Nakagawa Shoichi, former LDP Policy Affairs Research Council chairman, was recently interviewed in the Kyodo Weekly on the subject of his new study group.Not surprisingly, the "True Conservative Policy Research Group" is, according to Mr. Nakagawa, dedicated to keeping the flame of the Abe revolution alive.In explaining what true conservatism is, he said, "Japan stands …
Tag: Japanese politics
Censure motion on hold for now
As the close of the Diet session approaches — and with it, the presumed re-passage of the new anti-terror bill in the HR — the DPJ has announced that it is reconsidering submitting an HC censure motion this session in response to the government's use of its supermajority. It will instead save this motion for …
The DPJ reorients itself
The DPJ, in a move that suggests that the shift I sensed in this post may be becoming a clear trend, has announced that it will submit a bill in the regular Diet session that proposes the creation of a "consumer ombudsman." The DPJ's plan envisions an independent official, appointed not by the government but …
Is the Mainichi poll right?
Considerable discussion has surrounded a new Mainichi Shimbun poll showing that 46% of respondents desire a DPJ victory in a general election, compared with only 33% for the LDP.The same poll also showed that respondents would overwhelmingly (51%) vote on the basis of "policy," which may very well mean "pensions." Only 3% say they would …
Fukuda in charge
Contradicting reports leaked while he was out of the country, Mr. Fukuda has exhibited once again how he differs from his predecessor by asserting control of government and party and declaring that he will not in fact reshuffle his cabinet at the end of this Diet session (HT: Shisaku).It's not entirely clear who suggested to …
The DPJ faces a new year
After a tumultuous and uncertain five months since taking control of the House of Councillors, the DPJ faces the new year full of hope that this will be the year the party takes power, but hope tempered by the difficulties the party has faced since winning in July. The party has struggled to use its …
2007: The Year That Was In Japanese Politics
A recent article in the Yomiuri Shimbun surveying the Japanese political situation as 2007 gives way to 2008 included a sidebar that compared the present day with the bakumatsu, the last days of the Tokugawa.Looking back over the events in political Japan over 2007, that comparison does not seem inappropriate. The picture that emerges is …
Continue reading 2007: The Year That Was In Japanese Politics
The problem with Fukuda
The DPJ's Nagashima Akihisa, writing at his blog, cites Max Weber's "Politics as a vocation" to criticize not just Mr. Fukuda but his predecessors and express his hope for a different style of politics under DPJ rule.Mr. Nagashima quotes from the concluding paragraph of the essay:Politics is a strong and slow boring of hard boards. …
Not your father’s (or grandfather’s) LDP?
Asahi reports that the LDP has leaped into the twenty-first century and set up a YouTube channel of its own, with Kono Taro, third-generation LDP member of the House of Representatives (and third-generation potential party leader) as the party's face on YouTube.The innovation is not in putting videos on the Internet — there has been …
The pensions issue strikes again
The big news of the day is the sharp decline in the Fukuda cabinet's popularity, as found in a Kyodo poll (see articles in the Sankei Shimbun and the Tokyo Shimbun).The poll found an 11.7% drop in the cabinet's favorable rating, to 35.3%. The unfavorable rating experienced a corresponding 11% rise to 47.6%. The overwhelming …
Tobias S. Harris 