Germany's Prime Minister Angela Merkel, in Tokyo for talks with Prime Minister Abe, has called on the DPJ to consent to Japan's continuing its offshore participation in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.It's about time that a leader of one of the dozens of countries in Afghanistan other than the US bothered to ask Japan to continue …
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.
The battle over the anti-terror law begins in earnest
Facing a difficult battle over the extension of the anti-terror special measures law, the new Abe-Yosano-Aso-Machimura cabinet has set to work on laying the groundwork for a compromise with the DPJ that will enable the JSDF to continue to participate in the multinational coalition in Afghanistan.Chief Cabinet Secretary Yosano has set to work by calling …
Continue reading The battle over the anti-terror law begins in earnest
No magic bullet
The first opinion polls for the new cabinet are out, and the second Abe Cabinet's unfavorable rating still top the favorable rating by a considerable margin.In fact, both Mainichi and Asahi have recorded the same figures: 33% supportive, 53% opposed. Asking supporters why they valued the new cabinet, Mainichi records that 39% answered that they …
What role will Masuzoe play?
"The leader's magnanimity, symbolized by the appointment of Mr. Masuzoe."That is the headline on a Mainichi article discussing the appointment of Masuzoe Yoichi as the new minister of healthy and welfare. Mr. Masuzoe, you will recall, was one of the fiercest critics of Mr. Abe's staying in office, arguing that the prime minister's decision ignored …
The press — for the most part — holds its praise
As the Japanese political world digests the newly announced cabinet reshuffle, the major dailies have each editorialized on the new cabinet, sounding some similar notes. Reading Asahi, Sankei, and Yomiuri, each editorial seemed pleasantly surprised by the quality of the individuals tapped by the prime minister for his new cabinet and the LDP executive. None, …
Continue reading The press — for the most part — holds its praise
Turning of the tide
Methinks that the momentum that the DPJ has enjoyed since the Upper House elections is about to dissipate.The new LDP leadership's first pronouncement has been to emphasize the need to cooperate with the opposition. Mr. Aso said today, "The important task given to the LDP is restoring confidence and effectively dealing with the people's insecurity …
The adults are back?
The new cabinet appointments have been dribbling out over the course of the afternoon — apologies for, literally, being out to lunch — and the first impression I get is that the collective experience of the new Abe cabinet is of experience and competence. And while Abe may have made it a point not to …
Who is missing from this group?
In Abe's Magical Democracy tour, there was lots of talk about cooperation between Japan, India, the US, and Australia — glorious Pacific-spanning cooperation among democracies.But what about South Korea, which last time I checked was a vibrant democracy whose people struggled to achieve it after decades of authoritarian rule?It seems that any organization of democracies …
Reshuffle day — LDP leadership
NHK has just announced the new LDP leadership, and in general it looks to be a better team than that which served for the past year.As expected, Aso Taro (Aso faction, 66) has been moved over to party headquarters to become LDP secretary-general; whether this will be a career cul-de-sac for Aso remains to be …
All signs point to stasis
Asahi published the results of a survey conducted with Tokyo University that looks at the policy positions of victorious LDP and DPJ candidates in the House of Councillors election. (The detailed study will be published in the October issue of Ronza.)Accompanied by one of those marvelously convoluted charts that Japanese newspapers seem to revel in …
Tobias S. Harris 