Robert Dujarric of Temple University Japan had an op-ed in the Japan Times Wednesday in which he argued, "Japanese society may have problems but nationalism is not one of them."He argues:Regardless of the metric used, Japan scores very low on nationalism. Its investment in its armed forces as a percentage of national income is small, …
Tag: Japanese conservatism
What’s normal?
William Gibson (previously discussed here) gave an interview to the science fiction site io9 recently in which he discussed the politics of his latest book, Spook Country.One comment in particular caught my eye. Asked about Canada, his adopted home since fleeing the US to escape the draft, he said:Canada is set up to run on …
The balkanization scenario
Sasayama Tatsuo, onetime HR member from Akita who followed Ozawa Ichiro out of the LDP in 1993 and remained with him through the New Frontier and Liberal party eras before losing his seat in 2000, has an idea for the future of the LDP that has the virtue of at least being different.Mr. Sasayama has …
Realignment scenarios
After months of talking about forming a new party, Hiranuma Takeo, a leading LDP postal rebel who spurned LDP efforts to bring him back into the party during the Abe era, may finally be taking steps to create a new conservative party that may yet be a fly in the LDP's ointment.Mr. Hiranuma has reportedly …
Fear and loathing in the wake of Hu’s visit
As Jun Okumura notes, a poll by Fuji TV's Hodo 2001 program found that Fukuda Yasuo gained nothing from Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Japan last week.The poll recorded that nearly sixty percent of respondents disapprove of Mr. Fukuda's China policy.Beyond public doubts, Mr. Fukuda's action (or inaction) during Mr. Hu's visit have driven …
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Komori on US China policy
Komori Yoshihisa, veteran correspondent and Washington-based editor of the Sankei Shimbun, was invited to speak to Nakagawa Shoichi's "True Conservative Policy Study Group" last Friday, where he explained the reality of US China policy and contemporary attitudes in Washington towards the US-Japan alliance.He provides a summary of his remarks at his blog.For the most part, …
More trouble headed Fukuda’s way?
According to the Washington Post, in exchange for North Korea's "acknowledging" US concerns about its nuclear activities, disabling Yongbyon, and provide a full accounting of its plutonium stockpile, the US will be prepared to "remove North Korea from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and to exempt it from the Trading With the …
What, me worry?
In an editorial Friday, the Hokkaido Shimbun wondered why Prime Minister Fukuda exhibits no sense of crisis despite mounting problems and falling popularity."It's strange," the newspaper writes, "that the prime minister's sense of crisis appears to be diluted," considering that the BOJ vacancy and the uncertain prospects for a compromise with the DPJ over taxes …
"Pride" is not just the property of the LDP
In this post earlier this month, I discussed the importance of "pride" — hokori (誇り) — in the thinking of the Japanese right.In this vein, Younghusband at Coming Anarchy writes of a dispute between the DPJ and The Economist over the recent cover that featured the pun "Japain."Iwakuni Tetsundo, head of the DPJ's international bureau, …
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Hiranuma’s kiss of death?
After nearly returning to the LDP in the waning days of the Abe cabinet, Hiranuma Takeo, holdout postal rebel and conservative stalwart, is not particularly popular among the LDP's elders.Recall, for example, that in January Mori Yoshiro scolded Nakagawa Shoichi for working with Mr. Hiranuma in their "True Conservative Policy Research Group," AKA the HANA …
Tobias S. Harris 