The gyoza scandal reopened just as the Beijing Olympics opened, with the Fukuda government on the defensive in light of revelations that it acceded to the Chinese government's request that Tokyo not release information about the presence of poisoned dumplings within China.Part of the problem is a statement by newly appointed MAFF minister Ota Seiichi, …
Continue reading The Fukuda government’s China tightrope walk
The more I look at the new Fukuda cabinet and its first days in office, the more I'm convinced that the Fukuda cabinet is, in MTC's words, designed to "set up the LDP for a wipeout in the next House of Representatives election."In bringing Kaoru Yosano into the cabinet while also giving Nakagawa Hidenao a …
I have an op-ed on the Fukuda reshuffle in the Tuesday edition of the Wall Street Asia.It can be found online here.
Jun Okumura provides a convenient breakdown of the initial polls pertaining to the Fukuda reshuffle.The bounce to Prime Minister Fukuda appears to have been somewhere around five percentage points, excluding Yomiuri's freakish poll recording a fourteen-point increase (a poll that can't be compared with earlier Yomiuri polls due to a differing methodology).What I found interesting, …
Continue reading They like him, they really, really like him…but will it matter?
With the Fukuda cabinet reshuffle, Hayashi Yoshimasa becomes Japan's fourth defense minister in the past twelve months.Of all the changes in the reshuffle, the ousting of Ishiba Shigeru is perplexing.The prime minister had given Mr. Ishiba his vote of confidence in the midst of calls for his resignation in the wake of the Atago incident, …
I am in Los Angeles on a brief layover before heading to Chicago, so I don't have time to offer a more thorough discussion of the Fukuda reshuffle.For something more than my cursory remarks, I strongly recommend Jun Okumura's take and MTC's two posts.Readers will not be surprised to learn that I am underwhelmed by …
Tobias S. Harris 