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

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 Defense Minister Ichikawa

TOKYO, Japan - Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa heads for a Cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Jan. 13, 2012. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has decided to replace Ichikawa with Naoki Tanaka, a ruling Democratic Party of Japan member in the House of Councillors, later in the day.

E

Tanaka to become new defense minister

TOKYO, Japan - Undated file photo shows Naoki Tanaka, a ruling Democratic Party of Japan member of the House of Councillors. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, DPJ chief, has decided to appoint Tanaka as defense minister, replacing Yasuo Ichikawa who was censured in the upper house in December 2011, DPJ lawmakers said Jan. 13, 2012.

E

Flags presented to GSDF troops ahead of S. Sudan mission

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) hands a flag to a member of the Ground Self-Defense Force at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Jan. 7, 2012, ahead of the deployment of the troops to South Sudan on a U.N. peacekeeping mission.

E

Japanese Defense Minister Ichikawa

TOKYO, Japan - Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa holds a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on Dec. 20, 2011.

E

Defense Minister Ichikawa

TOKYO, Japan - Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa is surrounded by reporters at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Dec. 9, 2011, after the House of Councillors adopted a censure motion against him over gaffes he and one of his ministry's officials made in connection with the U.S. military in Okinawa Prefecture.

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

Noda rejects dismissing defense minister

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (front) speaks during a session of the House of Representatives Budget Committee at the Diet building in Tokyo on Dec. 5, 2011. Noda said he wants Yasuo Ichikawa (back R) to stay on as defense minister despite growing calls for his resignation due to questions over his competence and responsibility in connection with an inflammatory comment by one of his ministry's senior officials.

E

Defense Minister Ichikawa

NAHA, Japan - Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa leaves the site of his press conference in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, in southern Japan on the night of Dec. 2, 2011. He held the conference after meeting with Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima at the prefectural government office in Naha to offer an apology over an indiscreet comment made by one of his ministry's officials. In reference to the government's plan to relocate a key U.S. military base in Okinawa, Satoshi Tanaka, chief of the Okinawa Defense Bureau, allegedly used a Japanese term implying an act of sexual violence against women.

E

Okinawa Gov. Nakaima

NAHA, Japan - Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima speaks with reporters after meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa at the prefectural government office in Naha on the night of Dec. 2, 2011. Ichikawa visited the governor to offer an apology over an indiscreet comment made by one of his ministry's officials. In reference to the government's plan to relocate a key U.S. military base in Okinawa, Satoshi Tanaka, chief of the Okinawa Defense Bureau, allegedly used a Japanese term implying an act of sexual violence against women.

E

Defense minister apologizes to Okinawa gov.

NAHA, Japan - Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) bows deeply to Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima (R front) in a gesture of apology over an indiscreet comment made by one of his ministry's officials at the prefectural government office in Naha on the night of Dec. 2, 2011. In reference to the government's plan to relocate a key U.S. military base in Okinawa, Satoshi Tanaka, chief of the Okinawa Defense Bureau, allegedly used a Japanese term implying an act of sexual violence against women.

E

Defense minister apologizes to Okinawa gov.

NAHA, Japan - Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima (R) stands up to terminate a meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) at the prefectural government office in Naha on the night of Dec. 2, 2011. Ichikawa visited the governor to offer an apology over an indiscreet comment made by one of his ministry's officials. In reference to the government's plan to relocate a key U.S. military base in Okinawa, Satoshi Tanaka, chief of the Okinawa Defense Bureau, allegedly used a Japanese term implying an act of sexual violence against women.

E

Japan, U.S. defense chiefs

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) and his U.S. counterpart Leon Panetta attend a joint press conference at the Japanese Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Oct. 25, 2011. Panetta was visiting Japan for the first time since becoming defense chief in July.

E

Japan, U.S. defense chiefs

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) and his U.S. counterpart Leon Panetta shake hands during their joint press conference at the Japanese Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Oct. 25, 2011. Panetta was visiting Japan for the first time since becoming defense chief in July.

E

Japanese, Vietnamese defense ministers

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) and his Vietnamese counterpart Gen. Phung Quang Thanh shake hands prior to their talks at the Japanese Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Oct. 24, 2011. They signed a memorandum for the enhancement of bilateral defense cooperation at the talks.

E

Japanese, Vietnamese defense ministers

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (R) and his Vietnamese counterpart Gen. Phung Quang Thanh shake hands after signing a memorandum for the enhancement of bilateral defense cooperation during their talks at the Japanese Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Oct. 24, 2011.

E

Defense Minister Ichikawa, Okinawa Gov. Nakaima hold talks

NAHA, Japan - Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) and Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima (R) hold talks at the prefectural government building in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on Oct. 17, 2011, on the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in the prefecture.

E

Noda expresses intention to send SDF unit to S. Sudan

OMITAMA, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (front L) and Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (2nd from L) attend an inspection ceremony at the Air Self-Defense Force's Hyakuri base in Omitama, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Oct. 16, 2011. Noda indicated at the ceremony that his government will send a Ground Self-Defense Force engineering unit to South Sudan in early 2012 to join U.N. peacekeeping operations.

E

U.S. envoy calls for base relocation

TOKYO, Japan - U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos (L) and Japan's new Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa shake hands before their meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sept. 9, 2011. The envoy called for the relocation of a key U.S. base within Okinawa at an early date in line with a bilateral accord.

E

Defense chief meets Okinawa governor

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's new Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) and Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima meet at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sept. 9, 2011.

E

Japanese Defense Minister Ichikawa

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's new Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa inspects Self-Defense Forces troops at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sept. 5, 2011.

E

Ichikawa to be defense minister

TOKYO, Japan - Undated file photo shows Yasuo Ichikawa, chief of the upper house policy board, who will become defense minister in the new Cabinet under incoming Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Sept. 2, 2011.

E

PM Kan receives foot-and-mouth disease report

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan (R) receives a report over the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki from Yasuo Ichikawa (L), chair of the agriculture and fisheries meeting in the Democratic Party of Japan, on Aug. 23, 2010, at the prime minister's office in Tokyo. The prefecture has asked Kan to support a fund to be set up to help revive local livestock farming.

E

Ozawa attends Diet after arrest of aides

TOKYO, Japan - Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa (C, back) talks to Vice Secretary General Yasuo Ichikawa (L, back) at the opening ceremony of the ordinary parliamentary session in Tokyo on Jan. 18, 2010. The opposition camp is set to attack the ruling party kingpin over a series of funds scandals during parliamentary debate.

E

(1)Five candidates vie for Nagano governor post

NAGANO, Japan - Former Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka (upper L), ousted from office by the prefectural assembly in July, and four challengers filed their candidacies on Aug. 15 to run in the Sept. 1 gubernatorial election. Tanaka's four opponents are Shu Ichikawa (upper C), Chozo Nakagawa (upper R), Keiko Hasegawa (lower L) and Hideyoshi Hashiba (lower R). They all run as independents.

E

Ishihara aide announces bid for Nagano governor

NAGANO, Japan - Shu Ichikawa, a board member of a Tokyo-based think tank led by Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, announces July 29 at a press conference in the Nagano prefectural government office in the city of Nagano that he will run in the Sept. 1 Nagano gubernatorial election to full the position left vacant by the ouster of Gov. Yasuo Tanaka.

E

Defense Minister Ichikawa, Okinawa Gov. Nakaima hold talks

NAHA, Japan - Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) and Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima (R) hold talks at the prefectural government building in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on Oct. 17, 2011, on the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in the prefecture. (Kyodo)

E

Noda expresses intention to send SDF unit to S. Sudan

OMITAMA, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (front L) and Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (2nd from L) attend an inspection ceremony at the Air Self-Defense Force's Hyakuri base in Omitama, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Oct. 16, 2011. Noda indicated at the ceremony that his government will send a Ground Self-Defense Force engineering unit to South Sudan in early 2012 to join U.N. peacekeeping operations. (Kyodo)

E

U.S. envoy calls for base relocation

TOKYO, Japan - U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos (L) and Japan's new Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa shake hands before their meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sept. 9, 2011. The envoy called for the relocation of a key U.S. base within Okinawa at an early date in line with a bilateral accord. (Kyodo)

E

Defense chief meets Okinawa governor

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's new Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) and Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima meet at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sept. 9, 2011. (Kyodo)

E

Japanese Defense Minister Ichikawa

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's new Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa inspects Self-Defense Forces troops at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sept. 5, 2011. (Kyodo)

E

Ichikawa to be defense minister

TOKYO, Japan - Undated file photo shows Yasuo Ichikawa, chief of the upper house policy board, who will become defense minister in the new Cabinet under incoming Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Sept. 2, 2011. (Kyodo)

E

PM Kan receives foot-and-mouth disease report

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan (R) receives a report over the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki from Yasuo Ichikawa (L), chair of the agriculture and fisheries meeting in the Democratic Party of Japan, on Aug. 23, 2010, at the prime minister's office in Tokyo. The prefecture has asked Kan to support a fund to be set up to help revive local livestock farming. (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

Flags presented to GSDF troops ahead of S. Sudan mission

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) hands a flag to a member of the Ground Self-Defense Force at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Jan. 7, 2012, ahead of the deployment of the troops to South Sudan on a U.N. peacekeeping mission. (Kyodo)

E

Defense Minister Ichikawa

TOKYO, Japan - Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa is surrounded by reporters at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Dec. 9, 2011, after the House of Councillors adopted a censure motion against him over gaffes he and one of his ministry's officials made in connection with the U.S. military in Okinawa Prefecture. (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

Noda rejects dismissing defense minister

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (front) speaks during a session of the House of Representatives Budget Committee at the Diet building in Tokyo on Dec. 5, 2011. Noda said he wants Yasuo Ichikawa (back R) to stay on as defense minister despite growing calls for his resignation due to questions over his competence and responsibility in connection with an inflammatory comment by one of his ministry's senior officials. (Kyodo)

E

Defense Minister Ichikawa

NAHA, Japan - Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa leaves the site of his press conference in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, in southern Japan on the night of Dec. 2, 2011. He held the conference after meeting with Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima at the prefectural government office in Naha to offer an apology over an indiscreet comment made by one of his ministry's officials. In reference to the government's plan to relocate a key U.S. military base in Okinawa, Satoshi Tanaka, chief of the Okinawa Defense Bureau, allegedly used a Japanese term implying an act of sexual violence against women. (Kyodo)

E

Defense minister apologizes to Okinawa gov.

NAHA, Japan - Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) bows deeply to Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima (R front) in a gesture of apology over an indiscreet comment made by one of his ministry's officials at the prefectural government office in Naha on the night of Dec. 2, 2011. In reference to the government's plan to relocate a key U.S. military base in Okinawa, Satoshi Tanaka, chief of the Okinawa Defense Bureau, allegedly used a Japanese term implying an act of sexual violence against women. (Kyodo)

E

Okinawa Gov. Nakaima

NAHA, Japan - Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima speaks with reporters after meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa at the prefectural government office in Naha on the night of Dec. 2, 2011. Ichikawa visited the governor to offer an apology over an indiscreet comment made by one of his ministry's officials. In reference to the government's plan to relocate a key U.S. military base in Okinawa, Satoshi Tanaka, chief of the Okinawa Defense Bureau, allegedly used a Japanese term implying an act of sexual violence against women. (Kyodo)

E

Defense minister apologizes to Okinawa gov.

NAHA, Japan - Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima (R) stands up to terminate a meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa (L) at the prefectural government office in Naha on the night of Dec. 2, 2011. Ichikawa visited the governor to offer an apology over an indiscreet comment made by one of his ministry's officials. In reference to the government's plan to relocate a key U.S. military base in Okinawa, Satoshi Tanaka, chief of the Okinawa Defense Bureau, allegedly used a Japanese term implying an act of sexual violence against women. (Kyodo)