Taro Aso

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Japanese Deputy PM's Ideas on Hitler Not Well-Received

Taro Aso is apologizing after saying Hitler's 'motive was right'

(Newser) - Japan's deputy prime minister is backpedaling hard after suggesting Adolf Hitler had the right motives for murdering millions of people. During an address to members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Yokohama on Tuesday, Taro Aso used Hitler as an example of how politicians are judged by their...

Japan Official: Sick Old Folks Should 'Hurry Up and Die'
Japan Official: Sick Old Folks Should 'Hurry Up and Die'
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Jan 26, 2013 1:08 PM CST

Japan Official: Sick Old Folks Should 'Hurry Up and Die'

It would save the government a lot of money, says finance minister

(Newser) - And the award for compassion showed by a politician when talking about a touchy issue goes to Japan finance minister Taro Aso. While addressing the heavy state costs of medical care for the elderly, he said:
  • "I would wake up feeling increasingly bad knowing that [treatment] was all being
...

Japanese Hook Up, Hire by Blood Type

In Japan, belief in blood group personality types colors dating

(Newser) - If you're looking for a decisive, confident partner, try dating someone with type O blood. Type As are dependable worrywarts, ABs are balanced but high-maintenance, and if you've been burned by a selfish ex, blame their type B blood. That's the conventional wisdom in Japan, where people believe blood group...

Hatoyama Confirmed as Japan's New PM

Shift in power marks end of 50 years of conservative rule

(Newser) - Japan's parliament formally voted in Yukio Hatoyama as the country's new prime minister today, ending an almost half-century of rule by the Liberal Democratic Party, CNN reports. The LDP's Taro Aso and his cabinet resigned en masse earlier in the day. Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan won a landslide election...

Trounced, Japan's Ruling Party to Quit

Left-wing Democratic Party ousts Liberal Democrats

(Newser) - A top official in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has announced that he and other officials plan to step down after the party's apparent crushing defeat in today's parliamentary elections. LDP Secretary-General Hiroyuki Hosoda said that he and two other top officials plan to submit their resignations to Prime Minister...

Japanese Voters Head to Polls to Boot Leaders

Half century of power expected to end today

(Newser) - Japanese voters began casting ballots today in a general election expected to clean house, reports the Financial Times. The Democratic Party of Japan will almost certainly thump the Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled the nation 11 months out of the last 54 years.

Defeat All but Certain for Japan's Aso, Ruling Party

Sunday election likely to end 54 years in power

(Newser) - Sunday will likely mark a milestone in Japanese politics as voters dump the Liberal Democratic Party after more than a half-century in power, the Washington Post reports. Even senior LDP leaders acknowledge that Yukio Hatoyama will probably trounce incumbent Prime Minister Taro Aso, and polls predict a staggering turnout with...

Japan Faces Historic Change as Election Opens

(Newser) - Japanese PM Taro Aso dissolved parliament today to begin a watershed election that could break his party's 50-year grip on power, Reuters reports. In a nationwide TV address, Aso apologized for his shortcomings as a leader and for internal squabbling that cost his conservative party at recent local elections. Opposition...

Japan's Embattled Leader to Meet Obama

Unpopular Japanese PM will face calls to resign when he gets home

(Newser) - Taro Aso today becomes the first foreign leader to visit President Obama but it may be the Japanese leader's last summit, Bloomberg reports. The prime minister's popularity has dived amid public dislike of his handling of the economy and his finance minister's resignation over a drinking scandal. Polls show almost...

Aso Will Be First Foreign Leader to Visit Obama

Clinton expresses solidarity on North Korea

(Newser) - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will head to Washington next week to discuss the economy with President Obama, Hillary Clinton announced today. It will be the first time Obama welcomes a foreign leader to the White House. The meeting was billed as a “bilateral summit” that will show that...

Japan Finance Minister Denies Being Drunk, Quits Anyway

Official mocked over slurred conference

(Newser) - Japan's finance chief has announced his resignation amid public ridicule over a news conference where he slurred his words and appeared drunk, Reuters reports. Shoichi Nakagawa, who seemed to fall asleep during the Rome conference of G-7 ministers, denies he was intoxicated and insists the few sips of wine he...

Japan's PM Slams 'Buy American' Provision

World leaders roundly criticize stimulus provision

(Newser) - Japan’s prime minister today slammed the “Buy American” clause in the proposed economic-stimulus bill currently being considered by the US Senate, the Financial Times reports. Speaking in parliament, Taro Aso said that requiring stimulus projects to use US-made materials is “definitely wrong,” and contrary to the...

Bush Makes Last Calls to World Leaders

Round of goodbyes includes Putin, Brown, Saakashvili, Berlusconi

(Newser) - With just hours left in his presidency, President George W. Bush today made a round of phone calls to leaders around the globe. A National Security Council spokesman said the president was simply saying his goodbyes, thanking the leaders for the hospitality they had shown him and first lady Laura...

Japanese Protesters Greet US Nuke Ship

Huge carrier arrives near Tokyo amid radiation fears

(Newser) - Japanese protesters greeted a nuclear-powered American warship at its new home port near Tokyo today, Reuters reports. The USS George Washington drew criticism after reports last month than a US submarine had leaked radioactive material at Japanese ports for 2 years —underscoring the tense relationship between Japanese citizens and...

Aso Becomes Japan PM, But Election Looms

New leader may go to the polls as soon as next month

(Newser) - Taro Aso took office today as Japan's fourth prime minister in just 2 years, and the hawkish new leader appointed several long-time supporters to serve with him in cabinet. But the government may be short-lived, Bloomberg reports. Officials in Tokyo predicted that the PM would call an election as soon...

Japan's Ruling Party Picks Next PM

Nationalist Taro Aso likely to call early election

(Newser) - Japanese nationalist Taro Aso won a convincing ruling-party vote to become the country’s next prime minister, Reuters reports. The Liberal Democrat and former foreign minister will become the third PM this year. Facing a troubled economy and strong opposition in Parliament’s upper house, Aso will likely call an...

Ex-Foreign Minister Leads Race to Be Japanese PM

Aso seen as best shot at reuniting split party

(Newser) - Former foreign minister Taro Aso is on course to become Japan's third prime minister in 12 months, Reuters reports. The onetime Olympic sharpshooter says he's the right candidate to take the helm of the Liberal Democratic Party following yesterday's abrupt resignation of Yasuo Fukuda in the face of a political...

Fukuda to Be Japan's Next Prime Minister

Ruling party picks dovish moderate

(Newser) - Moderate lawmaker Yasuo Fukuda has beaten out hawkish former foreign minister Taro Aso in a ruling party vote for the leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, paving the way for his appointment as prime minister.  Former PM Shinzo Abe vacated the post following a series of mistakes and scandals....

New Japanese PM Likely to Be Less US-Centric

Party unites around dovish elder statesman Yasuo Fukuda

(Newser) - Japan's Liberal Democratic Party is set to choose its replacement for Shinzo Abe, who resigned suddenly last week, in voting Sunday. The winner will become prime minister Tuesday. Although early prognoses hyped hawk Taro Aso as the favorite, his close association with the outgoing PM has hurt him. Victory is...

Same Party, New Face: Aso Likely to Step in as Japanese PM

Political 'blueblood' faces scandals, debt

(Newser) - Fellow party member  and Foreign Minister Taro Aso is emerging as the favored successor of resigned Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. If elected, Aso would face an economy saddled with the world's largest public debt, the stagnation of his own Liberal Democratic Party and the enmity of the main opposition...

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