Facing a difficult battle over the extension of the anti-terror special measures law, the new Abe-Yosano-Aso-Machimura cabinet has set to work on laying the groundwork for a compromise with the DPJ that will enable the JSDF to continue to participate in the multinational coalition in Afghanistan.Chief Cabinet Secretary Yosano has set to work by calling …
Continue reading The battle over the anti-terror law begins in earnest
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 …
As the Japanese political world digests the newly announced cabinet reshuffle, the major dailies have each editorialized on the new cabinet, sounding some similar notes. Reading Asahi, Sankei, and Yomiuri, each editorial seemed pleasantly surprised by the quality of the individuals tapped by the prime minister for his new cabinet and the LDP executive. None, …
Continue reading The press — for the most part — holds its praise
Methinks that the momentum that the DPJ has enjoyed since the Upper House elections is about to dissipate.The new LDP leadership's first pronouncement has been to emphasize the need to cooperate with the opposition. Mr. Aso said today, "The important task given to the LDP is restoring confidence and effectively dealing with the people's insecurity …
The new cabinet appointments have been dribbling out over the course of the afternoon — apologies for, literally, being out to lunch — and the first impression I get is that the collective experience of the new Abe cabinet is of experience and competence. And while Abe may have made it a point not to …
Asahi published the results of a survey conducted with Tokyo University that looks at the policy positions of victorious LDP and DPJ candidates in the House of Councillors election. (The detailed study will be published in the October issue of Ronza.)Accompanied by one of those marvelously convoluted charts that Japanese newspapers seem to revel in …
Mr. Abe has returned from his Asian tour (this is the term used in the Japanese press; apparently Japan hasn't quite returned to Asia), and is getting ready to announce his new cabinet on Monday.There are few hints as to the comprehensive makeup of the new cabinet and LDP executive, but there are a few …
Back in May, in wake of Mr. Matsuoka's suicide and the nomination of Mr. Akagi to be his replacement, back when it wasn't clear whether Mr. Abe would lead his party to its worst ever defeat at the polls, I noted, semi-facetiously, in a post on Mr. Akagi, "No cabinet-eligible LDP politician has clean hands."Now …
A panel convened by the LDP under the management of party election strategist Yatsu Yoshio has issued its final report on why the party lost in July.The report suggests that there was a "gap" between the priorities of the party and the people, which was expressed not just in the party's responses to the pensions …
Continue reading Yatsu points fingers, but can the LDP change?
In Yomiuri on Wednesday, there was an article — not online, of course — on the creation of a new DPJ security policy discussion group by Maehara Seiji. The article noted that the group will meet once a week to discuss the content of the anti-terror special measures law, conditions on the ground in Afghanistan …
Tobias S. Harris 