Osaka mayor proposes ordinance bill to restrict political activities of city workers

Osaka Mayor Hashimoto Toru on July 6 submitted an ordinance bill to the city assembly to prevent city workers from taking part in political activities. If such an ordinance comes into effect, city workers will be unable to raise their voices like “Stop the reactivation of nuclear power plants” or “Stop a consumption tax hike”.

Don’t raise consumption tax to spend on wasteful public works projects

The Democratic Party of Japan’s election pledge to reduce wasteful public works projects has again been broken. A plan to build three new Shinkansen train lines was approved right after a passage of a bill to raise the consumption tax rate at the Lower House.

Japan has reason to nationalize the Senkakus

Following Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko’s announcement that Japan’s government decided to nationalize three out of five Senkaku islets, the Japanese Communist Party issued a statement, saying that it is reasonable for Japan to nationalize the islands.