With North Korea expected to deliver its account of its nuclear program Thursday — excluding its existing nuclear weapons, which Chris Hill has said will be addressed in the next round — the US is prepared to move forward in removing North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.The long-awaited blow to the …
Continue reading The consequences of the US-Japan rift on North Korea
A new LDP club has formed that some have described as "capable of inciting the overthrow of the government." The group, known as the "Association for the implementation of a new presidential election [for the LDP]," was instigated by Yamamoto Ichita and is a response to the freefall in the LDP's public approval. They will …
The 169th ordinary session of the Diet comes to an end Saturday, with the comprehensive economic partnership agreement with ASEAN passing naturally. The session ends with the prime minister's having been censured by the upper house and three opposition parties' boycotting proceedings (with a handful of exceptions). Mainichi reports that of eighty bills submitted by …
Continue reading The curtain comes down on the ordinary Diet session — and Fukuda and the LDP?
On Tuesday, at the same press conference where he complained about the stress of the job, Prime Minister Fukuda made a statement guaranteed to ensure that his stress will increase inexorably."Since [the consumption tax rate] is only 5%, we are burdened with a budget deficit. We must decide — this is an extremely important period. …
On Monday, Suga Yoshihide, the deputy head of the LDP's election strategy committee, praised Maehara Seiji, deputy head of the DPJ for his comments about the DPJ's ability to govern and incoherent policy agenda in a speech in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. Mr. Suga said: "He spoke courageously. If someone like Maehara-san becomes leader, it will become …
After effectively opting out of the six-party talks under Abe Shinzo, Japan is set to return to participation in the process to neutralize (if not dismantle) North Korea's nuclear arsenal.Machimura Nobutaka, chief cabinet secretary, announced Friday that in talks in Beijing, North Korea agreed to "reinvestigate" the case of Japanese abductees in North Korea and …
In the July issue of Bungei Shunjyu, Akasaka Taro paints a portrait of Fukuda Yasuo at the present time as ebullient as the current Diet session draws to a close. (Part one here. Part two here.)The prime minister is reportedly pleased with his achievements during the current Diet session, having faced down the LDP's road …
As planned, the House of Councillors passed a non-binding censure motion against the Fukuda government this evening.It should be noted that the upper house passed twelve bills — including four government bills — on Tuesday, bypassing normal deliberation to clear the agenda for the censure motion. Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't the DPJ …
The DPJ has decided that it will submit a censure motion against the government on Wednesday, as planned. The LDP and Komeito agreed Tuesday that it will extend the Diet session by six days to 21 June to ensure the automatic passage of the economic partnership agreement (EPA) with ASEAN (the one-month period during which …
With the regular Diet session entering its final week (or penultimate week), it's possible that Prime Minister Fukuda may emerge from the session stronger than seemed possible.His bolstered stature has less to do with personal victories — the pork-and-patronage members of the LDP are no less angry with his leadership than before, and he still …
Tobias S. Harris 