There's been some discussion on this blog about how much responsibility the LDP bears for Japan's current economic woes. Has Japan been helplessly swept up in a crisis of America's making? Or did LDP policies leave Japan more vulnerable than necessary to the storms sweeping the global economy?The answer, as I see it, is "both." …
Author: Tobias S. Harris
Tobias Harris is Japan analyst at Teneo Intelligence. He is the author of a forthcoming biography of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
LDP members respond to Watanabe
Yamauchi Koichi, a first-term LDP member from Kanagawa's ninth district, making him a Koizumi child, has offered his response to Watanabe Yoshimi's leaving the LDP at his blog, a response that I think is typical of the Koizumi children as a whole.Mr. Yamauchi shares Mr. Watanabe's ideas of political and economic reform and is thus …
Aso the impervious?
The bad news keeps coming for Prime Minister Aso Taro.He has been hit with another wave of negative poll results. In Yomiuri, his approval rating is a hair over 20%, while his disapproval has broken 70%, rising to 72.3%. In the same poll, Ozawa Ichiro remains gained another three points in the question of who …
Work equals force times distance (Noah Smith)
I am waiting in the departure lounge at JFK in New York for my flight to Tokyo. In the mean time, here is another contribution from Noah Smith. - TSHTaro Aso, speaking before a parliamentary committee, recently said that "Japan's belief in hard work contrasted with that of the Judeo-Christian tradition," and that world religions …
Continue reading Work equals force times distance (Noah Smith)
"It’s the institutions" (Noah Smith)
Hi! First, of course, to introduce myself. My name is Noah Smith, and I'm an economics PhD student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (specialty: urban economics and macroeconomics). Between college and graduate school I lived in Osaka, Japan for 2.5 years, from 2003-2006, where I worked as an editor and also a …
A new contributor
I have decided to introduce a guest contributor to Observing Japan.Noah Smith is a Ph.D. student in economics at the University of Michigan, where he specializes in urban economics and macroeconomics. He has previously worked as an editor and research assistant in the economics department at Osaka University.In light of the global financial crisis, I …
Obama’s Asia team takes shape
The Japanese establishment is undoubtedly breathing a sigh of relief following the announcement of the Obama administration's prospective Asia policy team, including the ambassador to Japan.Not surprisingly, Kurt Campbell, reportedly close to Hillary Clinton, will succeed Christopher Hill as the assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific. Marine General Wallace Gregson (ret.), …
Watanabe to LDP: I’m outta here
It appears that Watanabe Yoshimi is nearing a decision regarding his future in the LDP. With the second stimulus package scheduled to come to a vote on January 13, Mr. Watanabe could leave the LDP in a matter of days.Mr. Watanabe appears to be working hard to exacerbate tensions with the LDP. Not surprisingly, the …
Recommended book: Curing Japan’s America Addiction, Morita Minoru
For Morita Minoru, a longtime political commentator, something is rotten in the state of Japan."Japanese politicians," he writes, "have made serving the American government a priority when they should be focused on serving the Japanese people. Japan has lost its sovereignty to the United States. Our nation has been invaded and occupied by invisible forces."The …
Continue reading Recommended book: Curing Japan’s America Addiction, Morita Minoru
More on the alliance
A brief comment I contributed to The Nelson Report has been reposted at East Asia Forum, here.
Tobias S. Harris 