In Asahi's latest opinion poll, the Aso cabinet's approval rating fell seven points to 41%, and its disapproval rating rose six points to 42%. The skepticism of nonaligned voters about Aso Taro continues to grow, at least in this poll: the approval rating among nonaligned voters fell seven points to 24% and rose seven points …
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.
Ozawa responds
Two days after Aso Taro issued his challenge to the DPJ to put country first, DPJ President Ozawa Ichiro delivered his rebuttal to Mr. Aso's address.The speech was mostly a repeat of his speech last month to the DPJ convention following his uncontested reelection as DPJ president.In contrast to Mr. Aso, he provided a series …
Aso the exhorter
Prime Minister Aso Taro officially opened the extraordinary session of the Diet with his first policy address.Press coverage of the speech has uniformly characterized it as taking to the offensive to the DPJ.In the first portion of the speech, Mr. Aso suggested that in its opposition to government plans, the DPJ has put the people's …
Aso’s beautiful country
MTC has a must-read post on a New York Times editorial rebuking Aso Taro for his "pugnacious" nationalism.Mr. Aso, MTC argues, differs from his fellow conservatives in his patriotism. Aso, he writes, "is infatuated with Japan, with what it is, whatever it might become. His is not the defensive possessiveness of an insecure man. He …
Aso aims for his base
It seems that in sweeping to office with the support of two thirds of the votes in the LDP presidential election, and with even more support among the party's rank-and-file supporters, Aso Taro has decided that the key to winning the next general election is...satisfying his electoral base?Has Mr. Aso been talking with Karl Rove?All …
The Japanese public decides to wait and see on Aso
On Sunday, I suggested that Aso Taro would not enjoy the honeymoon enjoyed by his predecessors upon becoming prime minister.Now that the first opinion polls are in, it is clear that the public is losing its tolerance for LDP inaction.There was talk that the Aso cabinet might receive public approval in the sixties; isn't that …
Continue reading The Japanese public decides to wait and see on Aso
Suicide pact
Mere days after the birth of the Aso cabinet, the LDP has unveiled its new posters featuring the new prime minister.One features the slogan, "Aso accomplishes." Another says, in words reminiscent of the LDP's 2007 election slogan, "First, economic growth." Notably, the posters feature not simply the party's name but the ambiguous phrase, "Aso LDP …
The end is nigh
I have previously speculated on the consequences of Aso Taro's becoming prime minister for the future of the LDP.In this post, for example, I wrote, "...If the conservatives retake control of the LDP under Mr. Aso and reunite with Mr. Hiranuma, that alliance could prove fatal for the LDP, as the readmission of Mr. Hiranuma …
Aso wins!
Aso Taro is the new president of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). As expected, he won in a landslide, receiving roughly two-thirds of all votes (351 of 527 votes).He received 217 of 386 parliamentary votes to 64 for Yosano Kaoru, 46 for Koike Yuriko, 36 for Ishihara Nobuteru, and 21 for Ishiba Shigeru.After rejecting him …
The prefectural vote
Yomiuri reports that Aso Taro's final tally in the prefectural voting was 134 out of 141 votes.Ishiba Shigeru received four, Yosano Kaoru received two, Ishihara Nobuteru received one, and Koike Yuriko received zero.Yomiuri has declared Mr. Aso the next LDP president, although the results of the vote among parliamentary members has not been announced yet.
Tobias S. Harris 