A commentator on my recent post on the China threat spoke of the "deliberate contamination of pet food," suggesting some kind of plot hatched in Beijing to flood the world market with dangerous goods. In other words, China's liberalization is a kind of trojan horse project by which China will undermine the global order and …
Month: July 2007
Is the government trying to lose the election?
Facing criticism about his government's decision to postpone discussion about the consumption tax to the autumn, Prime Minister Abe has decided that instead of doing his best George H.W. Bush impersonation — "read my lips" — he has decided to be ambivalent: "I will not say that we will not raise the consumption tax rate."Meanwhile, …
Continue reading Is the government trying to lose the election?
Combating the China threat thesis
Japan's Ministry of Defense has issued its first white paper as the Ministry of Defense, and it seems that this year's edition is unique in its focus on China as a threat to Japan.And it seems that the Yomiuri Shimbun is quite pleased by this, according to its editorial today. Citing America's debate on the …
Campaigning starts in earnest
With the campaign (unofficially) underway — thank you, public elections law — we are now in for a month of maneuvering and campaigning as government and opposition camps push for the seats necessary for an Upper House majority. Yomiuri's latest poll showed the DPJ enjoying a three-point edge over the LDP in proportional representation (25% …
When in doubt, talk about how to make Japan great again
"Now the vote likely will pivot on scandal and mismanagement of the country's enormous pension system. This is a shame. The election really should be about Mr. Abe's vision for a more activist international role for Japan."So says Michael Auslin, AEI's newest Japan scholar, whom I previously discussed in this post, in which I discussed …
Continue reading When in doubt, talk about how to make Japan great again
No one benefits from the pensions scandal?
The Asahi Shimbun published a chart today that shows public opinion regarding responses to the the pensions crisis (sadly, it does not appear to be online).Asked if they appreciated the Abe Cabinet's response to the pensions scandal, 59% of respondents said they did not appreciate it to 24% who did.That's not so surprising, but the …
Why does Japan need a pipeline?
Prime Minister Abe, in this week's mail magazine, echoes some of the media coverage of his appointment of Koike Yuriko as the new defense minister in describing her as a "pipeline" to the US: "Koike-san has pipelines to ministers responsible for defense and foreign policy in other countries, and she is well versed in security …
Giri giri election
The Japanese phrase giri giri means just barely — and so will go this election, either just barely for the government or just barely for the opposition.I see no other way to call it, especially after reading David Pilling's analysis of the election in the FT, which asks, "Is it over for Japan's Abe?" For …
Calling out the generalissimo
The DPJ has issued another campaign flier featuring a comic strip that tells the story of how the Abe government learned of disappearing pension payments in December 2006 and covered it up until questioned by DPJ Diet members in May.Here is the last panel:This panel asks, "For what purpose is the election postponed?" In the …
Kyuma who?
In a move so blindingly obvious it hurts, Koike Yuriko, Abe's highly touted "national security adviser," has been appointed as the new defense minister.With a new boss appointed to Ichigaya within hours of Kyuma's resignation, one wonders whether they will also be airbrushing Kyuma out of pictures from the past nine months.It will be curious …
Tobias S. Harris 