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Ex-LDP No. 2 man Takebe narrowly wins reelection

KITAMI, Japan - Tsutomu Takebe, a former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, bows to supporters in Kitami, Hokkaido, on Aug. 30 after losing in the No. 12 single-seat constituency of Hokkaido in the House of Representatives election. But Takebe regained a lower house seat in the proportional representation block.

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LDP lawmakers seek meeting of Diet members from both houses

TOKYO, Japan - Former secretaries general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party -- (from L to R) Koichi Kato, Hidenao Nakagawa and Tsutomu Takebe -- hold a press conference at the LDP's headquarters in Tokyo on July 16 after submitting 133 signatures from party legislators urging the LDP leadership to hold a meeting of a key decision-making panel within this week.

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LDP's Takebe leaves for Moscow to protest detention of boat

NARITA, Japan - Tsutomu Takebe, secretary general of Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party, prepares to leave Narita airport, east of Tokyo, for Moscow on Aug. 24 to protest last week's detention of a Japanese fishing boat north of Japan that involved a fatal shooting of a crew member.

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Tang says will make efforts to help resolve abduction issue

BEIJING, China - Tsutomu Takebe (L), secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, talks with Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on May 1.

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DPJ's Ota wins in Chiba by-election

TOKYO, Japan - Tsutomu Takebe (R), secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, speaks at a press conference at the LDP's headquarters in Tokyo on April 23 after LDP's candidate losing the House of Representatives by-election in the Chiba No. 7 constituency. At left is Tetsuzo Fuyushima, secretary general of the New Komeito party, LDP's coalition partner.

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Party leaders campaign in Chiba Prefecture

MATSUDO, Japan - New Komeito party Secretary General Tetsuzso Fuyushiba appeals to voters as his Liberal Democratic Party counterpart Tsutomu Takebe watches in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, on April 22 on the eve of a lower house by-election slated for April 23.

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Ruling coalition approves education law revision bill

TOKYO, Japan - Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (far right) hands a revision bill for the Fundamental Law of Education to Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe (2nd from L) as New Komeito party Secretary General Tetsuzo Fuyushiba (far left) and education minister Kenji Kosaka (2nd from R) watch at the prime minister's official residence on April 13.

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New DPJ leader Ozawa visits Koizumi

TOKYO, Japan - New Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa (L, front) visits Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (R, front) at the Diet building on April 10 after assuming the DPJ's presidential post. At left in background is DPJ Deputy President Naoto Kan and at right is LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe.

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Ozawa beats Kan to become new DPJ president

TOKYO, Japan - Seiji Maehara (L), Ichiro Ozawa (C) and Naoto Kan join hands at a Tokyo hotel on April 7 after Ozawa beat Kan in the Democratic Party of Japan's presidential election to replace Maehara. The election was called after Maehara stepped down over a scandal in which the DPJ attacked Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe on the basis of what turned out to be a fabricated e-mail.

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Okinawa Prefecture remains opposed to Futemma relocation plan

TOKYO, Japan - Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine speaks to reporters at Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on March 9 after talks with LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe. He said the Okinawa prefectural government remains opposed to a Japan-U.S. plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station within the prefecture.

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Okinawa Prefecture remains opposed to Futemma relocation plan

TOKYO, Japan - Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine (L) meets with Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (2nd from R) at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo on March 9. Inamine said the Okinawa prefectural government remains opposed to a Japan-U.S. plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station within the prefecture.

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Opposition lawmaker Nagata says e-mail allegation was groundless

TOKYO, Japan - Hisayasu Nagata (R), a Democratic Party of Japan member of the House of Representatives, bows in apology to Tsutomu Takebe, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, at the Diet on March 2 before the start of the lower house plenary session. Nagata said he made ''groundless'' and ''false'' allegations about Takebe's son based on a spurious e-mail message.

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DPJ thinks e-mail ruckus over, to pick Diet affairs chief quickly

TOKYO, Japan - Yoshihiko Noda (L), who will resign as Diet affairs chief of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, again apologizes at a party executives' meeting on March 1 for disrupting the Diet by alleging that Livedoor Co. founder Takafumi Horie had in an e-mail ordered a payment to a son of ruling Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe. DPJ is seeking to pick Noda's successor as early as possible as it believes the uproar about the e-mail allegation has been settled with the apology by DPJ lawmaker Hisayasu Nagata and executives of the party.

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'Assassin' Sato now head of LDP chapter in Gifu Pref.

GIFU, Japan - Ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Yukari Sato (far L) participates in a ceremony to open a branch office of the party in Gifu Prefecture on Dec. 4. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi fielded Sato in the September general election as one of his ''assassin'' candidates to defeat LDP rebels. Also taking part were LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (C) and Kuniko Inoguchi (front, in dark suit), state minister charged with declining birthrate issues.

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Koizumi gives Nakagawa key LDP post, retains Takebe, Kyuma

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, on Oct. 31 named Hidenao Nakagawa (R) as LDP Policy Research Council chairman, while retaining Tsutomu Takebe (C) as party secretary general and Fumio Kyuma (L) as General Council chairman. Photo shows the new LDP executives shaking hands after a news conference at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Oct. 31.

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101 lawmakers visit Yasukuni for fall festival

TOKYO, Japan - Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (2nd from R) and 100 lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties drink a cup of libation after visiting the war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Oct. 18 for its annual fall festival. They included 93 from the LDP, three from the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan and members of other parties, but no Cabinet members. Last year, 79 lawmakers of the nonpartisan group visited the Shinto shrine for the event.

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101 lawmakers visit Yasukuni for fall festival

TOKYO, Japan - Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (2nd from R) and 100 other lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties visit the war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Oct. 18 for its annual fall festival, just a day after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid a visit that sparked strong protests from China and South Korea.

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Koizumi's governing coalition certain to gain majority

TOKYO, Japan - Tsutomu Takebe (R), secretary general of Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party, puts an artificial rose on the name of the LDP candidate certain to win the House of Representatives election at LDP headquarters in Tokyo Sept. 11, with acting secretary general Sinzo Abe clapping.

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Consumption tax needs to be raised in FY 2007: LDP's Takebe

TOKYO, Japan - Tsutomu Takebe, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), briefs reporters on his comments on the consumption tax during a TV program at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Aug. 28.

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LDP ready to work with postal reform proponents in DPJ: Takebe

TOKYO, Japan - Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe speaks in an interview with Kyodo News at the LDP's headquarters in Tokyo on Aug. 22. Takebe indicated that the LDP is ready to cooperate with members of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan who support postal privatization after the Sept. 11 House of Representatives election.

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Nurse group exec Abe to run for LDP in Okayama vs. Hiranuma

TOKYO, Japan - Toshiko Abe (R), vice president of the Japanese Nursing Association, announces at a news conference in Tokyo on Aug. 20 aside LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe that she will run for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the upcoming Sept. 11 general election in an Okayama constituency where former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma is expected to run.

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Livedoor's Horie to run as independent

TOKYO, Japan - Livedoor Co. President Takafumi Horie (R) speaks at a press conference at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on Aug. 19, flanked by LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (L) and an LDP election poster featuring Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

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LDP won't endorse rebels even if coalition fails to win majority

TOKYO, Japan - Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe answer questions at a press conference at the LDP Headquarters in Tokyo on Aug. 13 after releasing a list of the first batch of candidates to be fielded by the party in the Sept. 11 general election.

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LDP won't endorse rebels even if coalition fails to win majority

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (L) leaves the office of Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (R) after talks on adjustment of candidates to be fielded by the party in the Sept. 11 general election. Takebe said later that LDP will not endorse party members who voted against postal privatization bills even if the LDP-led ruling coalition fails to win a majority in the election. He was referring to a practice of endorsing candidates as a party's official candidates after they won in an election.

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LDP begins to purge lawmakers who voted against postal bills

TOKYO, Japan - Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe speaks with journalists after meeting Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Aug. 10.

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Election campaign starts for Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly

TOKYO, Japan - Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe stumps in Tokyo's Taito Ward on June 24 as the election campaign for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly started on the day.

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LDP lawmaker withdrew shrine remark in China meeting: sources

BEIJING, China - Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (L) meets Wang Jiarui (R, front), head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, in Beijing on May 21. In the meeting, Takebe took back comments about Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine after facing anger from Wang, sources informed about Japan-China relations said May 23.

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(1)Hu warns China-Japan ties can suffer 'in an instant'

BEIJING, China - Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) greets Japanese new Komeito party Secretary General Tetsuzo Fuyushiba (L) as Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (C) watches in between them prior to their talks in Beijing on May 22.

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(2)Hu warns China-Japan ties can suffer 'in an instant'

BEIJING, China - Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) is in talks with Japanese Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (C) and new Komeito party Secretary General Tetsuzo Fuyushiba (L) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 22. Hu expressed concern over Japan's treatment of its wartime past and Taiwan, and warned that bilateral ties can be damaged ''in an instant,'' Takebe said later.

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Takebe meets with Tang

BEIJING, China - Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (L) and Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan pose for photos prior to their meeting in Beijing on May 21.

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(1)Takebe, Fuyushiba meet with China's Communist Party official

BEIJING, China - Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (L) and New Komeito Party Secretary General Tetsuzo Fuyushiba (2nd from L) meet with Wang Jiarui (R), head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee in Beijing on May 21.

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(2)Takebe, Fuyushiba meet with China's Communist Party official

BEIJING, China - Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (R) and Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, pose for photos prior to their meeting in Beijing on May 21.

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Takebe, Fuyushiba meet S. Korean president

SEOUL, South Korea - Tetsuzo Fuyushiba (L), secretary general of Japan's New Komeito party, shakes hands with South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun at the presidential Blue House in Seoul on May 6, with Tsutomu Takebe, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, looking on.

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(3)Campaigning begins for by-elections in Fukuoka, Miyagi

FUKUOAKA, Japsan - Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe addresses voters while campaigning for his party's candidate in a House of Representatives by-election in Fukuoka on April 12.

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LDP lawmaker to quit after arrest for alleged molestation

TOKYO, Japan - Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe is about to leave a press conference room March 10 after speaking on the arrest earlier in the day of LDP House of Representatives member Kazuyoshi Nakanishi on suspicion of molesting a woman. Takebe said Nakanishi expressed his intention to give up his lower house seat.

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(2)Coalition secretaries general return from Samawah

TOKYO, Japan - Ruling Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (R) listens as his New Komeito counterpart Tetsuzo Fuyushiba speaks at a press conference on Dec. 8 on their trip to Samawah, southern Iraq, ahead of the planned government extension of the mission of Japanese troops there.

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(1)Coalition secretaries general return from Samawah

NARITA, Japan - Ruling Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (R) and his New Komeito counterpart Tetsuzo Fuyushiba return to Narita airport, east of Tokyo, on Dec. 8 from a trip to Samawah, southern Iraq, ahead of the planned government extension of the mission of Japanese troops there.

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LDP secretary general sees Samawah situation as stable

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait - LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe speaks to reporters at a Kuwait City hotel Dec. 6 with Tetsuzo Fuyushiba, secretary general of the New Komeito party, standing at his left. They visited Japanese ground troops in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah to assess the security situation there.

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(1)LDP, Komeito secretaries general leave for Iraq to check security

NARITA, Japan - Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe is about to leave Narita airport, east of Tokyo, for Iraq on Dec. 5 to check the security situation in Samawah, where Japanese troops are based for reconstruction work.

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(2) 79 lawmakers including Takebe visit Yasukuni for fall festival

TOKYO, Japan - Seventy-nine lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties, including Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (R), visit Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine on Oct. 19 for its annual fall festival. ''I often visit the shrine when I'm off. It is my natural desire to pay homage at the shrine,'' Takebe told reporters after the visit.

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(1)79 lawmakers visit Yasukuni for fall festival

TOKYO, Japan - Seventy-nine lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties, including Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe (front R), visit Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine on Oct. 19 for its annual fall festival. No Cabinet members were among them.

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(4)Koizumi appoints new LDP leadership

TOKYO, Japan - Three new executives of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party shake hands after a press conference at the LDP's headquarters Sept. 27. Tsutomu Takebe (C) was named as the party's secretary general, Fumio Kyuma (L) was appointed as chairman of the decision-making General Council and Kaoru Yosano (R) was chosen as chairman of the Policy Research Council in the reshuffle of the party leadership by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizmi, who is also head of the LDP.

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(1)Koizumi appoints new LDP leadership

TOKYO, Japan - Former farm minister Tsutomu Takebe (file photo) is named Sept. 27 as secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the reshuffle of the LDP leadership.

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Oshima replaces Takebe as farm minister

TOKYO, Japan - Tadamori Oshima, newly appointed minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, enters the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Sept. 30. Oshima replaced Tsutomu Takebe in the shuffle of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet.

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Takebe unsatisfied with remedial steps by Nippon Meat

NAGAKUTE, Japan - Farm minister Tsutomu Takebe expresses dissatisfaction Aug. 21 in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture, with the remedial steps taken by Nippon Meat Packers Inc. the previous day over its subsidiary's abuse of a state-run beef-buyback program.

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(4)Gov't set to file fraud charges against Nippon Meat

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Meat Packers Inc. President Hiroji Okoso answers reporters after meeting farm minister Tsutomu Takebe following reports that a unit of the firm disguised imported beef as domestic in a state-run beef-buyback scheme introduced after mad cow disease emerged in Japan.

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(3)Gov't set to file fraud charges against Nippon Meat

TOKYO, Japan - Farm minister Tsutomu Takebe speaks at a news conference Aug. 7 after meeting Nippon Meat Packers Inc. executives over reports that a unit of the firm disguised imported beef as domestic in a state-run beef-buyback scheme introduced after mad cow disease emerged in Japan.

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'Quint' ministers at odds after wrapping up 2-day Nara meeting

NARA, Japan - Agriculture ministers from five major farm trading economies -- (from L to R) Warren Truss of Australia, Lyle Vanclief of Canada, Ann Veneman of the U.S., Tsutomu Takebe of Japan and EU Commissioner Franz Fischler -- pose for a photo session in Nara, western Japan, on July 27. The five ministers remain divided over how to cut farm tariffs and subsidies after their two-day meeting.

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(4)Quint farm ministers meeting begin in Nara

NARA, Japan - Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe (L) and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman pose for a photograph prior to their talks in Nara on July 26.

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(3)Quint farm ministers meeting begin in Nara

NARA, Japan - Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe (L) and European Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries Franz Fischler shake hands at the beginning of their talks in Nara on July 26. Japan and the EU confirmed their opposition to a set of farm tariff and subsidy cut proposals unveiled by the United States the previous day.