With the Japanese lower house of parliament currently debating a bill to legalise casino gambling, the subject of gambling is a trending topic in Japan right now. The bill is the culmination of ten years of lobbying - not least by former Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara - and is seen by many as paving the way for the construction of some of the largest casino sites anywhere on earth.

By Jane Kitagawa

“The gentleman was here on a holiday in January 2013 with his family,” explains Bruce Gherbetti, deputy chairman of Kizuna Child-Parent Reunion, discussing the case of a Canadian man who had reached out to their organization after his Japanese wife abducted their son.

The recent change of leadership in Japan may affect the penal system, in particular, the system of capital punishment.

Credit-worthy surplus countries must expand domestic demand relative to potential output to revive the world economy.

A hot topic in recent Japanese politics has been: Should suffrage be extended to resident aliens?

The 2009 extraordinary Diet session, the first under the leadership of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's cabinet, opened Monday with a speech by Hatoyama to a Diet populated by an overwhelming majority of parliamentarians from his Democratic Party of Japan...

Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio has returned to Japan after what appears to have been a successful introduction to the world in New York and Pittsburgh last week...

With less than ten days until the start of the campaign for the LDP's presidency, the field is shrinking, not growing...

The work of picking a cabinet is done, said Hatoyama Yukio Sunday. He is scheduled to meet with Ozawa Ichiro Monday to finalize the lineup...

For the second time in three months, an effort by younger LDP members to lead the party in a different direction has run out of steam not long after getting started...