Tokyo, 11 July, /AJMEDIA/
Japan’s LDP wins big in upper house election after ex-PM Abe’s death
TOKYO – Japan’s ruling party scored a sweeping victory in Sunday’s House of Councillors election, helping pro-constitutional amendment forces retain the two-thirds majority needed to push for revising the supreme law, an unaccomplished goal of former leader Shinzo Abe whose assassination days earlier shocked the nation.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party grabbed at least 63 seats, or more than half of the 125 seats up for grabs, buoyed by strong voter support in a show of public confidence in his nine-month-old administration despite the country struggling with rising prices and security threats posed by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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Opposition parties acknowledge defeat in Japan’s upper house election
TOKYO – Suffering heavy losses in the upper house election Sunday, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lost its mantle as the country’s major opposition party, though other parties also struggled against the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
“I take it that voters did not want to switch from the LDP and entrust us with running the government,” said leader Kenta Izumi, as his party looked set to win fewer than 23 contested seats.
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Ex-PM Abe’s death on minds of Japan voters, but turnout low
TOKYO – The fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe remained fresh on Japanese people’s minds as they headed to the polls Sunday for the House of Councillors election, but it appeared to have no significant impact on voter turnout.
Abe’s death at a campaign event generated enormous focus on the triennial election, putting politics front-of-mind for the voting public while averting attention from key issues such as cost of living pressures.
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Record 35 women elected to Japan upper house
TOKYO – A record 35 women won seats in Sunday’s House of Councillors election in Japan after votes were tallied Monday, breaking the previous record of 28 set in 2016 and matched in 2019.
The result reflects a slow but gradual change in the country’s male-dominated political landscape, with the number of female candidates who ran in the triennial election also the highest ever at 181.
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Abe shooter checked YouTube for how to make homemade guns: sources
NARA, Japan – The man who fatally shot former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe checked YouTube when making the firearm used in the attack on Japan’s longest-serving leader, investigative sources said Sunday.
The sources also said Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, has stated that he tested a homemade gun at a facility connected to a religious group he harbored a grudge against. Yamagami has said his mother made a “huge donation” to the organization, which he believes Abe was associated with.
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Japan’s May machinery orders fall 5.6% on month
TOKYO – Japan’s core private-sector machinery orders in May fell 5.6 percent from the previous month, government data showed Monday.
The orders, which exclude those for ships and from electric utilities due to their volatility, totaled 908.8 billion yen ($6.7 billion), according to the Cabinet Office.
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Sumo: Abi upsets Terunofuji on opening day of Nagoya meet
NAGOYA – Lone yokozuna Terunofuji made a faltering start to his quest for an eighth Emperor’s Cup on Sunday, losing to komusubi Abi on the opening day of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament.
Nagoya’s Dolphins Arena welcomed 7,448 fans for the start of the first 15-day grand tournament without res
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Soccer: Relegation-threatened S-Pulse earn vital win against Grampus
TOKYO – Shimizu S-Pulse climbed off the bottom of the J-League first-division table Sunday thanks to a 2-0 win away to Nagoya Grampus.
Kenta Nishizawa struck late in the first half and Thiago Santana added the second in injury time at Toyota Stadium after Yutaka Yoshida’s 88th-minute dismissal reduced the hosts to 10 men.
