From Ningin: Prime minister of Japan, Yukio Hatoyama, has been under a lot of pressure lately. His approval rating, which now stands at an embarrassing 24%, is now at an all time low. Keith Henry, a government affairs expert, says that, “As a politician, you want to have the focus on policy and your agenda. I think the press and the Japanese people have lost patience with him; patience to the extent that they’re no longer paying attention to his policy proposals because no one has faith in his ability to implement them.” More »

From Ningin: The “Nonexistent Youth” bill that is currently under construction in the Japanese congregation has been under some fire lately. Not only is there opposition from manga publishers but there are also lawmakers and politicians criticizing the bill for being vague and unclear. One such politician is the mayor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara. More »

From Ningin: The Japanese parliament has been debating regulation of explicit manga material for some time now. One current bill in debate is known as the “Nonexistent Youth” bill, which prohibits minors to buy explicit manga or anime material that feature characters that look or sound under the legal age limit. More »

Above: Yukio Hatoyama, banzai!

It’s been an exciting year for the Land of the Rising Sun: we’ve seen a significant political power shift, Japanese technology continues to both fascinate and frighten us; but their expatriates are still embarrassing them. So without further ado (drumroll puh-leaze) her are Japan’s Top Five News Stories of ‘09: More »

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