Tag: Japan
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Symposium |Constitutional Struggles in Asia | Part III | Thin but Resilient Constitutionalism in Japan?
[Editor’s Note: In light of recent constitutional (or some may say, unconstitutional) developments, I-CONnect is pleased to feature this timely symposium examining constitutional struggles in Asia. This is part III of a five part series, in addition to the Introduction.] — Akiko Ejima, School of Law, Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan Introduction: 75-year-old Constitution without amendment?
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Symposium on Constitutional Struggles in Asia: Introduction
[Editor’s Note: In light of recent constitutional (or some may say, unconstitutional) developments, I-CONnect is pleased to feature this timely symposium examining constitutional struggles in Asia. This introduction will be followed by five posts exploring and contextualizing constitutional struggles in five countries in Asia.]
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Hasebe Yasuo Interview with the Kochi Shimbun
As many readers know, there is a significant debate going on in Japan today about the government’s proposal to pass a new law that would allow for collective self-defense in the event of armed attack. This has led to protests and conflict.
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Prime Minister Abe’s latest revisionist interpretation
–Tokujin Matsudaira, Associate Professor of Law, Kanagawa University Japan has long had a parliamentary cabinet system. A major event in the political calendar is the questioning of ministers in Diet committees, especially budget-related ones. In these sessions, the prime minister and other ministers have to answer the questions from members of parliament, even if not…
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New Developments on Japan’s Proposed Constitutional Amendment Process
–Tokujin Matsudaira, Kanagawa University Faculty of Law Recently the Asahi Shimbun Weekly (ASW, a special Monday edition of Asahi News) interviewed eight constitutional scholars and asked them to answer a survey about the possible amendment of Japan’s postwar constitution. The results appeared in ASW on April 8 (in Japanese).
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Get ready for new battles over Japan’s Constitution
–Lawrence Repeta, Meiji University Faculty of Law Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is focused on the economy — check out the collapse of the yen and the boom in the stock market since he took center stage. In his policy speech to open the new Diet session on January 28, Abe talked about the economy and…
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Japan Developments: An Era Ends, and New One Around the Corner?
Yesterday, the New York Times reported the death of Beate Sirota Gordon, likely the last link to the drafting of the Constitution of Japan in 1946. Sirota had been raised in Japan, and was a civilian employee of the U.S. occupation forces when she was thrust into the drafting process in February of 1946.
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Japan’s Election and Constitutional Revision
Japanese awoke this morning to find that the Liberal Democratic Party had won a massive supermajority in the lower house, more than doubling its seat share from 118 to 294 seats. Its coalition partner Komeito won 31 seats, and the hawkish Japan Restoration Party also won 54 seats, nearly matching the governing Democratic Party of…
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Nuclear protest and the right of assembly in Japan
As disturbing new reports come in [see here, here and here] finding abnormally high levels of thyroid growths in children of Japan’s Fukushima prefecture, there is renewed attention being drawn to the Democratic Party of Japan government’s controversial decision to re-open some nuclear plants this past summer.
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The Latest Decision on Malapportionment in Japan
–Tokujin MATSUDAIRA, Teikyo University On October 17, 2012, the Japanese Supreme Court released a judgment from the grand bench regarding the constitutionality of the 2010 election of Sangiin (House of Councillors). In that election, the ruling DPP failed to keep its majority in the upper house, launching a period of political chaos.