AS we near the end of 2012 and prepare for 2013, the Tokyo Journal Winter Edition Issue #270 is about to hit the shelves. Storefronts are decorated in Christmas cheer and year-end parties are certainly near. Although the year’s end is usually a time for closure, there is much astir in Tokyo this winter.
In Politics
On December 16, elections will be held for Japan’s lower house of parliament. Pundits predict a comeback for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) led by conservative Shinzo Abe, Japan’s 90th prime minister who stepped down in 2007 after only one year in office.