George Bush, speaking to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, issued a challenge to Japan (and others):Today, more than 100 countries have fully or partially opened their markets to U.S. beef. The objective of this administration, however, is to make sure that they're better than partially opened, they're fully opened, including the countries like Japan and …
Tag: Abe Shinzo
Why Japan is losing friends
The Jiji wire service reports that the minister responsible for public relations at Japan's embassy in Washington has called out the Washington Post for its "mistakes" and "not understanding sufficiently" the positions of Prime Minister Abe and the Japanese government on the comfort women question in its recent editorial on the issue, discussed here.I suppose …
The Washington Post on Abe
The Washington Post published an editorial on Saturday criticizing Prime Minister Abe for his "double talk," pressing North Korea on abductions of Japanese citizens while denying the use of coercion by the Imperial Army in establishing "comfort women" stations.The conclusion:Mr. Abe may imagine that denying direct participation by the Japanese government in abductions may strengthen …
The Economist on the Japan-Australia agreement
The Economist this week weighs in on the Japan-Australia Security Declaration, the main point of which can be found halfway into the article: "...The louder the denials from both sides, the more evident is the main catalyst for the security pact: the rise of China."It's hard to deny that China's rise loomed large over security …
Continue reading The Economist on the Japan-Australia agreement
Free-for-all in the LDP
I want to call attention to this post by Adamu at Mutantfrog Travelogue, which thoroughly dissects the prevailing circumstances of the Abe Cabinet, including Abe's recent quashing of rumors hinting at a cabinet reshuffle.I just want to add a couple points to his cogent analysis.The problem, I think, with the Abe Cabinet is the Koizumi …
Dr. Pacifist and Mr. War Crime?
The consequences of Prime Minister Abe's indiscretions on the comfort women question continue to unfold, with this editorial in Korea's Chosun Ilbo, suggesting that Abe may have completely undone all of his diplomatic efforts with his remarks.Key paragraph:...Abe is not listening. He is listening to the recommendations of nationalistic lawmakers and considered launching a new …
Seen and heard at the Diet
I was in attendance at today's session of the Upper House's Budget Committee, where it was my boss's turn to question the government.I managed to see a line of questioning derived entirely from my own research posed to Prime Minister Abe and Defense Minister Kyuma, which was satisfying -- although the acoustics of the chamber …
The ‘comfort women’ issue explodes
The news today is that the Abe Cabinet, while apparently still respecting the 1993 Kono statement on the 'comfort women' issue, will not issue another apology, even if the US Congress passes a resolution calling for Japan to apologize.As suggested by two articles in South Korea's Chosun Ilbo -- found here and here -- Abe's …
The muddy waters of the post-Koizumi era
For those who want a general overview of the present state of Japanese politics -- what's changed, what hasn't -- check out this article by Tokyo University professor Kabashima Ikuo and PhD candidate Okawa Chihiro. Published at Japan Echo, a monthly journal that publishes translations of scholarly articles originally written in Japanese, Kabashima and Okawa …
Step back, Mr. Prime Minister
I want to call attention to Prime Minister Abe's email magazine from last week, in which he discusses seeing a performance by Noel Paul Stookey, onetime member of Peter, Paul, and Mary, of his new song "Song for Megumi," about Yokota Megumi, poster child of the abductions issue.Simply put, Abe's note shows just how far …
Tobias S. Harris 