Latest Yukio Hatoyama Stories

The head of the victorious Democratic Party of Japan downplayed his negative pre-election comments on American-styled capitalism a day after the election. In a widely circulated editorial written before the vote, Yukio Hatoyama referred to capitalism as void of morals or moderation. On Monday, after his opposition party won 308 seats in Japan's lower house, wrestling power from the Liberal Democratic Party for only the second time since World War II, Hatoyama said in a newspaper interview...

Japan's newly elected DPJ government may not like U.S.-style market-led reforms, but economists in Japan say more of that may be needed to lift the economy. The Democratic Party of Japan, which won a landslide victory in Sunday's election to the lower house of parliament, and its leader Yukio Hatoyama had campaigned on boosting social welfare and moving away from excessive U.S. style market reforms. However, experts told The New York Times, the country may need more, not less, deregulation...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's beleaguered opposition Democratic party got a shot in the arm late on Sunday when its candidate won a closely fought by-election, boosting the fortunes of new party leader Ichiro Ozawa. The election had been viewed as something of a verdict on the last days of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's tenure, and some Japanese media portrayed the result as a sign that voters were growing tired of his reform policies. The extremely popular Koizumi, who marks his fifth...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The leader of Japan's largest opposition party, Seiji Maehara, plans to step down, public broadcaster NHK and other media reported on Friday. Maehara's Democratic Party has been faltering after one of its members failed to prove charges he made in parliament that there were shady links between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and disgraced Internet entrepreneur Takafumi Horie. Maehara, 43, had conveyed his intention to quit to several party officials, NHK...