The Upper House of the Diet passed the national referendum bill this afternoon. In accordance with the bill's provisions, there will be a three-year moratorium on constitution amendments — meaning Japan has until 2011 to have a thorough debate on whether and how to revise the constitution. With luck Japan will have a new, slightly …
Tag: Japanese politics
A few good henjin
Shisaku replies to my Monday post on the DPJ, arguing, "...the alternative to Diet theatrics--conducting face-to-face retail politics--may fail to ignite excitement at the ballot box."His point is well taken — and his analysis of voting behavior is quite sound; I did not mean to imply that the DPJ should shun the Diet entirely. However, …
Muddled thinking on the DPJ
The Asahi Shimbun has published yet another editorial urging the Democratic Party of Japan to be more forthright in confronting the Abe Cabinet in the Diet.The occasion for this editorial was Ozawa Ichiro's completion of a second tour of the country's regions as part of his electoral strategy of building up the DPJ's support structure …
The constitution revision blitz
Amaki Naoto has a fascinating post considering the national referendum age limit issue.To summarize, the LDP draft passed by the Lower House stipulated that the age limit for voting in a national referendum on constitution revision will be twenty, same as for other elections. The rejected DPJ draft, meanwhile, called for lowering the voting age …
Japan’s constitution turns sixty
As Japan celebrates Constitution Day, marking the anniversary of the promulgation of the postwar constitution, the Abe Cabinet has renewed its push to revise the constitution — read Article 9 of the constitution — on the heels of bilateral meetings with the US that pointed to a more globally active US-Japan alliance.In Washington, Defense Minister …
Collective self-defense offensive
In the past day, the Abe Cabinet has been on the offensive on the question of the review of the prohibition on the right of collective self-defense.Yesterday, Prime Minister Abe said at a press conference, "As the era changes, I want to have a debate about how the constitution should be interpreted."At the Diet, controversial …
Koizumi comparisons continue
Hanaoka Nobuaki, journalist and onetime gubernatorial candidate in Nagano, has an interesting op-ed in today's Sankei Shimbun looking at how Abe has yet to find his "Three Sacred Treasures," the equivalent of the three advisors to Koizumi who helped shape his reform agenda: Shiokawa Masajyuro, his finance minister; Takenaka Heizo, his reform guru; and Iijima …
Criticize the media, but don’t let up on the pols
Ampotman directs another post against the media -- this time the Wall Street Journal -- for being unfair to Japanese prime ministers, this time Abe's august predecessors from the revolving-door nineties.Now, I don't disagree with his main point: the Western media's lack of attention to what happens in Japan is shockingly bad, with the possible …
Continue reading Criticize the media, but don’t let up on the pols
The beginning of a trend?
Yomiuri reported today that exit polling from Sunday's by-elections in Fukushima and Okinawa suggests showed a pronounced tendency among independents to vote for the DPJ candidates.In Okinawa, 55% of independents voted for Karimata Yoshimasa, the candidate backed by the DPJ and three other opposition parties, while 36% supported Shimajiri Aiko, backed by the LDP and …
LDP and DPJ split in by-elections
In today's by-elections for Upper House seats in Okinawa and Fukushima, the results surprised no one, with the LDP winning in Okinawa -- Abe personally campaigned hard -- and the DPJ winning in Fukushima.As with the election results from two weeks ago, it's hard to make predictions for July based on these returns; as Jun …
Tobias S. Harris 