Japan

Japan

Will Japan’s lowered voting age reverse decreasing voter turnouts?

Japan’s recent Upper House elections had special significance—it was the first time 18 and 19-year-olds were allowed to vote For the first time in a Japanese national election, 18 and 19-year-olds voted on 10 July 2016 in the 24th Upper House election, which saw the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Kōmeito, returned with

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Japan’s food education campaign takes on a nationalistic flavour

Mothers under pressure as Japan pushes return to a traditional diet The Japanese government’s shokuiku (food education) campaign entered a new phase recently that again places rice-based dishes at the forefront of the national diet. Shokuiku started in 2005 in response to concerns over rising lifestyle-related diseases, food safety and national food sufficiency, and for

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New thinking redefines Japan’s foreign aid policy

Japan’s latest aid charter has introduced new and controversial measures Foreign aid is a key instrument of international engagement in Japan’s foreign policy toolkit. Although Tokyo is no longer the world’s top aid donor that it once was in the 1990s, it still is one of the leading ODA (official development assistance) donors within the

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