260 Lawmakers hold rally opposing Japan’s entry into TPP

Dietmembers on November 7 banded together cross party lines in a rally to protest against Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko’s intention to announce Japan’s entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade agreement during the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting this weekend.

DPJ and LDP used 31 million yen of Tokyoites’ tax revenues for overseas trips

Tokyo assembly members of the Democratic and Liberal Democratic parties spent 31.7 million yen on four overseas trips in 2009 and 2010. This was disclosed by Japanese Communist Party metropolitan assembly members at a press conference on November 4.

Ex-Osaka governor Hashimoto suspected of bribery

A construction firm of a friend of former Osaka Prefectural Governor Hashimoto Toru, who announced his resignation as governor to run for Osaka City mayor, won public works contracts one after another after helping Hashimoto to find purchasers of fund-raising party tickets.