet arrived in the mail Thursday at Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's office in Tokyo's Nagata-cho district, and another one was sent to Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa's office in the Diet building along with a threatening letter, a government official and police said. |
| Jan 28 | Japan's political watershed and its economic challenges (East Asia Forum) |
| Last year was a politically exciting but economically depressing year for Japan. It was the first time in 16 years that the government had been led by a party other than the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), but also a year in which Japan suffered its largest decline in GDP in half a century. The year 2010 is to be another difficult and challenging year, with economic deflation necessitating the adoption of a new growth strategy and a July upper-house election which could create a historical watershed of Japan's politics. |
| Jan 28 | Hey America, Japan's all grown up (JoongAng Ilbo) |
| There are no signs of the U.S.-Japan conflict around moving the U.S. armed forces base in Futenma, Okinawa, ending this year, either. The problem instead appears to be growing more complex. The two countries have been trying to move the Futenma air base to another location in Okinawa according to the United States Armed Forces in Japan reorganization plan agreed upon in 2006. Now that Japan is suddenly standing up to the United States, the U.S. must be in shock. Something that would have been unimaginable during the five decades of Liberal Democratic Party rule is now happening. |
| Jan 28 | U.S. went 'as far as' electing black man, Ozawa says (AP) |
| of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa said Wednesday, in speaking of recent changes of government in some countries, that the United States had gone "as far as" electing a black man. "In the United States, the people made a choice to change society and change the nation by going as far as selecting a black man whose name is Mr. (Barack) Obama," he told a meeting in Naha, the Okinawa capital. |
| Jan 27 | Japan rejects economic project offer on disputed islets (AFP) |
| Japan said Tuesday joint economic projects with Russia on their disputed islands are unlikely unless the two countries resolve their territorial row. Russia's First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey I. Denisov told the Nikkei business daily on Tuesday that Japan and Russia should conduct joint economic projects on and around the four disputed islands. But Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told a news conference the countries must first clarify the ownership of the islands off northern Japan that were seized in 1945 by Soviet troops, who expelled Japanese residents. |
| Jan 27 | Ozawa faces damaging fight to survive (Yomiuri) |
| Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa is facing a situation that threatens his political life. The DPJ kingpin was questioned by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office's special investigation squad Saturday over a scandal involving his political fund management organization, Rikuzan-kai. The prosecutors plan to continue their investigations in an effort to establish grounds for criminal charges against the party heavyweight. |
| Jan 26 | Ozawa 'scandal' has deep roots in Japanese politics (Xinhua) |
| The questioning of Ichiro Ozawa at a hotel in Tokyo on Saturday led to strong denials from the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) heavyweight that he had done anything wrong, but since the late 1970s, a number of politicians have been brought to task over similar irregularities, and often prosecuted. DPJ Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa answered on Saturday prosecutors' questions on his involvement in the 2004 purchase of a piece of land in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward that was undeclared by his office. So far, three aides or former aides of Ozawa's have been arrested because of their roles in the affair. |
| Jan 24 | Anti-U.S. base candidate Inamine wins Nago mayoral election (AP) |
 Susumu Inamine, who has been opposed to accepting the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station, won the mayoral race Sunday in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, making it difficult for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to implement a 2006 Japan-U.S. accord to relocate the facility to Nago.
Hatoyama has said he wants to see the election result before making any decision on the U.S. base issue and vowed to conclude negotiations with the United States by the end of May, but prospects are dim that he can find a feasible alternative site.
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| Jan 24 | Ozawa says he will stay as No. 2 of DPJ (AP) |
 Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa reiterated Sunday he is determined to remain in the ruling party's No. 2 post after being questioned by prosecutors the previous day over alleged accounting irregularities involving his fund management body.
"I will continue working hard with my colleagues by advancing my convictions," he told a DPJ meeting in the city of Hiroshima, soliciting support for the House of Councillors election this summer.
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| Jan 24 | With Japan, U.S. may be losing some diplomatic ground to China (New York Times) |
| When Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates visited Japan's new leaders in October, not long after their historic election, he pressed so hard and so publicly for a military base agreement that the Japanese news media labeled him a bully. The difference between that visit and the friendly welcome that a high-level Japanese delegation received just two months later in China, Japan's historic rival, could not have been more stark. |
| Jan 24 | Japan, U.K. set 500 mil. dollars intl fund for Taliban (Yomiuri) |
| The Japanese and British governments have agreed with the Afghan government to establish an international fund of 500 million dollars (about 45 billion yen) for a program to help draw former Taliban insurgents back to civilian life, sources said. Under the rehabilitation program, the fund will be used for job training and provide former Taliban militants with living expenses during their transition to civilian life. |
| Jan 24 | Ozawa defiant after prosecutors' grilling (Japan Times) |
 Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, who was questioned by prosecutors Saturday, said afterward he has no intention of leaving his post and flatly denied alleged receipts of illegal corporate donations. "I want to fulfill my duties," Ozawa told a news conference at the Tokyo hotel where the questioning, which lasted more than four hours, took place. He also said neither he nor his former and incumbent secretaries have received any illicit money from Mizutani Construction Co. or any other firms, calling media reports of illegal donations "groundless."
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| Jan 23 | Opposition pressures Ozawa as prosecutors question him over scandal (AP) |
| Opposition lawmakers on Saturday renewed their criticism of Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa as prosecutors questioned him over a scandal involving his funds management body, with one calling for his resignation as a Diet member. Lawmakers in the ruling bloc, meanwhile, expressed hope that the veteran lawmaker will give a full account of the case, with some of them characterizing the day's development as a step forward. |
| Jan 23 | Ozawa's gals appearing anxious as party ponders path (Tokyo Reporter) |
| "Ozawa's girls" is a title that refers to the group of attractive female candidates dispatched to minor constituencies under the guidance of the Democratic Party of Japan's scandal-plagued Secretary General, Ichiro Ozawa, for last August's lower house election. At the party's annual convention inside the Hibiya Kokaido on January 16, three of these ladies, who wound up winning seats in their districts, seemed a bit on edge, reports Shukan Shincho (Jan. 28). |
| Jan 23 | Obama mulls Hiroshima trip (Japan Times) |
| U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday told Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba that he wants to visit the city. "I would like to come," Akiba quoted Obama as saying in response to his request that the president visit. However, Obama did not refer to the timing of his possible visit, according to Akiba, who was at the White House for a U.S. conference of mayors. |
| Jan 23 | The Japan-U.S. alliance is still strong (NewsWeek) |
| In the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the security alliance between Tokyo and Washington last week, the conventional wisdom was that the U.S.-Japan relationship was in a downward spiral. Since taking power in September, Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has insisted on revising a 2006 military realignment agreement that would relocate a controversial Marine air base on Okinawa known as Futenma from a densely populated residential area to an offshore site of another base on the island. |
| Jan 22 | Asian countries agree to cooperate on addressing nuclear terrorism (AP) |
| Officials of 16 Asian countries agreed Friday to cooperate on addressing nuclear terrorism ahead of a U.S.-initiated Nuclear Security Summit in April, while noting that the risk of nuclear material being used for malicious purposes is a "serious threat" to international peace. The participants "expressed their commitment to work together so that the Asian region will serve as a good model for other regions in promoting peaceful uses of nuclear energy while ensuring nuclear security," according to the chairman's conclusion issued after the two-day meeting ended in Tokyo the same day. |
| Jan 22 | Okada has proposed talks with U.S. toward 'no-first-use' policy (AP) |
| Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Friday he conveyed to the United States in late December his willingness to discuss steps toward realizing in the future the so-called "no-first- use policy" of nuclear weapons. In a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Okada also said in a press conference that Japan places "trust and importance" on U.S. nuclear and other deterrence measures, but would not call on Washington to take a policy that would contradict the goal of a nuclear-free world, on which Japan hopes to work together with the United States. |
| Jan 22 | Scandal catches up with Japan (Asia Times) |
| Allegations of money laundering within the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) appear to have dashed hopes that the ruling party would distinguish itself from the scandal-plagued conservative administration that ruled over Japan for almost half a century. DPJ stalwart Ichiro Ozawa, the party's secretary general, is under investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office over a land purchase in 2004 by his political funding group, Rikuzankai. |
| Jan 21 | Local leaders oppose hasty move to give foreigners local suffrage (AP) |
| A national group of prefectural assembly heads urged the central government Thursday to hear their and other local opinions before "hastily" submitting a bill to the ongoing Diet session to give local suffrage to permanent foreign residents in Japan. Although the group refrained from clarifying its position about granting those residents the right to vote in local elections, the move is an apparent attempt to put a brake on the planned legislation. |
| Jan 21 | Hatoyama to resign if facts show he lied about funds scandal (AP) |
 Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Thursday he will resign as a Diet member if he is found to have known about the huge amount of funds his mother provided for his political activities, which came to light in connection with a political donations scandal involving himself. The remarks came when Liberal Democratic Party President Sadakazu Tanigaki grilled Hatoyama during a meeting of the House of Representatives Budget Committee -- their first face-off in parliament since Hatoyama took power and Tanigaki became opposition leader last September.
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| Jan 21 | Prosecutors confirm plan to question Ozawa over scandal on Sat. (AP) |
 Prosecutors will question ruling Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa on a voluntary basis Saturday in Tokyo, sources close to the case said Thursday.
The prosecutors have confirmed the date with Ozawa's side, they said.
Investigators plan to question Ozawa for about four hours in connection with allegations that his political fund management body failed to report money it used to buy land in Tokyo in 2004.
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| Jan 21 | Debate heats up over controversial democracy 'referendum' (AP) |
| A de facto referendum calling for full democracy is not a disguise for seeking independence, pro-democracy legislators said Thursday. The collective resignation by five high-profile pro-democracy legislators in each of Hong Kong's five electoral districts next week aims at turning the by-elections into a territory-wide poll for the public to vote on universal suffrage and abolishment of the functional constituencies, Civic Party leader Audrey Eu said. |
| Jan 21 | Japan's leaders feud with prosecutors over scandal (AFP) |
 Japan's new centre-left leaders are going to war with the country's powerful prosecutors over a probe into a funding scandal they say is aimed at undermining their administration.
The target of the investigation is the ruling party heavyweight many observers consider more powerful than the prime minister, secretary general Ichiro Ozawa, often dubbed the government's "shadow shogun."
Prosecutors have raided his offices and arrested three of his former or current aides to investigate whether he took millions of dollars in bribes from construction firms and invested the money in Tokyo property.
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| Jan 21 | Hatoyama has no intention of pressuring prosecutors over Ozawa case (AP) |
| Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama reiterated Wednesday that he has no intention of exerting pressure on prosecutors over their ongoing investigations into a scandal involving the fund management body of ruling party heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa. Hatoyama made the remarks in response to a question in the Diet from Hidehisa Otsuji of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party regarding recent comments by the prime minister that were interpreted as suggesting he had urged Ozawa, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, to do battle with prosecutors. |