Sunday’s Tokyo Shimbun speculated that while some LDP and Komeito officials are cautious about PM Abe’s purported desire to dissolve the Lower House in early January for a snap election out of concern that the ruling coalition may not be able to win as many seats as it did in the December 2014 race, the so-called pro-constitutional revision force that….Read more

Following is the gist of representative interpellations at the House of Councillors plenary session on Sept. 29:

Perhaps the new Democratic Party (DP) leader Renho’s objective was to narrow down her speaking points to the ones she is well-versed in, but her first head-to-head battle with ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a House of Councillors plenary session since she took over the DP presidency was an unusual one.   Strikingly, Renho….Read more

Following is the gist of representative interpellations at the plenary sessions of the House of Councillors and House of Representatives on Sept. 28:

On Sept. 28, party representatives’ interpellations with respect to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s policy speech were held in both chambers of the Diet. Nippon Ishin no Kai Secretary General Nobuyuki Baba questioned Abe’s view on the idea of revising the Public Offices Election Law, seeking to ban lawmakers with dual nationality from taking office. The Prime Minister replied: “Since the….Read more

Democratic Party (DP) President Renho engaged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a Diet debate for the first time since she took over the presidency.

Main points the oppositions plan to pursue Issue Content in brief Opposition plan Errors in Japanese translation of TPP document Three errors were found in the agreement, including omissions. Description section also contained 15 mistakes/ mistranslations. Request the ruling parties re-submit the TPP ratification bill and related bills. Transaction of imported rice Imported rice purchased through government-sponsored bidding process may….Read more

The key issue in the first extraordinary Diet session after the recent House of Councillors election is the bill to ratify the TPP agreement and the related legislation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is shifting its focus to Diet affairs, instead of foreign affairs, for this purpose.   Kazuyuki Yamazaki (joined MOFA in 1983), who took over as head….Read more