by Hiroshi Hiyama Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo’s popular governor Yuriko Koike launched a bitter attack on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Tuesday as the gloves came off for the official start of a snap election campaign in the world’s third-largest economy. Conservative premier Abe, 63, is facing an unexpected and fierce challenge from the media-savvy Koike, who has upended the sleepy world of Japanese politics with her upstart “Party of Hope.” Addressing hundreds of commuters at […]

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) — Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on Sunday (October 8) her new party aims to offer voters a “middle of the fairway” choice, seeking to differentiate her group from ruling, conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and smaller, left-leaning opposition parties. Koike’s Party of Hope has emerged as a formidable challenge to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) at the Oct. 22 election, promising to freeze a planned 2019 sales tax […]

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s lead in next month’s election has shrunk as the popular Tokyo governor pushes to unite opposition forces, a survey by Japan’s top-selling daily indicated Saturday. Thirty-four percent of Japanese plan to vote for Abe’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) while 19 percent favor a party formed this week by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, according to the poll in the Yomiuri Shimbun. It also showed one quarter of […]