Tag - osaka

 
 

OSAKA

Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 7, 2015
Kansai proves no barrier to travel
Having planned a family trip from our home in Tokushima Prefecture to Kobe and Osaka, we packed our 14-year-old daughter’s wheelchair in the car and took the highway to Awaji Island.
BUSINESS
Feb 5, 2015
Kansai business leaders push for economic recovery ahead of rising power prices
Kansai’s annual gathering of major corporate leaders opened Thursday in Kyoto with vows to accelerate economic recovery efforts, even as the chairman of the Kansai Economic Federation warned that spring electricity price hikes would exceed 10 percent.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jan 25, 2015
Kansai spearheads campaign against hate speech
On Feb. 24, 2013, Osaka’s Tsuruhashi district, home to one of Japan’s largest concentrations of ethnic Koreans and in recent years a major tourist destination, was the scene of a shocking incident.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 13, 2015
Hashimoto’s plan for reorganizing Osaka city government to get public vote
A group of Osaka legislators tasked with discussing municipal integration formally approved a plan Tuesday that would merge the city’s 24 wards into five semi-autonomous zones, each with its own elected head.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 7, 2015
Hashimoto vows to quit if Osaka merger plan fails
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said Wednesday he would quit politics if voters rejected his merger proposal for the city in a referendum likely to be held on May 17.
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2015
Hashimoto aiming for May 17 referendum on Osaka integration plan
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto has called on a municipal-prefectural committee examining his plan to integrate the city of Osaka to approve it at its next meeting on Jan. 13.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 30, 2014
Komeito backtracks on Osaka merger referendum
In a surprise move, the Osaka chapter of Komeito will cooperate with Mayor Toru Hashimoto to hold a referendum on whether to integrate the Osaka city and prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 24, 2014
Hashimoto makes a strategic exit, freeing up possible alignment of Ishin and DPJ
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto has dropped out of national politics, at least for now, to concentrate on his plan to integrate Osaka city and prefecture and to cease being an obstacle, he says, to a grand realignment of like-minded opposition politicians.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Dec 20, 2014
Rage against the capital’s (bureaucratic) machine
As the Dec. 14 Lower House election demonstrated, media analysis of political campaigning typically focuses on personalities and parties. In recent years, official manifests serve as TV talking points as pundits — be they boorish young comedians or serious, sober-minded, gray-haired fellows — debate...
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2014
Dec 10, 2014
Ishin no To’s campaign haunted by voter discontent in Kinki, Tokyo-Kanagawa
With several polls indicating that the ruling coalition may win over 300 of the 480 seats in Sunday’s Lower House race, the Liberal Democratic Party is poised to be the big winner — and Ishin no To (Japan Innovation Party) the main loser.
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2014
Dec 8, 2014
In one Osaka district, only women are running
In an election where female candidates account for less than 17 percent of the total, all three vying for a Lower House seat in the Osaka No. 7 district are women.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 2, 2014
Ishin no To is fighting for its political life
Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party), co-headed by populist Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, captured 54 seats in the December 2012 Lower House election, making it, and him, national political forces.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 1, 2014
What to buy, where to go: 40 steps to maximum merriment this Christmas in Japan
From meeting Pikachu in Fukushima to a laughter ritual in Osaka, here are dozens of ways to make sure you make the most of the festive season.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 26, 2014
Court rejects Osaka mayor’s bid to ban unions from using school buildings
The Osaka District Court ruled Wednesday that a city ordinance banning labor unions from using public facilities such as school buildings for meetings was illegal and unconstitutional, ordering the city to pay a union around ¥417,000 in compensation.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 19, 2014
San Francisco’s huff with Hashimoto over ‘comfort women’ reveals double standards
San Francisco’s reaction to Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto’s comments about ‘comfort women’ says much about equality between nations, about how we judge each other through cultural lenses and blinders, and how we have to keep finding ways to address grievances from our past.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 13, 2014
Osaka mayor mulls options in event of snap Lower House election
If a snap Lower House election is held next month, one of the candidates may be Osaka Mayor and Japan Restoration Party co-leader Toru Hashimoto.
BUSINESS
Nov 11, 2014
City of Osaka to sell off Kepco shares
The Osaka Municipal Government will seek to sell its shares of Kansai Electric Power Co. to comply with a policy calling for less reliance on investment income, the city said in a statement.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2014
Hashimoto loses bid to reshape Osaka into five mini-cities
The Osaka Municipal Assembly on Monday voted down Mayor Toru Hashimoto’s plans to integrate the city into a series of semi-autonomous zones.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Oct 19, 2014
DeafJapan opens up the world to the hearing-impaired
DeafJapan provides opportunities for hearing-impaired people in Japan to enjoy activities in English while also linking them up with the global community.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Oct 18, 2014
Osaka looks to swim with the ‘whales’ in casino bid
Osaka faces a challenge: What to do about the whales? No, there’s nothing the International Whaling Commission can do and don’t bother calling Greenpeace or Sea Shepherd, for catching these whales is a form of hunting far more difficult than firing harpoons into a leviathan.

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival