As expected, Mr. Abe went to Indian Parliament on Wednesday and called for "a 'broader Asia' partnership of democracies that would include India, the United States and Australia but leave out the region's superpower, China." (Reuters)At an earlier point in my intellectual development, I might have praised Japan's pushing for an organization of Asian democracies, …
Tag: Abe Shinzo
What does Abe’s trip mean for Japan and Asia?
Much is being made of Prime Minister Abe's trip to India, where he is scheduled to address India's parliament today.The trip will likely feature lots of talk of the values shared by Japan and India, naturally to contrast both Asian powers with China.I remain less than convinced that Japan and India will be able to …
Continue reading What does Abe’s trip mean for Japan and Asia?
While Abe’s away…
Prime Minister Abe, on tour in South and Southeast Asia, has left behind a political situation in Tokyo in which the only certainty is Mr. Abe's continuing ability to say no to those who want him to step down.But in Mr. Abe's absence, his opponents are, as expected, on the move.Mr. Ozawa, speaking to assembled …
Beautiful no more
Since election night, there has been a conspicuous absence from the pronouncements of the Abe government: we no longer hear Mr. Abe speaking of building a "beautiful country."Mainichi suggests that the Abe camp has been reflecting on the meaning of the slogan, despite Abe's assertion that he doesn't think the election results repudiated his "course …
More prime ministerial trouble
With Prime Minister Abe set to depart on his latest diplomatic jaunt on August 19th, the situation in Tokyo continues to worsen.The latest scandal involves Defense Minister Koike Yuriko, who is in a showdown with Administrative Vice Minister Moriya Takemasa, a long-serving defense bureaucrat who rose from within the ministry's ranks (instead of being seconded …
Ambassador Schieffer, stand down please
J. Thomas Schieffer, US ambassador to Japan, is continuing with his campaign to convince the DPJ to change its opposition to the extension of the anti-terror special measures law, giving interviews to major dailies on the spat between the US and the DPJ. (Mainichi interview here; Asahi interview here.)The message is more or less the …
A step forward?
It seems that incumbent LDP Diet Strategy Committee Chairman Nikai Toshihiro is being considered as Shiozaki Yasuhisa's replacement as chief cabinet secretary. Nikai, a onetime member of the Takeshita faction (like Ozawa) who left the LDP to join former Prime Minister Hosokawa's Japan Renewal Party in 1993 and served as a vice-minister in Hosokawa's cabinet, …
Abe to Mori: Do shut up
Prime Minister Abe, channeling his buddy George "the Decider" Bush, has responded to former Prime Minister Mori's "recommendations" for the composition of his next cabinet by reminding Mori who is responsible for the government. "I am the one person who must decide," he said.While I'm not exactly sad to see the authority of an old …
Mori keeps talking; will Abe listen?
Former Prime Minister Mori took his campaign against Prime Minister Abe to the airwaves on Sunday, appearing on Japan's Sunday morning talk shows to talk about the coming cabinet reshuffle.The most headline-worthy portion of his remarks, based on articles in the major dailies, seems to be his call for Chief Cabinet Secretary Shiozaki to be …
Paradigm shift in the offing?
With political Japan in vacation mode, the decision by the DPJ leadership to oppose extension of the anti-terrorism special measures law continues to cast a shadow over the alliance. Defense Minister Koike's visit to Washington seems to have done little to ease American fears — her speech at CSIS, available online here, seems to contain …
Tobias S. Harris 