Yukio Hatoyama

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama ended weeks of internal discontent with his leadership by announcing Wednesday that he would resign, a swift fall from grace for a politician who just eight months ago led his endemic opposition party to a historic victory. His collapse in approval ratings was prompted largely by his failure to deliver on a campaign promise to move a major U.S. military base off Okinawa's main island. The move was a centerpiece of Hatoyama's campaign for office last year, but its implementation would have required American consent to alter a painstakingly negotiated 2006 deal with the previous Japanese government before the base could be moved to another part of Okinawa.

Vowing to stay in office only a few more months to guide the response to the nation's ongoing nuclear crisis, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Thursday survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote aimed at driving him from power. Kan, who assumed his job about a year ago, cut a backroom political deal with members of Japan's ruling Democratic Party hours before the parliamentary vote was to take place. "I want the younger generation to take over my duties after I fulfill the role I should play in handling the disaster," a somber Kan told legislators.

Prime Minister Taro Aso and his Cabinet resigned to pave the way for parliament to elect Yukio Hatoyama as the country's next leader. The resignations were a formality so that parliament's lower house, now controlled by Hatoyama's party following a landslide election victory last month, can vote him in as prime minister. Hatoyama's victory ends more than 50 years of nearly unbroken rule by Aso's Liberal Democratic Party. Hatoyama, head of the left-of-center Democratic Party of Japan, has promised to shake up Japan's political system, cutting government waste, reinvigorating the world's second-largest economy and focusing policies on consumers, not big business.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama ended weeks of internal discontent with his leadership by announcing Wednesday that he would resign, a swift fall from grace for a politician who just eight months ago led his endemic opposition party to a historic victory. His collapse in approval ratings was prompted largely by his failure to deliver on a campaign promise to move a major U.S. military base off Okinawa's main island. The move was a centerpiece of Hatoyama's campaign for office last year, but its implementation would have required American consent to alter a painstakingly negotiated 2006 deal with the previous Japanese government before the base could be moved to another part of Okinawa.

Japan's parliament named Yukio Hatoyama prime minister Wednesday, as his party took power for the first time with promises to revive the slumping economy and make Tokyo a more equal partner in its alliance with the United States. The Stanford-educated Hatoyama said he planned to review the American military presence in Japan, where 50,000 U.S. troops are stationed. But he said he wouldn't emphasize that potentially contentious issue in a first meeting with President Obama that could come sometime this month.

Vowing to stay in office only a few more months to guide the response to the nation's ongoing nuclear crisis, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Thursday survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote aimed at driving him from power. Kan, who assumed his job about a year ago, cut a backroom political deal with members of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan only hours before the parliamentary vote was to take place. "I want the younger generation to take over my duties after I fulfill the role I should play in handling the disaster," a somber Kan told legislators.

— A small party decided to leave Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's ruling coalition over his broken campaign promise to move a U.S. Marine base off Okinawa island, and he faced angry calls to resign Sunday. The departure of the Social Democratic Party from the three-party coalition is unlikely to bring down the government led by Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan. But his poor handling could significantly hurt the Democrats' performance in upper-house elections expected in mid-July.

Professor Koji Murata likes to ask his political science students a tough policy question: Is it ever proper for a government to lie to its constituents? Class opinions vary, but Murata, a scholar of international security issues at Doshisha University in Kyoto, has his own view. "I think it's OK to lie to the public for the public good," he said. "As long as what you say is not contrary to national intent, really important secrets must be kept." The philosophical question has gained urgency in the wake of revelations here of a decades-old secret pact between Tokyo and Washington that allowed nuclear-armed U.S. naval vessels to dock at Japanese ports, despite laws here against it. For 40 years, the government denied the existence of the 1969 agreement between President Nixon and Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, the architect of Japan's post-World War II pacifism and staunch antinuclear policies.

Japan and South Korea today said North Korean leader Kim Jong-il must put actions ahead of words before his blacklisted nation can receive desperately needed financial and food aid. In a joint news conference in Seoul with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said they both agree that North Korea must take concrete steps to disarm its nuclear weapons program in order to be allowed to rejoin the...

The entire leadership of Japan's biggest opposition party will step down after a party member falsely accused the son of a ruling party leader of financial links with disgraced Internet company Livedoor, news reports said today. Seiji Maehara, head of the Democratic Party of Japan, and his secretary general, Yukio Hatoyama, told colleagues that they would resign, Kyodo News agency and national broadcaster NHK reported.

— A small party decided to leave Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's ruling coalition over his broken campaign promise to move a U.S. Marine base off Okinawa island, and he faced angry calls to resign Sunday. The departure of the Social Democratic Party from the three-party coalition is unlikely to bring down the government led by Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan. But his poor handling could significantly hurt the Democrats' performance in upper-house elections expected in mid-July.

Professor Koji Murata likes to ask his political science students a tough policy question: Is it ever proper for a government to lie to its constituents? Class opinions vary, but Murata, a scholar of international security issues at Doshisha University in Kyoto, has his own view. "I think it's OK to lie to the public for the public good," he said. "As long as what you say is not contrary to national intent, really important secrets must be kept." The philosophical question has gained urgency in the wake of revelations here of a decades-old secret pact between Tokyo and Washington that allowed nuclear-armed U.S. naval vessels to dock at Japanese ports, despite laws here against it. For 40 years, the government denied the existence of the 1969 agreement between President Nixon and Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, the architect of Japan's post-World War II pacifism and staunch antinuclear policies.

Japan and South Korea today said North Korean leader Kim Jong-il must put actions ahead of words before his blacklisted nation can receive desperately needed financial and food aid. In a joint news conference in Seoul with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said they both agree that North Korea must take concrete steps to disarm its nuclear weapons program in order to be allowed to rejoin the...

Japan's parliament named Yukio Hatoyama prime minister Wednesday, as his party took power for the first time with promises to revive the slumping economy and make Tokyo a more equal partner in its alliance with the United States. The Stanford-educated Hatoyama said he planned to review the American military presence in Japan, where 50,000 U.S. troops are stationed. But he said he wouldn't emphasize that potentially contentious issue in a first meeting with President Obama that could come sometime this month.

Prime Minister Taro Aso and his Cabinet resigned to pave the way for parliament to elect Yukio Hatoyama as the country's next leader. The resignations were a formality so that parliament's lower house, now controlled by Hatoyama's party following a landslide election victory last month, can vote him in as prime minister. Hatoyama's victory ends more than 50 years of nearly unbroken rule by Aso's Liberal Democratic Party. Hatoyama, head of the left-of-center Democratic Party of Japan, has promised to shake up Japan's political system, cutting government waste, reinvigorating the world's second-largest economy and focusing policies on consumers, not big business.

Top Japanese officials criticized Tokyo's governor Tuesday for saying foreigners could be expected to riot in the event of an earthquake and for using a derogatory World War II-era term for other Asians. Defense Agency Director Tsutomu Kawara dismissed Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's statement, which urged the nation's defense forces to prepare to step in if police need help in suppressing possible violence. "I don't believe that foreigners would riot," Kawara said.