Peter Ennis, formerly of The Oriental Economist, has picked the perfect time to start blogging.His take on the resignation can be found here.
Category: Observing Japan Blog
Discussing the resignation
I will be on Asia Squawkbox on CNBC Asia at 8:30am Japan time Thursday to discuss the implications of the resignation.
Regime change?
It seems that in addition to Hatoyama's resigning from the premiership, Ozawa Ichirō will resign as secretary-general of the DPJ.If Ozawa does resign — together with his lieutenants in various leadership positions within the DPJ with him — and actually manages to retire from politics and not try to run the party from the shadows, …
Was the coalition doomed from the start?
On Friday, Fukushima Mizuho, the head of the Social Democratic Party of Japan, refused to bow to the prime minister's decision to accept a modified version of the 2006 realignment agreement, forcing the prime minister to dismiss her from her position as minister responsible for consumer affairs.Not surprisingly, on Sunday the SDPJ decided that it …
Hatoyama accommodates the US on Futenma
It may have taken a few months longer than I expected, but it appears that the Hatoyama government may have finally accommodated itself to the 2006 agreement on the realignment of US forces. The US and Japanese governments have reached an understanding regarding the future of Futenma following Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to …
Why did Hatoyama go after Futenma first?
With little surprise, the Hatoyama government has decided to postpone a decision on the future of Futenma, after alienating both the Okinawan people and the US government with its indecisiveness on the issue. Reuters reports that after months of treating the end of May as the deadline for solving the dispute, the government has announced …
Returning soon
I realize that it has been some time since my last update. No reason for my absence other than having a lot to do for my "day" job.Posting to resume shortly.
A new dawn?
On Thursday, Masuzoe Yoichi, former minister of health, labor, and welfare and the most popular politician in Japan, will inform the LDP that he is exiting the party. On Friday, he will announce the formation of his own party (for now, the Masuzoe New Party), which is projected to have enough members to clear the …
On the Hatoyama government’s troubles
I have an op-ed in Friday's Wall Street Journal Asia on the Hatoyama government's struggles.You can find it here.
Washington continues to see Japan slipping away
Writing on the nuclear summit, Al Kamen, who pens a Beltway gossip column in the Washington Post, had the following to say about Hatoyama Yukio:By far the biggest loser of the extravaganza was the hapless and (in the opinion of some Obama administration officials) increasingly loopy Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. He reportedly requested but …
Continue reading Washington continues to see Japan slipping away
Tobias S. Harris 