Search｜Photos & Images & Videos｜KYODO NEWS IMAGES INC

Consumer affairs minister Yamaoka

TOKYO, Japan - Consumer affairs minister Kenji Yamaoka enters the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Jan. 6, 2012. Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura gave Yamaoka a verbal warning the same day over remarks he made on the possible collapse of the euro and the bursting of the Chinese economic ''bubble.''

E

Defense minister Ichikawa, consumer affairs minister Yamaoka

TOKYO, Japan - Combined file photo shows Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) and consumer affairs minister Kenji Yamaoka. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is set to remove Ichikawa and Yamaoka, who were both censured in parliament, from the posts possibly on Jan. 13, 2012, according to political sources.

E

Outgoing national public safety chief Yamaoka

TOKYO, Japan - Kenji Yamaoka, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission and consumer affairs minister, attends a press conference at the National Police Agency in Tokyo on Jan. 13, 2012. Yamaoka, who was censured in the House of Councillors in December, was replaced by senior vice transport minister Jin Matsubara the same day.

E

New consumer affairs minister Matsubara

Undated file photo shows senior vice transport minister Jin Matsubara. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda appointed Matsubara on Jan. 13, 2012, as public safety commission chief and consumer affairs minister, succeeding Kenji Yamaoka, who was censured in the House of Councillors in December.

E

Envoys shown film on girl kidnapped by N. Korean agents

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (front R) speaks after the screening for ambassadors in Tokyo on Dec. 16, 2011, of a documentary film of a Japanese girl kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1977. Left of Noda are (from R to L) Shigeru Yokota, father of the girl, Megumi, Shigeo Iizuka, head of a group of abductees' relatives, Megumi's mother, Sakie, and Cabinet minister for the abduction issue Kenji Yamaoka.

E

U.S. envoy Davies in Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - National Public Safety Commission chief Kenji Yamaoka (L), the state minister in charge of matters involving North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals, and U.S. special representative for North Korea policy Glyn Davies (R) hold talks at the Cabinet Office in Tokyo on Dec. 12, 2011.

E

Cabinet ministers Ichikawa, Yamaoka

TOKYO, Japan - Combined photo shows Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) and Kenji Yamaoka, who concurrently serves as minister of state for consumer affairs and food safety, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission and minister for the abduction issue. They were at a Cabinet meeting in the Diet building in Tokyo on the morning of Dec. 9, 2011. The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and its ally the New Komeito party submitted censure motions against them to the opposition-controlled upper house the same day.

E

Censure motions against 2 of Noda Cabinet members

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda at the Diet building in Tokyo on the morning of Dec. 9, 2011. The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and its ally the New Komeito party submitted censure motions against two of his Cabinet members -- Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa and consumer affairs minister Kenji Yamaoka -- to the opposition-controlled upper house the same day.

E

Consumer minister Yamaoka

TOKYO, Japan - Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety Kenji Yamaoka heads to a Cabinet meeting in the Diet building in Tokyo on the morning of Dec. 9, 2011. The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and its ally the New Komeito party submitted censure motions against Yamaoka, who also serves as chairman of the National Public Safety Commission and minister for the abduction issue, and against Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa to the opposition-controlled upper house the same day.

E

Censure motions against 2 Cabinet members

TOKYO, Japan - Upper house Diet affairs chiefs Masashi Waki (R) of the Liberal Democratic Party and Yuichiro Uozumi (C) of the New Komeito party, submit censure motions against Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa and Kenji Yamaoka, who concurrently serves as minister of state for consumer affairs and food safety, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission and minister for the abduction issue, to Masafumi Hashimoto, secretary general of the upper house, at the Diet building in Tokyo on Dec. 9, 2011.

E

Defense Minister Ichikawa

TOKYO, Japan - Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa is pictured in the Diet building in Tokyo after attending a Cabinet meeting on the morning of Dec. 9, 2011. The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and its ally the New Komeito party submitted censure motions against Ichikawa and another Cabinet member, Kenji Yamaoka, to the opposition-controlled upper house the same day.

E

Yamaoka to head national public safety commission

TOKYO, Japan - Undated file photo shows Kenji Yamaoka, former Diet affairs chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, who will become chairman of the National Public Safety Commission in the new Cabinet under incoming Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Sept. 2, 2011.

E

DPJ execs attend meeting with gov't

TOKYO, Japan - (From L) Azuma Koshiishi, acting secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, Ichiro Ozawa, DPJ secretary general, and Kenji Yamaoka, chief of the DPJ parliamentary proceedings committee, attend a meeting with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and top officials of his government at the premier's office Jan. 11, 2010.

E

Opposition parties submit no-confidence motion against Cabinet

TOKYO, Japan - Kenji Yamaoka (3rd from R), chairman of the Diet Affairs Committee of the leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan, submits a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet to House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono at the Diet building in Tokyo on July 13.

E

Opposition parties submit no-confidence motion against Cabinet

TOKYO, Japan - Kenji Yamaoka (3rd from R), chairman of the Diet Affairs Committee of the leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan, submits a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet to House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono at the Diet building in Tokyo on July 13. (Kyodo)

E

DPJ execs attend meeting with gov't

TOKYO, Japan - (From L) Azuma Koshiishi, acting secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, Ichiro Ozawa, DPJ secretary general, and Kenji Yamaoka, chief of the DPJ parliamentary proceedings committee, attend a meeting with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and top officials of his government at the premier's office Jan. 11, 2010. (Kyodo)

E

Yamaoka to head national public safety commission

TOKYO, Japan - Undated file photo shows Kenji Yamaoka, former Diet affairs chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, who will become chairman of the National Public Safety Commission in the new Cabinet under incoming Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Sept. 2, 2011. (Kyodo)

E

Defense minister Ichikawa, consumer affairs minister Yamaoka

TOKYO, Japan - Combined file photo shows Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) and consumer affairs minister Kenji Yamaoka. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is set to remove Ichikawa and Yamaoka, who were both censured in parliament, from the posts possibly on Jan. 13, 2012, according to political sources. (Kyodo)

E

Consumer affairs minister Yamaoka

TOKYO, Japan - Consumer affairs minister Kenji Yamaoka enters the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Jan. 6, 2012. Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura gave Yamaoka a verbal warning the same day over remarks he made on the possible collapse of the euro and the bursting of the Chinese economic ''bubble.'' (Kyodo)

E

Censure motions against 2 of Noda Cabinet members

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda at the Diet building in Tokyo on the morning of Dec. 9, 2011. The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and its ally the New Komeito party submitted censure motions against two of his Cabinet members -- Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa and consumer affairs minister Kenji Yamaoka -- to the opposition-controlled upper house the same day. (Kyodo)

E

Censure motions against 2 Cabinet members

TOKYO, Japan - Upper house Diet affairs chiefs Masashi Waki (R) of the Liberal Democratic Party and Yuichiro Uozumi (C) of the New Komeito party, submit censure motions against Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa and Kenji Yamaoka, who concurrently serves as minister of state for consumer affairs and food safety, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission and minister for the abduction issue, to Masafumi Hashimoto, secretary general of the upper house, at the Diet building in Tokyo on Dec. 9, 2011. (Kyodo)

E

Cabinet ministers Ichikawa, Yamaoka

TOKYO, Japan - Combined photo shows Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) and Kenji Yamaoka, who concurrently serves as minister of state for consumer affairs and food safety, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission and minister for the abduction issue. They were at a Cabinet meeting in the Diet building in Tokyo on the morning of Dec. 9, 2011. The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and its ally the New Komeito party submitted censure motions against them to the opposition-controlled upper house the same day. (Kyodo)

E

Consumer minister Yamaoka

TOKYO, Japan - Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety Kenji Yamaoka heads to a Cabinet meeting in the Diet building in Tokyo on the morning of Dec. 9, 2011. The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and its ally the New Komeito party submitted censure motions against Yamaoka, who also serves as chairman of the National Public Safety Commission and minister for the abduction issue, and against Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa to the opposition-controlled upper house the same day. (Kyodo)

E

Defense Minister Ichikawa

TOKYO, Japan - Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa is pictured in the Diet building in Tokyo after attending a Cabinet meeting on the morning of Dec. 9, 2011. The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and its ally the New Komeito party submitted censure motions against Ichikawa and another Cabinet member, Kenji Yamaoka, to the opposition-controlled upper house the same day. (Kyodo)

E

Envoys shown film on girl kidnapped by N. Korean agents

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (front R) speaks after the screening for ambassadors in Tokyo on Dec. 16, 2011, of a documentary film of a Japanese girl kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1977. Left of Noda are (from R to L) Shigeru Yokota, father of the girl, Megumi, Shigeo Iizuka, head of a group of abductees' relatives, Megumi's mother, Sakie, and Cabinet minister for the abduction issue Kenji Yamaoka. (Kyodo)

E

U.S. envoy Davies in Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - National Public Safety Commission chief Kenji Yamaoka (L), the state minister in charge of matters involving North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals, and U.S. special representative for North Korea policy Glyn Davies (R) hold talks at the Cabinet Office in Tokyo on Dec. 12, 2011. (Kyodo)

E

Named consumer affairs minister Matsubara

TOKYO, Japan - Undated file photo shows senior vice transport minister Jin Matsubara. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced Matsubara on Jan. 13, 2012, as public safety commission chief and consumer affairs minister, succeeding Kenji Yamaoka, who was censured in the House of Councillors in December. (Kyodo)

E

Outgoing national public safety chief Yamaoka

TOKYO, Japan - Kenji Yamaoka, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission and consumer affairs minister, attends a press conference at the National Police Agency in Tokyo on Jan. 13, 2012. Yamaoka, who was censured in the House of Councillors in December, was replaced by senior vice transport minister Jin Matsubara the same day. (Kyodo)