Prime Minister Abe has been bizarrely hospitalized, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yosano admits that Mr. Abe did not name someone to serve as the acting prime minister in his absence.I guess Aso Taro is too busy getting ready to win the job legally to do his best imitation of Alexander Haig.Mr. Aso, while still probably …
Tag: post Abe
The man to beat
From Kishi scion to Yoshida scion: with less than a week until the LDP presidential election, it seems hard to conceive at this point how anyone will be able to stop Aso Taro, professed manga lover and friend of otaku (oh, and longtime foreign minister and current LDP secretary-general).With Mr. Koizumi declaring that he will …
The LDP presidential election
NHK has just announced that the LDP will be holding a presidential election next Wednesday, September 19, with the campaign period opening this Friday, September 14.Expect the contenders to begin positioning themselves over the next few hours.The LDP is certainly wise to waste no time in preparing to select a new leader. Mr. Abe's resignation …
Abe’s end?
1:18pm — Asahi reports that Mr. Abe has indeed delivered his desire to resign to the LDP executive. Press conference to come at 2pm.One of my correspondents — and now MTC, by way of Kyodo — has informed me that Mr. Abe has offered his resignation.
The DPJ in Yoshida country
With the DPJ making the anti-terror special measures law the main point of contention for the autumn special session, it seems increasingly clear that the DPJ has found a solution to the problem of how to distinguish itself from the LDP. The DPJ's positions on social and economic policy not being all that different from …
Mr. Abe’s exit strategy?
The Sydney APEC summit has come and gone — with, to my surprise, only one appearance by the cast of The Chaser (I definitely recommend subscribing to the podcast of their show).On the sidelines of the summit this weekend, President Bush and Prime Ministers Howard and Abe held their meetings. Not surprisingly, Mr. Bush reminded …
Can’t go home again
In an essay in the forthcoming issue of the Far Eastern Economic Review that I co-authored with Doug Turner, we discuss that the challenge for the LDP going forward is reconfiguring the party's identity for the post-Koizumi era. Reform or reaction? Urban or rural? These are the questions that the party has to answer.And yet …
While Abe’s away…
Prime Minister Abe, on tour in South and Southeast Asia, has left behind a political situation in Tokyo in which the only certainty is Mr. Abe's continuing ability to say no to those who want him to step down.But in Mr. Abe's absence, his opponents are, as expected, on the move.Mr. Ozawa, speaking to assembled …
More prime ministerial trouble
With Prime Minister Abe set to depart on his latest diplomatic jaunt on August 19th, the situation in Tokyo continues to worsen.The latest scandal involves Defense Minister Koike Yuriko, who is in a showdown with Administrative Vice Minister Moriya Takemasa, a long-serving defense bureaucrat who rose from within the ministry's ranks (instead of being seconded …
Japan goes on vacation, Abe’s unpopularity stays put
Prime Minister Abe has decided to forgo taking a vacation at his summer home in Yamanashi Prefecture during the O-Bon festival period, although it is not entirely clear what he plans to do in Tokyo — apparently he'll be going to movies and plays. He told reporters, "Since I also have preparations to make for …
Continue reading Japan goes on vacation, Abe’s unpopularity stays put
Tobias S. Harris 