Okubo Takanori, Ozawa Ichiro's chief secretary, has as expected been indicted by the Tokyo district public prosecutor's office for violating the political funds control law..Ozawa is due to announce whether he will remain as DPJ president today.In the days leading up to the indictment, the DPJ has rallied behind its embattled leader, which in practice …
Tag: Japanese politics
On Japan’s leadership problem
My latest contribution to the Far Eastern Economic Review Online looks at Japan's leadership deficit.It's available here.
The Japanese people lose hope
Jun Okumura notes that while the political world waits to find out whether Ozawa Ichiro will survive the scandal in his political organization, the DPJ has revived an approach pursued in the earlier half of this decade.The DPJ, he writes, banned contributions from the Japan Federation of Construction Contractors based on a recommendation in 2003 …
Sailing to Somalia
Two Maritime Self-Defense Forces (MSDF) destroyers, the Sazanami, last mentioned on this blog when she paid a visit to China last year, and the Samidare, have departed from Kure naval base in Hiroshima prefecture for a four-month tour patrolling for pirates off the horn of Africa. The destroyers are expected to arrive in theater April …
Unpacking the DPJ’s divisions
Curzon at Coming Anarchy looks at a couple recent statements by DPJ officials and concludes that the DPJ suffers from cognitive dissonance.He also suggests that I believe that the Obama administration plans to create an alliance "focused solely on joint security declarations." If he read my post on the subject more carefully, he'd notice I …
The age of austerity?
At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the Aso government reported that the five trips abroad Aso Taro took in the first five months of his government have cost Japan approximately 660 million yen. From September 2008 to January 2009, Aso went to New York to attend the opening of the UN general assembly (three days), …
Time to go to the bullpen?
Looking at the debate in the DPJ over whether Ozawa Ichiro should be forced to step down, a metaphor — appropriate for this time of year — comes to mind:The Pedro incident.Boston Red Sox fans will undoubtedly know what I'm talking about, but for everyone else, the Pedro Incident occurred in the deciding Game 7 …
The space between Ozawa and the DPJ
The first round of polls following last week's arrest of Okubo Toshinori, Ozawa Ichiro's secretary, has been released, and not surprisingly there are few bright spots for Ozawa and the DPJ.Oddly enough, the most favorable poll for Ozawa was the Sankei/Fuji News Network poll, which despite Sankei's having pulled out all stops to push for …
Murky outlook for the general election
There is no question now that the outlook for the next general election — which a growing number of LDP officials are reportedly arguing should be held after dissolving the Diet in May — is muddier than before. The scandal in Ozawa Ichiro's political organization has overshadowed all else, including the re-passage this week of …
Ozawa fights back
Appearing at a press conference at DPJ headquarters this morning, DPJ President Ozawa Ichiro, under fire following the arrest of Okubo Takanori, his chief secretary, was defiant.Ozawa stated that he would not step down following the arrest, and insisted that his secretary received money from Nishimatsu construction in compliance with the political funds control law.In …
Tobias S. Harris 