HIV patients' advocate Kawada wins lower house Tokyo by-election

HIV patients' advocate Kawada wins lower house Tokyo by-election

TOKYO, Japan - Etsuko Kawada shakes hands with her hemophiliac son Ryuhei (L) on Oct. 22 after winning in a House of Representatives by-election in Tokyo's No. 21 single-seat constituency. A 51-year-old independent and longtime supporter of people with HIV, Kawada garnered 51,008 votes, beating three rivals including Sekiichi Kato of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who won 48,883. Kawada will fill a seat vacated by disgraced 38-year-old lawmaker Joji Yamamoto, who resigned from the Diet last month over fraud allegations.

DPJ's Hatoyama, Kan talk briefly after Yamamoto quits Diet

DPJ's Hatoyama, Kan talk briefly after Yamamoto quits Diet

TOKYO, Japan - Yukio Hatoyama (R), leader of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), talks briefly with DPJ policy chief Naoto Kan in the Diet building Sept. 8 after disgraced lawmaker Joji Yamamoto, under arrest on suspicion of fraudulently obtaining 20 million yen in government funds, submitted a resignation letter earlier in the day to House of Representatives Speaker Tamisuke Watanuki. Yamamoto, who recently also quit the DPJ, was once Kan's secretary.

DPJ to demand Yamamoto quit Diet over alleged fraud

DPJ to demand Yamamoto quit Diet over alleged fraud

TOKYO, Japan - Yukio Hatoyama (L), leader of the No. 1 opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), speaks at a meeting of party executives held in the Diet building Sept. 5. He said his party will demand lawmaker Joji Yamamoto resign from the House of Representatives following his arrest on suspicion of fraud.

Lawmaker Yamamoto detained

Lawmaker Yamamoto detained

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows a vehicle House of Representatives member Joji Yamamoto is believed to be in entering a detention house in Tokyo's Kosuge on the evening of Sept. 4. Yamamoto, 37, of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan, was arrested earlier in the day on suspicion of fraud in connection with his alleged misuse of a total of 20 million yen of his former secretary's state-paid salary.

DPJ's Hata meets the press after Yamamoto's arrest

DPJ's Hata meets the press after Yamamoto's arrest

TOKYO, Japan - Tsutomu Hata, secretary general of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), meets the press at the DPJ's headquarters in Tokyo on Sept. 4 after DPJ lawmaker Joji Yamamoto was arrested earlier in the day on suspicion of fraud in connection with his alleged misuse of his former secretary's state-paid salary.

Lawmaker Yamamoto arrested for alleged fraud

Lawmaker Yamamoto arrested for alleged fraud

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows Joji Yamamoto, a House of Representatives member of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan, who was arrested on Sept. 4 by prosecutors on suspicion of fraud in connection with his alleged misuse of a total of 20 million yen of his former secretary's state-paid salary. Yamamoto, 37, who represents Tokyo's No. 21 electoral district, has denied the allegation, investigative sources said. He left the DPJ shortly before his arrest.

DPJ to demand Yamamoto quit Diet over alleged fraud

DPJ to demand Yamamoto quit Diet over alleged fraud

TOKYO, Japan - Yukio Hatoyama (L), leader of the No. 1 opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), speaks at a meeting of party executives held in the Diet building Sept. 5. He said his party will demand lawmaker Joji Yamamoto resign from the House of Representatives following his arrest on suspicion of fraud.

2.5-year jail term sought for ex-lawmaker Yamamoto

2.5-year jail term sought for ex-lawmaker Yamamoto

TOKYO, Japan - Joji Yamamoto, a former House of Representatives lawmaker and former member of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, walks into the Tokyo District Court on Dec. 26. Prosecutors demanded a prison sentence of two and a half years for Yamamoto who is charged with defrauding the government of some 25.5 million yen in public funds by falsely registering a 51-year-old woman as a government-paid secretary.

Japanese politicians form group to revive older types of pop music

Japanese politicians form group to revive older types of pop music

Toshihiro Nikai (C), chairman of the General Council of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is flanked by people including TV personality Korokke (far L), renowned enka ballad singers Eiko Segawa (2nd from L), Ryotaro Sugi (3rd from R) and Joji Yamamoto (far R) at the Diet building in Tokyo on March 23, 2016. They attended the inaugural meeting of a group formed by more than 50 ruling and opposition politicians to boost the popularity of enka and kayokyoku, which are older types of Japanese popular music, with Nikai assuming the chairmanship of the nonpartisan group of lawmakers. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Ex-lawmaker Yamamoto guilty of fraud, gets 1.5 years in jail

Ex-lawmaker Yamamoto guilty of fraud, gets 1.5 years in jail

TOKYO, Japan - Joji Yamamoto (C), a former member of the House of Representatives, enters the Tokyo District Court building in Tokyo on Feb. 28. The court sentenced him to one and a half years in prison for fraudulent use of public funds from 1996 to 1999.

Ex-DPJ lawmaker Yamamoto pleads guilty to fraud charges

Ex-DPJ lawmaker Yamamoto pleads guilty to fraud charges

TOKYO, Japan - Joji Yamamoto, former Democratic Party of Japan member of the House of Representatives charged with fraud, walks into the Tokyo District Court on Nov. 10. He pleaded guilty at his first court hearing.

HIV patients' advocate Kawada wins lower house Tokyo by-election

HIV patients' advocate Kawada wins lower house Tokyo by-election

TOKYO, Japan - Etsuko Kawada shakes hands with her hemophiliac son Ryuhei (L) on Oct. 22 after winning in a House of Representatives by-election in Tokyo's No. 21 single-seat constituency. A 51-year-old independent and longtime supporter of people with HIV, Kawada garnered 51,008 votes, beating three rivals including Sekiichi Kato of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who won 48,883. Kawada will fill a seat vacated by disgraced 38-year-old lawmaker Joji Yamamoto, who resigned from the Diet last month over fraud allegations.

DPJ's Hatoyama, Kan talk briefly after Yamamoto quits Diet

DPJ's Hatoyama, Kan talk briefly after Yamamoto quits Diet

TOKYO, Japan - Yukio Hatoyama (R), leader of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), talks briefly with DPJ policy chief Naoto Kan in the Diet building Sept. 8 after disgraced lawmaker Joji Yamamoto, under arrest on suspicion of fraudulently obtaining 20 million yen in government funds, submitted a resignation letter earlier in the day to House of Representatives Speaker Tamisuke Watanuki. Yamamoto, who recently also quit the DPJ, was once Kan's secretary.

Lawmaker Yamamoto detained

Lawmaker Yamamoto detained

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows a vehicle House of Representatives member Joji Yamamoto is believed to be in entering a detention house in Tokyo's Kosuge on the evening of Sept. 4. Yamamoto, 37, of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan, was arrested earlier in the day on suspicion of fraud in connection with his alleged misuse of a total of 20 million yen of his former secretary's state-paid salary.

DPJ's Hata meets the press after Yamamoto's arrest

DPJ's Hata meets the press after Yamamoto's arrest

TOKYO, Japan - Tsutomu Hata, secretary general of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), meets the press at the DPJ's headquarters in Tokyo on Sept. 4 after DPJ lawmaker Joji Yamamoto was arrested earlier in the day on suspicion of fraud in connection with his alleged misuse of his former secretary's state-paid salary.