Yukio Hatoyama

TOKYO - Japan’s incoming leader said yesterday that he told President Obama that the two countries’ security alliance is the “foundation’’ of his nation’s foreign relations, an apparent attempt to ease concerns his new government may try to distance itself from Washington. Yukio Hatoyama, whose party won a resounding victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, and Obama spoke by telephone for about 12 minutes, Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan said on its website.

TOKYO — His popularity dented, Prime Minister Naoto Kan toned down his tax increase talk on the eve of parliamentary elections today that are widely considered a referendum on the Democrats’ 10 months in power. Candidates traveled in campaign vans, speakers blaring and aides waving out of windows, stopping here and there to give speeches throughout the country yesterday. The balloting, in which half the seats in the 242-member upper house are up for grabs, will not directly affect the ruling Democratic Party of Japan’s grip on power because it has a hefty majority in...

WASHINGTON - Facing a daunting array of Asian challenges, President Obama left yesterday on his first major trip to the region, where a surging China and newly assertive Japan are chipping away at America’s standing on diplomacy and trade. Already the most-traveled first-year president, Obama took off for Tokyo on an Asian journey that will add four countries - Japan, China, Singapore, and South Korea - to the 16 he’s visited. The trip also will highlight a dramatically changing continent.

TOKYO — The man who appeared on the cusp yesterday of becoming Japan’s next prime minister is everything Yukio Hatoyama was not — decisive, outspoken, and a populist with common roots. A day after Hatoyama’s sudden resignation, Finance Minister Naoto Kan emerged as the only major candidate to lead the country, with potential key rivals throwing their support to the 63-year-old political veteran. The ruling Democratic Party of Japan will hold party elections today to choose a new leader to replace Hatoyama, who succumbed to public disgust over broken campaign promises after just eight...

TOKYO - Japan’s prime minister said yesterday he will press for more equal ties with Washington this year, the 50th anniversary of a joint security treaty that grants many special privileges to US troops stationed in the country. Yukio Hatoyama, in a New Year’s speech shown live on national television, said he hopes the alliance will evolve to become more open and candid. It is important “for both sides to be able to firmly say what needs to be said, and to increase the relationship of trust,’’ he said.

TOKYO — The man who appeared on the cusp yesterday of becoming Japan’s next prime minister is everything Yukio Hatoyama was not — decisive, outspoken, and a populist with common roots. A day after Hatoyama’s sudden resignation, Finance Minister Naoto Kan emerged as the only major candidate to lead the country, with potential key rivals throwing their support to the 63-year-old political veteran. The ruling Democratic Party of Japan will hold party elections today to choose a new leader to replace Hatoyama, who succumbed to public disgust over broken...

TOKYO — His popularity dented, Prime Minister Naoto Kan toned down his tax increase talk on the eve of parliamentary elections today that are widely considered a referendum on the Democrats’ 10 months in power. Candidates traveled in campaign vans, speakers blaring and aides waving out of windows, stopping here and there to give speeches throughout the country yesterday. The balloting, in which half the seats in the 242-member upper house are up for grabs, will not directly affect the ruling Democratic Party of Japan’s grip on power...

TOKYO -- Fresh off a spectacular election win, Japan's opposition demanded yesterday that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resign, opposed his support of US foreign policy, and promised to gain leadership of the world's second-largest economy. A defiant Abe clung to his job despite Sunday's humiliating loss in parliamentary elections, warning of a political vacuum if he were to quit and instead announcing he will make changes soon in his scandal-riddled Cabinet. "I cannot run away now," Abe told reporters as he dismissed mounting public pressure...

WASHINGTON - Call it a star party with real star power. The White House set up 20 telescopes, an inflatable dome with a three-dimensional video tour of the universe, and displays of moon rocks and meteorites as President Obama was hosting a South Lawn star party for about 150 middle schoolers last evening. It was a nearly cloudless night ideally suited for looking into the cosmos - if only the city lights were not around to obscure the best views. And if the moon, Jupiter, stars, and the entire universe were not enough, the party also...

BEIJING — China executed a Japanese man for drug smuggling, the country’s top court announced yesterday, the first execution of a Japanese citizen since the countries established relations in 1972. The Supreme People’s Court said Mitsunobu Akano was executed in Liaoning Province after being convicted of trying to smuggle drugs from China, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. It gave no other details. Japanese media reports said that Akano was 65 and that three other Japanese men are on death row in China for drug smuggling.

TOKYO - Japan’s prime minister said yesterday he will press for more equal ties with Washington this year, the 50th anniversary of a joint security treaty that grants many special privileges to US troops stationed in the country. Yukio Hatoyama, in a New Year’s speech shown live on national television, said he hopes the alliance will evolve to become more open and candid. It is important “for both sides to be able to firmly say what needs to be said, and to increase the relationship of trust,’’ he said.

WASHINGTON - Facing a daunting array of Asian challenges, President Obama left yesterday on his first major trip to the region, where a surging China and newly assertive Japan are chipping away at America’s standing on diplomacy and trade. Already the most-traveled first-year president, Obama took off for Tokyo on an Asian journey that will add four countries - Japan, China, Singapore, and South Korea - to the 16 he’s visited. The trip also will highlight a dramatically changing continent.

TOKYO - Japan’s incoming leader said yesterday that he told President Obama that the two countries’ security alliance is the “foundation’’ of his nation’s foreign relations, an apparent attempt to ease concerns his new government may try to distance itself from Washington. Yukio Hatoyama, whose party won a resounding victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, and Obama spoke by telephone for about 12 minutes, Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan said on its website.

TOKYO -- Fresh off a spectacular election win, Japan's opposition demanded yesterday that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resign, opposed his support of US foreign policy, and promised to gain leadership of the world's second-largest economy. A defiant Abe clung to his job despite Sunday's humiliating loss in parliamentary elections, warning of a political vacuum if he were to quit and instead announcing he will make changes soon in his scandal-riddled Cabinet. "I cannot run away now," Abe told reporters as he dismissed mounting public pressure to...

MUMBAI - A fire broke out in a chemical laboratory at India’s main nuclear research facility yesterday, killing at least two people, an official said. The fire was extinguished within 45 minutes at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center on the outskirts of Mumbai, the country’s financial and entertainment capital, said S.K. Malhotra, a spokesman for the center. Malhotra said no nuclear reactor or radioactivity was involved. Police were investigating the cause of the fire, he said.

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp. president Akio Toyoda met with the prime minister yesterday and promised to restore trust in the automaker’s cars as it embarks on a broad campaign to repair its tarnished reputation. Toyoda pledged to improve quality controls in his meeting with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and other government officials. “I explained that we will work hard to once again become a more transparent and customer-focused company,’’ Toyoda told reporters following the meeting.