Prime Minister Fukuda and members of his cabinet were grilled in Upper House Budget Committee deliberations on Monday, and continued their defense of Japan's participation in coalition activities in the Indian Ocean on grounds of Japan's obligations to the international community as the second largest economic power.The sparring in the Upper House this week comes …
Tag: Japanese public opinion
A tailwind, but where to?
In a year that has been nothing but hurricane-strength headwinds for the LDP, the party has for the first time in months a wind at its back.The talk of the day is, of course, the first opinion polls on the Fukuda cabinet, which show, across the board, a considerable boost for Mr. Fukuda and the …
The Afghanistan mission is doomed, for the time being
In the midst of the chaos at the top of the LDP and the government, Yamasaki Taku has announced that any new legislation to enable the MSDF to contribute to coalition operations in and around Afghanistan will be postponed to next year's regular Diet session. Mr. Abe's "international promise" is effectively dead.This is interesting in …
Continue reading The Afghanistan mission is doomed, for the time being
No magic bullet
The first opinion polls for the new cabinet are out, and the second Abe Cabinet's unfavorable rating still top the favorable rating by a considerable margin.In fact, both Mainichi and Asahi have recorded the same figures: 33% supportive, 53% opposed. Asking supporters why they valued the new cabinet, Mainichi records that 39% answered that they …
Back in action
MTC, after going on hiatus in advance of the official campaign period, is posting again, firing a salvo against the besieged Mr. Abe.After laying out how Mr. Abe has become an albatross to the LDP — and demonstrated his worthlessness as a leader, he asks, convincingly, "So what is the benefit of having Abe Shinzō …
This time around, definitely a farce
The Kishi (or is it Sato?) clan has an interesting relationship with the Japanese people, and with Prime Minister Abe digging in his heels despite a resounding vote of no-confidence on Sunday, it looks like the prime minister versus the people once again.Of course, in 1960, the stakes were serious, the issues being matters of …
Another sign of lingering Japanese war guilt
Following yesterday's finding that a plurality of respondents indicated that Japan still needs to apologize for its actions during the war, I have found, thanks to a tip from a trusted correspondent, a survey conducted by Fuji TV'sHodo 2001" program in April that suggests that the Japanese people are far from defiant when it comes …
Continue reading Another sign of lingering Japanese war guilt
Don’t panic
Pollster Karlyn Bowman, writing at American.com, presents data on Japanese public opinion drawn from a variety of recent surveys (mostly old Pew Global Attitudes polls).The overall picture — Japanese are generally pleased with relations with the US, displeased about the rise of China — is not altogether surprising, although some findings were unexpected.First, in response …
Tobias S. Harris 