I have previously discussed how the Abe Cabinet has reverted to form in the cabinet's relationship with the LDP; I have also discussed how Abe has essentially put his predecessor's structural reform ideas on hold.Asahi picked up this narrative on Sunday, in an editorial on the government's recently issued fiscal policy draft proposal, asking whether …
Tag: Abe Shinzo
Japan’s values void
Harold James, a remarkably erudite historian at Princeton and author of The End of Globalization: Lessons from the Great Depression, has a piece at Project Syndicate entitled "The Return of 'Asian' Values," in which he discusses Fujiwara Masahiko's The Dignity of the State (previously discussed here).While James raises interesting questions about the foundations of capitalism, …
Free fall
If there were any lingering doubts about the drop in the Abe Cabinet's popularity, the latest Yomiuri poll should dispel those — Yomiuri found that the government's popularity fell to 32.9%, and its unfavorable rating rose to 53.7%.It also confirmed the Asahi's finding that the LDP and DPJ are running even in electoral districts, and …
Not a thing to say?
Following yesterday's sharp discrepancies between Asahi and Yomiuri in coverage of alleged GSDF spying on Japanese anti-war activists, it is interesting to see how both have stuck (or not) with this story.In Asahi, there were two brief articles, one regarding JCP Chairman Shii Kazuo's response to Defense Minister Kyuma's reaction to the report, the other …
Stirrings in Heiligendamm
Prime Minister Abe and President Putin met on Thursday evening (Friday morning, Japan time) as planned and discussed what seems like every outstanding issue in Russo-Japanese relations: fishing rights, the Northern Territories, the development of Siberia's energy resources, and a Russo-Japanese peace treaty.Few conclusions, however, were reached, and it seems that there will be no …
George and Shinzo, together again
So old chums George and Shinzo have gotten together again, this time in Heiligendamm on the sidelines of the G8 summit, to chat about their mounting unpopularity abductions (surprise! Bush still supports Abe's position) and climate change.I wish, I wish, I wish I could rouse up some interest in what's happening in Germany, aside from …
Into the realm of the symbolic
While I obviously recognize that Asahi and Yomiuri approach public affairs from drastically different perspectives, I have never thought that they were living in different worlds.Until today.In Asahi, prominently featured on the front page, was an article on a Japanese Communist Party report suggesting that a special Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces (JGSDF) unit conducted surveillance …
How to make Japan more beautiful with just 155 promises
The LDP has released its platform for next month's Upper House elections, 155 promises to build a beautiful country, society, livelihood, and furusato (not to mention "beautifully vigorous regions living in symbiosis with nature" [no. 52]).As the puerile overuse of the word beautiful [Ed. — At least it's not kawaii (cute); hey, kawaii kuni e …
Continue reading How to make Japan more beautiful with just 155 promises
Caption contest!
The following picture, in an advertisement in Asahi, made me laugh louder than is perhaps appropriate on a train:I immediately began to think of hilarious ways to caption this photo, but instead I thought I might turn it over to you, my readers. Over the next week, email your captions to observingjapan@gmail.com. I will post …
Reverting to form
The responses of both the LDP and the DPJ to the unfolding pensions scandal are illustrative, depressingly, of how little the Japanese political system has changed.The LDP's response has been nothing short of all-out panic. With Upper House elections little more than a month away, the LDP is trying to kill this issue as quickly …
Tobias S. Harris 