Can Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party Escape Factional Politics? 

Can Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party Escape Factional Politics? 

Japan’s ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is facing its worst corruption scandal in over three decades. Investigators are looking into claims that ministers and legislators received kickbacks in exchange for campaign contributions generated at campaign rally events. Subsequently, LDP politicians funneled millions of dollars from fundraising proceeds into undisclosed slush funds, failing to … Read more

Kishida’s Struggle to Win Over Japan’s Conservatives 

RIP FOIP? Examining Japan’s New Foreign Policy Mantra

Japanese conservatives found a trustworthy ally in the late Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Abe’s conservative bona fides – represented by his revisionist views on historical memory and what should be taught in history classrooms, his hawkish stance toward North Korea, and his relentless attack on the Japanese post-war governing structure, which he scorned as the … Read more

How Abe Shinzo Broke Japanese Politics

How Abe Shinzo Broke Japanese Politics

Advertisement Almost a year has passed since Abe Shinzo’s assassination, and the world continues to pay tribute to him for the legacies that he left on the world stage. However, it should be noted that he was also a master campaigner. In every national election since 2012, when he became prime minister for the second … Read more