The Aso government, looking to hasten the passage of the FY2009 budget (the third stage of Prime Minister Aso's plan to overcome the recession), has promised to accelerate the timetable for introducing the ban on the practice of amakudari and the related practice of watari, whereby a retired bureaucrat wanders to other employers who might …
Continue reading Can the LDP — or anyone — eradicate amakudari?
Prime Minister Aso Taro, having had his second stimulus package pass the Diet Tuesday, appeared before the Diet on Wednesday to deliver his latest policy address.Rhetorically, the address contains few surprises. In the opening sections, in which Mr. Aso addressed the principles behind his policies. He spoke of the "once in a century economic crisis" …
Perhaps one of the positive consequences of Japan's economic crisis is that it has silenced Japan's conservatives.By silenced I do not mean literally silenced — they're still fulminating. What I mean is that they have been rendered irrelevant by events. Despite their media power, their ability to churn out a seemingly infinite amount of books, …
http://youtube.com/v/VjnygQ02aW4The impression I got from watching President Barack Obama's inaugural address is that he is acutely aware of the burden that has now fallen upon his shoulders.But I also think that in this address he accomplishes what Prime Minister Aso Taro has thus far failed to do. He does not hesitate to state his appreciation …
The upper house has begun debating the Aso government's second stimulus package and its controversial proposal to distribute roughly two trillion yen to Japanese citizens, 12,000 yen (US$132) per person in the hope of restarting the Japanese economy.At the same time, the LDP is in the midst what could be the climactic battle in a …
The LDP and the DPJ had their annual conventions in Tokyo over the weekend, steeling their resolve for the Diet session already underway and the general election that will occur within the year.For the second straight year, the incumbent LDP president and prime minister told the party faithful that the "responsible governing party" (how the …
The bad news keeps coming for Prime Minister Aso Taro.He has been hit with another wave of negative poll results. In Yomiuri, his approval rating is a hair over 20%, while his disapproval has broken 70%, rising to 72.3%. In the same poll, Ozawa Ichiro remains gained another three points in the question of who …
I am waiting in the departure lounge at JFK in New York for my flight to Tokyo. In the mean time, here is another contribution from Noah Smith. - TSHTaro Aso, speaking before a parliamentary committee, recently said that "Japan's belief in hard work contrasted with that of the Judeo-Christian tradition," and that world religions …
Continue reading Work equals force times distance (Noah Smith)
It appears that Watanabe Yoshimi is nearing a decision regarding his future in the LDP. With the second stimulus package scheduled to come to a vote on January 13, Mr. Watanabe could leave the LDP in a matter of days.Mr. Watanabe appears to be working hard to exacerbate tensions with the LDP. Not surprisingly, the …
After an abbreviated recess, the Diet will reconvene today for its 2009 ordinary session.The situation facing Aso Taro, his party, and his country is dire, and growing darker by the day. The latest development is the tent village — is it appropriate to call it an Asoville or Aso-mura? — that has been growing in …
Tobias S. Harris 