Thursday, January 18, 2007

Return to Yasukuni

Sooner or later. The LDP had a convention praising Abe and his reforms of the education laws to force feed patriotism to children.

Abe told the 74th LDP convention that his government built the foundation last year to create a "beautiful nation" with the passage of several bills. They include controversial revisions to the Fundamental Law of Education, requiring schools to instill a sense of patriotism in students.

The party also adopted the position that its members would continue to visit Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine, a major bone of contention with China and South Korea.


and

Abe wants the key campaign issue to be revising the Constitution."The Constitution is the framework, the shape of the nation, and based on the spirit behind the foundation of the (LDP), I would like to go after revising the Constitution," Abe said.

Others are bit concerned that Abe and his ilk are a real threat to democracy.
According to this story, one result of some of the right-wing nutjob education reforms has resulted in what has been called by teachers as a sort of loyalty test. (Ruled unconstitutional by the Tokyo District Court, but Shitaro "Blinky" Ishara's administration is appealing. Sorry, I meant Shintaro.)

Speaking of Blinky, he is on track for his 3rd term as Tokyo governor. It appears that the citizens of Tokyo support, or at least do not reject, his racism. What does that say about Tokyo voters?

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