Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya has arrived in Hawaii for a Tuesday morning meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Following weeks of bilateral acrimony, the two will discuss negotiations to strengthen bilateral cooperation on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the US-Japan mutual security treaty, signed fifty years ago this month.For the moment …
Year: 2010
Kan will replace Fujii
As expected, Fujii Hirohisa announced his resignation as finance minister on Wednesday. Hatoyama Yukio wasted no time naming his replacement: Kan Naoto will shift over to the finance ministry, and Sengoku Yoshito will take over for Kan as head of the national strategy bureau while continuing to run the government revitalization unit.Kan's appointment was to …
Masuzoe threatens the LDP
In a press conference at LDP headquarters Tuesday, Masuzoe Yoichi, the upper house member and former cabinet minister who is one of a handful of politicians respected by the public, said that while he will try to do what he can within the LDP, he said that his ultimate aim is a political realignment — …
Fujii will depart
On Tuesday, Fujii Hirohisa, the seventy-seven-year-old finance minister who was hospitalized late last year, indicated that he will in all likelihood resign his post sometime soon. While he is officially waiting for his doctor's advice on his health, Fujii seems determined to resign.In trying to dissuade Fujii from leaving, Prime Minister Hatoyama said that since …
The unrealistic DPJ?
In the Wall Street Journal, Ian Bremmer and Nouriel Roubini recently warned of the dangers of the Hatoyama government's "unrealistic" policies and advising Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio to follow Barack Obama's lead.Hatoyama, they tell us, needs to face up to reality. He "needs to become 'Hatobama,' a pragmatist ready to disappoint ideological allies and assuage …
Tobias S. Harris 