Each week, here at Osaka.com, we bring you a selection of some of the top stories about Osaka making the local and national news here in Japan. Sometimes it’s serious, sometimes it’s funny, but it’s always direct to you, from Osaka.
Table of Contents
Political Maneuvering Leaves Osaka Party in Trouble
It appears that Osaka’s largest political force could be headed for a humbling result in this Sunday’s national and regional elections. Most analysts predict that incumbents Hirofumi Yoshimura and Hideyuki Yokoyama will win their gubernatorial and mayoral bids for re-election.
However, the national political picture is looking decidedly more uncertain for their party, The Japan Innovation Party (JIP). Polls this week suggest that the Liberal Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may win an overall majority.
If that is the case then their short-lived coalition with the JIP could swiftly come to a grinding halt.
Despite supposedly being coalition partners, some voices in the JIP, this week, accused the LDP of a political betrayal. This came at the announcement that the LDP will field candidates in every Osaka constituency, even those held by their coalition partner. It seems the gloves are off as the coalition partners will now have to go head-to-head in the fight for votes. In a wider picture, this also risks splitting the vote among conservatives in Osaka. So much for teamwork, it seems.
PM Accused of Political Opportunism, Dodging Questions on Coalition Promises
Even before this week’s cutthroat political intrigue, many voters accused the Prime Minister of political opportunism. She faces allegations of trying to use her personal popularity to prop up a party still deeply wounded by previous scandals.
For Osaka voters especially, the PM’s posture seems like a particularly stinging rebuke.
Takaichi took the bizarre step of withdrawing from a televised debate with other party leaders due to a hand injury. Your guess is as good as mine as to how a sore wrist prevents a political leader from debating their opponents. It certainly hasn’t stopped Takaichi from attending LDP campaign events across the country over the past couple of weeks.
Takaichi has also evaded targeted questions on her plans to push ahead with a reduction in the number of seats in parliament. Cutting the number of seats in the lower house was a key election pledge, and a coalition deal breaker for the JIP.
The Prime Minister has also remained conspicuously silent about the JIP’s much vaunted but still unapproved Osaka Metropolis Plan. Again, progressing this plan was an integral part of negotiations for the JIP to pop up Takaichi’s minority government.
Polls suggest Takaichi’s LDP will be the big winners on Sunday, with the JIP among a number of parties set to lose their seats. However, polling also suggests that as many as 30% of voters nationwide remain undecided, with only a few days to go until polling day.
Political Assassin Lodges Appeal Against Life Sentence
Osaka’s most notorious prisoner, the killer of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Tetsuya Yamagami is appealing his sentence.
Yamagami was found guilty of pre-meditated murder and jailed for life without possibility of parole last month. However, the assassin announced on Wednesday plans to appeal his sentence.
The exact grounds for Yamagami’s appeal remain unclear at this point. His defense counsel, Masaaki Furukawa was succinct in his use of words this week. His brief statement said: “We filed a notice of appeal to obtain a chance to correct the lower court ruling following discussions with the defendant”.
Yamagami previously tried to obtain a fixed term sentence. He requested this on account of his difficult upbringing, which included financial ruin and the suicide of his brother. However, the lower court rejected these arguments at January’s sentence hearing.
Despite the seeming finality of last month’s ruling, it seems this case, and the media circus that accompanied it, may still have some mileage yet.
And Finally…
One of Osaka’s most beloved tourist attractions has some new residents. Bird enthusiasts spotted a group of “Panda Ducks” in the pond surrounding Osaka Castle’s main keep.
Although they are actually known as smews, these adorable little ducks have earned the nickname on account of their black and white patterned feathers. In particular, their white foreheads accentuated by black circular patterns around the eyes give them the look of a panda.
With many Japanese animal lovers saddened by the recent departure of Tokyo’s famous Ueno Zoo pandas back to China, the appearance of the birds is seen by some as a good omen.
One avid birdwatcher said: “It’s almost as if the pandas have come back again!”
The birds often in large lakes and rivers across Japan during the spring months, as part of their migration pattern. This is the first time in a while though that they’ve shown up in the heart of Osaka.
That’s all for now but be sure to check back again same time next week for another round of this week in Osaka!
