Wikileaks leaks on Japan

....Singapore's Ambassador Tommy Koh called Japan "the big fat loser" and "stupidity, bad leadership and lack of vision" for Japan's position in Asian region. OneIndia.in (Reporting on Wikileaks)

South Korea has dismissed as ``unrealistic’’ Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s comment on sending troops to the Korean Peninsula if a war breaks out.

Speaking to the families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, Friday, Kan said that in the event of war on the peninsula, he’d send Self-Defense Forces to rescue abductees in the North and Japanese residents in the South. Korea Times.

Since I have been unable to access Wikileaks, the only question I have is: Was the "stupidity, bad leadership and lack of vision" statement made during the LDP's time in power or the DPJ's and does it make any difference?

P.S. Will the SDF need the Dutch military to protect them during the rescue operations?

No objections voiced as Japan turns extremist

At least that is what I gather from reading this fine, well-written, and thoroughly researched piece from a professional paid journalist for the Globe and Mail (Canada).*

Somehow, I had missed the significance of the rise of the extreme right in Japan. I have even missed the rise itself, thinking it no more than the usual rightists and fellow travelers rattling off their poison. I never noticed that the anti-foreign sentiment---although always present among some, including the media and gov't---was any worse than it had been under Koizumi and Abe when it seemed that neither the government or the media could resist labeling crime, criminal tendencies, and non-Japanese in the same category. And of course we have heard the old bigot Ishihara and his oral bowel movements for about a million years.

But the Globe and Mail has found that things are turning truly sinister. So sinister that even the Old School extreme right is concerned. Concerned not with the beliefs of the newer more extreme nutjobs, but with the way they express their beliefs:

“These Net right-wingers have no rules, no restrictions … . I’m against this kind of hate speech, these ugly comments. Their thoughts and ideas are okay, but the way they express them is not,” said Mr. Kimura, whose own Issuikai movement made headlines earlier this year by hosting an international gathering of right-wingers...

Noting that some nutjobs reacted to the Senkaku incident by the usual "smokebombs" at an offending foreign consulate; concealed weapons near the residences of non-rightwing-extremist politicians; anti-Chinese demonstrations etc, our fine reporter observed that these run-of-the-mill events:

... highlight a tide of rising nationalism that is just one of the new social ills afflicting a country that 20 years ago was the richest** and most stable** on the planet.

But an even more frightening bit of evidence was uncovered by that sharp-eyed fellow, while watching (?) a demo of 2700 folks organized by the web-based New School extremists with whose ends the Old School agrees:

“Throw illegal immigrants into Tokyo Bay!” he yelled to loud cheers from his fellow marchers and silent stares from shoppers who paused to watch the procession. If anyone disagreed with the sentiment, no one said so publicly. [Emphasis mine]

There it is. I had mostly missed it. I knew of the newer more openly racist*** and extreme groups and their still small but reportedly growing numbers. I knew that many people in a historically xenophobic country exhibited xenophobia to some degree or another. I knew of the anti-Chinese sentiment, especially after Senkaku, but I never had evidence of the silent acceptance of extreme beliefs by the public until I read that last sentence.

Shoppers did not publicly disagree with a large group of noisy nutjobs!!!! What else can one conclude from this but that they must have agreed?

Somehow though, I as a foreign resident do not feel like "other foreigners":

...while other foreigners – including some long-term residents of Japan – say they also feel increasingly unwelcome, and complain of police harassment and rules that prevent non-Japanese from renting homes or gaining professional tenure.

for I don't see anything especially new. I don't feel "increasingly unwelcome." I never felt especially wanted nor loved here to begin with. I will have to keep a closer eye on this evil trend.

I must admit that I learned something about myself from reading this piece. I too, am an anti-foreign extremist, for had I been at the demo, I doubt that I would have publicly disagreed with the goofballs either. Blinky Ishihara, old buddy, lets go out for a few drinks...

*A black sun rises in a declining Japan, by Mr. Mark Mackinnon.

**Huh and double huh?

***The more openly racist (is that possible?) newbees reject the idea that their racism is racist.

Akiramemashita!

Really. I've given up.* The One-with-Whom-I-Share-a-Mansion, a woman with a US university degree who has spent the last 15 years dealing with derivatives in a large US firm that was bailed out by US taxpayers, has basically agreed with Ozawa on one thing---Americans are simple-minded. She is specifically referring to the understanding of Japanese politics. And most specifically, to me.

Not that her opinion is above suspicion as she has supported the commies in spite of the fact that she is in no way a commie. She often votes commie because they are the "opposite" of the LDP. "How about Ozawa?," I asked over a decade ago after being impressed with his English language book (A Normal Country? I forget. See Google search). "Baka! He's the same! Sneaky and cares only about himself." Koizumi? The same. Maybe worse. However, the fact that she has a US university education may have simple-minded her to the extent that she doesn't understand.

A few weeks ago, Gerald Curtis stated that we are in a "period of creative destruction and the destructive phase is not yet over." Boy was he correct. Whereas this destructive phase may be interesting and fun to study for academic purposes, when one is living here and will probably continue to do so for quite a number of years (good lord, why?) it ain't academic. These clowns and their stunts will have a significant impact on people's lives, and that impact does not look positive.

Just over a year ago, when the DPJ's chance for victory began to become realistic and enthusiasm was palpable---especially among the younger (say 45 and below)---I was working at an architectural office in Akasaka-mitsuke. This office was filled with sharp, relatively young people, most with overseas experience and education. It was run by a U.S. educated woman who was the opposite of the stereotypical Japanese woman. Not a fool there, except for me.

In the spring of that year, I was chatting with one especially bright young fellow and smugly giving my brilliant opinions on Japanese (and US) politics. Then he asked me a simple question for which I had no sensible answer. Talking about the LDP, he asked, "How do we get them out?"*** The easy reply would have been to say, "Vote them out," but I could not say that. It seemed childishly simple-minded---like me---and actually meaningless.

Ultimately, the LDP was voted out. But what the hell have we got in its place?

Apologies for the gratuitous use of Japanese in the header, something I have tended to do more of recently. I plead, and can prove, insanity.

*For the duration of this post.

**Which she refers to as "gambling" and sneers at the idea of supposed sophisticated investors who really understand them.

***The LDP still had a myth of near invincibility.

1455 edited for the normal spelling/grammar errors,

The LDP shows who and what it (still) represents

...On the recent decision of Prime Minister Naoto Kan and all of his Cabinet members not to visit the shrine out of consideration for Asian victims of Japan's past militarism, Tanigaki said, "Each party has its own view." Japan Times

LDP chief Tanigaki will, of course, visit.

PM Kan's recent apology to South Korea for its colonial rule of the country further inflamed some of the right wing of the LDP:

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of the LDP criticized the government's decision, describing Kan and Sengoku as "foolish" and "ignorant" about dealing with historical issues. Japan Times

One may disagree with ol' I-quit-'cause-I-gotta-sh*t Abe, the fellow with a long history of denying that the Japanese Imperial Army recruited women to serve as sex slaves during the war and who got into hot water for boldly stating same as PM, but one can not question his expertise on being "foolish and ignorant about dealing with historical issues."

Since Abe's attempt to lead Japan toward a Fujiwara Masahiko influenced Beautiful Country got nowhere, the LDP will now boldly try the same thing over and over. This is a brilliant strategy as sooner or later people will quite worrying about the 2010 economy and their future and focus on reliving the 1900s.

Edited to add: The DPJ could be accused of coming up with this because they seem to have little in the way of (visible) success for improving the economy and the future, but we will look at this as a positive for the party and not a cynical political move as the DPJ is concerned about improving Japan's relations in the region. Unlike the party of Tanigaki/Abe/Mori retrogrouches. Now, about the future...

So what's the point again?

Oh, there is an (upper house) election today. That's what all those signs are about, and for those unfortunate enough to live near a station, what all the screaming through loudspeakers by candidates was about.

The early results from NHK (very early, most based on exit polls IF I am not mistaken) is interesting only because of the performance of the new Your Party which is a strong number four (corrected 9:24pm) so far---5 seats to the New Komeito's 7.

According to exit polls, those who opposed a consumption tax increase voted roughly equally between the DPJ and LDP. That's not a surprise I suppose, since the 10% figure was floated by both. Support for the tax increase was closely split too, with those opposing the increase only a few percentage points ahead of those opposing.

Michael Cucek, of Shisaku (required reading for anyone interested in Japanese politics) has written an essay for The Diplomat which is more interesting than the actual election titled Japan's Meaningless Election:

[Addressing pre-election polls showing about a third of voters undecided] "the failure of 3 out of 10 Japanese voters to have made up their minds is down to one simple fact—the election has no meaning, or at least its meaning has changed so many times over the past few months and weeks that a reasonable person could well be asking what they’re actually voting for."

I am glad that I don't have to make that voting decision as I would find it easier to explain what I was voting against than for.

Pre-election political analysis

While some make their political predictions and analysis based on years of experience and research, I find that it is much better to use tangible things to get a feel of the mood and then make my unerringly accurate predictions in the 24-48 hours following the election.

Over the last few days, I have been conducting surveys of political posters in the Denechofu/Okusawa/Jiyugaoka areas which should give an accurate overview of the situation in the entire country. You know, sorta like those land-line telephone surveys of 621 people in a nation of 127+ million.

The New Komeito is relying on its reputation of cleanliness to attract voters:


The Commies are po'd about the US, Futenma, and nukes or something as they always have been. Should they ever come to power, one suspects that they might modify their position a bit, but there is no guarantee. The party that seems to have survived in large part due to the fact that it was the most opposite of the LDP hasn't had a new idea since Marx was a child.





The LDP wants to give Japan the finger yet again, but having entirely lost any competence they once had cannot even figure out the correct finger to use. Instead, some fellow named Tanigaki went berserk at the DPJ and Kan for suggesting that it might have been close to right about the consumption tax. The LDP is offended by the suggestion that any of its ideas might be correct. After all, what would happen if by some miracle the party did not continue to sink into the cesspool of irrelevance, but got back into power and had to do what it would not have proposed had it still been in power?


And the DPJ. I must admit a bias toward this party as I cannot see any of the others as anything but a bunch of goofballs. Perhaps that's why I am not even allowed to vote on local elections. Anyway, the DPJ poster below featuring Kan is short, sweet, and to the point.


Perhaps too short and sweet and that's why this fellow is pondering it. Maybe he is wondering about the DPJ's tax plans---you know, to lower corporate taxes so that Japanese companies won't flee Japan to areas of lower taxes while Japan receives increased revenue from the lowered corporate tax rate (it worked well in the US didn't it?). Perhaps he is wondering about DPJ Secretary General Yukio Edano's rather interesting, maybe controversial, and possibly insane claim that previous increases in the consumption tax had minimal repercussions on demand (Hmmm. What happened in 1997/98? No connection? Minimal?), and Edano's claim that it would not "accelerate" deflation. Deflation would like, what, stay at the present level. Oh, that's good!

He could be wondering how people would just calmly accept a 5% increase in the tax and not reduce spending. He could be asking himself that should that be proven to be inaccurate, is it at all possible that producers would react by reducing prices to offset the tax increase. What's the phrase he may be thinking of? Is it Voodoo Economics? (Edited to add: Not to be confused with the US version, but a homegrown voodoo economics.)

Or maybe he is ruminating on the meaning of Edano's translated statement that the DPJ "was debating whether to implement tax refunds for low-income families, and said such plans will be further discussed after the Upper House election. "* It may have entered his mind that if the DPJ decides not to address the recessiveness** of the consumption tax after the Upper House election, that it is in effect saying of the poor, "let them eat cake---but only after they pay the 10% tax."

*Emphasis mine. Edano quoted from "exclusive" JT interview (linked ).

**Google spell-check refuses to recognize recessiveness as a word. If it is not a real word, please pretend that it is not really written above.

Related: Economics prof. Hisakazu Kato of Meiji University doubts 10% consumption tax will ultimately be enough, but: "I think it would be much riskier than raising the consumption tax to do nothing about reducing the debt and possibly causing an excessive reaction in the market that would lead to a plunge in government bond prices," Japan Times.

Futenma becomes interesting

Or at least the issues connected with it do.

For a serious discussion on the U.S.-Japan "alliance" it would be worthwhile---if the whole world has not already done so---to read this June 9 post at Shisaku and download the PDF and read it. Essays include:

• Troubled Alliance by Kenneth B. Pyle
  
• Return to Basics: Recalibrating the US-Japan Security Alliance by Michael Finnegan
  
• Redefining the US-Japan Security Alliance by Michael Green
  
• Alliance Endangered by Kent Calder
  
• The 50th Anniversary: Time for a "Renewal of Vows" by Andrew Oros
  
• A Short-term challenge to the US-Japan Security Alliance Putting its Long-term Heath at Risk by Yuki Tatsumi

Some of the authors should be familiar enough for us to know that they aren't taking the R. Taggart Murphy (below) point of view.

With Friends Like Us

the title of a new article by R. Taggart Murphy in The New Republic.

Having tied their fortunes so tightly to the United States—or, more generously, having had them tied by history and circumstance—Japan's power-holders in the LDP and the bureaucracy, in business, finance, media, and academia have, since the 1950s, built an elaborate and sophisticated infrastructure of relationships and institutions in the United States capable of detecting and acting on the most subtle shifts in American opinion where Japan is concerned—and, when necessary, influencing it...

...But until last August, these “agents of influence,” as the title of a controversial book on the subject put it, were deployed to achieve Japanese government objectives. Now they were brought out to undermine them. Any American seen able to influence Washington's Japan policy was fed a predictable line: Hatoyama was “weak and vacillating,” the DPJ was filled with “amateurs,” and, most damning, Ozawa was “anti-American.” The New Republic.

Murphy writes that Okinawa has "now been radicalized" and that the only way the agreement can be implemented is by "brute force." Should he be right, Kan (and ultimately, Obama) is in for a huge surprise. There is no way that he can fulfill his supposed promise to Obama to implement it.

8:50: Edited

Groundhog Day

Years ago, there was a frustrating movie called Groundhog Day about a guy played by Bill Murray who was stuck experiencing the same things over and over, day after day. Just like we are doing now.

About 60 percent of voters surveyed have expressed positive expectations for incoming Prime Minister Naoto Kan, two major dailies said Sunday, releasing the results of opinion polls they conducted recently. Japan Times

It's kinda hard not to have positive expectations for Kan as nobody can expect a quicker fall than Hatoyama's. It ain't too encouraging that Kan has been reported to have informed the Obama administration* that he would make "strenuous efforts" on still-not-implemented Futenma agreement---whatever strenuous efforts turns out to mean.

In an arguably more democratic country and a seemingly more participatory democracy than existed under the LDP, one has to wonder exactly how he is going to do that and satisfy those on Okinawa who want nothing to do with the agreement. Is he ultimately going to just run it through like the LDP did in the past over the objections of Okinawans? I'd wager that he ain't going to get any flexibility from the US.

Once again, Japanese politics will be more interesting than frustrating. Then, not all that far in the future Japanese politics will once again become more frustrating than interesting. Then....well, we know the drill.

*ABC (US) reported that: "This is a bilateral accord, and therefore decisions will be based on the accord," Kan said today. "As indicated in the bilateral agreement, there will be emphasis on alleviating the load on the Okinawans. This is a priority of concern and this is an issue that is extremely important."

Xuihan reported:

Kan said that he will strive to fulfill the Japan-U.S. pact on the relocation of the U.S. Marine Futenma base within Okinawa Prefecture.

"I want to make strenuous efforts" on the relocation of the base, Kan was quoted as saying.

Somebody slap me

I did not read this letter in the Japan Times Hotline to Nagatacho. I rarely bother with that section. Just like the folks in Nagatacho, I am sure.

It is not wise to mix local politics with diplomacy. Diplomacy is like a poker game played by sovereign states. You cannot play it with your cards exposed. And to read the cards of others, you need the advice of career diplomats... ...Futenma is a case in point...JT

And Hatoyama, who was lucky enough to be born into a wealthy family (which always seems to make one suspect) ought to be more considerate to bureaucrats. Hasn''t the advice of career diplomats (from the old days, both in the US and Japan) been part of the problem? And ain't it about time someone did listen to Okinawans even though it smacks of democracy?

It is a shock when you vote for someone for change, and the person makes some attempt to actually change something.

OK, no more reading of that part of the JT. Ruins my lunch, for I will be thinking of responding there. I once read or heard that one of the first signs of insanity is writing letters to the editor. Blogging may be one of the latter stages.

OK, the video has nothing to do with this except for the title, but I did search in vain for a girl like that before getting hitched.

Soft power

Hiroshi Nakai, minister in charge of the abduction issue, has asked education minister Tatsuo Kawabata to bar schools that cater to the children of residents with ethnic ties to North Korea from the planned tuition-free subsidy program, government sources said.

Nakai...wants the exemption put in place to demonstrate Japan's firm stance on the abduction issue...Japan Times

One just has to figure that when your influence over another country drops to the point where you have to start targeting children of an ethnic group in your own country in spite, you're out of ammo.

According to the article, guidelines being considered might mean that these schools could be disqualified anyway because due to the lack of diplomatic relations because Japan cannot assess if schools in North Korea nearly match Japan's educational standards, so it seems that Nakai's idea does nothing more than show Kim Jung-il that we mean business and we can back it up. Take that Mr. Kim.

I am sure that Kim Jung-il, who has not shown any special sympathy to seeing his own people starve, or been reluctant to imprison and execute unknown numbers, is going to be moved to resolve the abduction issue because some fine examples of leadership in the Japanese government want to withhold education money from certain residents of Japan.

２／２３Feb: A short article from LA Times on the Chosen schools in Japan is here.

Lots of idiots around...or is it just me?

Over the last few days there have been some stirrings about the DPJ possibly, maybe, perhaps opening discussion on raising the consumption tax. Of course PM Hatoyama countered Nutty Natto Kan with his version of "Read my lips, no consumption tax increase. We are just going to start talking about it during a recession to boost the economy. We'll let the voters decide although I am not going to increase it anyway maybe for sure."

I'm cool with this. Only a bunch of lunatics would try to run a country forever with promises of no new taxes except on the other guy, while spending the money of future generations for everything except filling in potholes in roads and in society because for one reason or another, deficits don't matter. But this is not about the USA.

Really, the DPJ has been trying its best to right the economy they inherited from the LDP. One of the things that impressed me is how the wasteful practice of moving large quantities of earth from one spot to another for no useful purpose seems to have decreased under the new government. I have no stats, but that's just an impression from my somewhat less frequent cycling workouts along the Tamagawa. Mud-moving projects have noticeably decreased in size if not quantity since the autumn.

Perhaps, however, the money was shifted elsewhere. Every day, on the walk from my Mansion to Denenchofu station, I get to pass through the now 2 (or 3?) year old water line project which makes the street nearly impassible for humans and autos. As on construction projects everywhere, there seem to be about 5 people standing around and "supervising" for each person who is actually working. But what makes this a great economic stimulus is that not only do we get to pay the salaries of folks who could be better utilized serving tea to those who are working, but we get to pay to have the street and sidewalk dug up every single morning and refilled and resurfaced (with asphalt) every single evening. Wonder how much time and money that costs? Did Yukio not notice this when he lived in Denenchofu just a few short months ago? But who am I---a taxpaying resident who should never be allowed to vote for fear upsetting the apple cart with dangerous foreign influence---to say anything about that. Let the neighbors grumble---which they are. (Hear anything Yukio?)

Speaking of EVIL foreign influence:

Referring to the downgrading of the outlook for Japan's long-term government bonds by foreign rating companies, State Minister for Financial Affairs Shizuka Kamei said, "The Japanese are susceptible to foreign influences. There are lots of idiots." He thus indicated his dissatisfaction with the nature of credit ratings and the way people respond to them. Kamei is set to have regulatory power over credit rating companies starting in April. (From Feb 16 Asahi Shimbun. I cannot find a link as of yet.)

Now I don't really know what the hell this fellow was trying to say. He seemed to be angry that credit rating companies could rate Japanese bonds without asking. Maybe he was hinting at some future administrative guidance for those foreign companies. Why not? It's surely a lot easier than trying to un-screw-up the now decades old screwed-up economy. Besides, Japan owes most of its money to its own citizens, not foreigners, and it is easier to get away with screwing your own investors than it is screwing foreign investors. Or so the theory goes.

My question is: Does Kamei consider himself to be one of the idiots, or is he referring to the people whom he supposedly serves? (Let's pretend. We know that most folks in his line of work here do not consider themselves servants of the public, but more "nannies" of the childish masses. Tuche' to Fujiwara Masahiko.)

Incidentally, Kamei, a Shintaro Ishihara fan, "studied" economics at Tokyo University. Mr. Idiot also opposes foreigner suffrage* as allowing those bastards to vote could fuel nationalism. Who said that the LDP was dead?

A big arigatou in the direction of the Potomac for alerting me to this.

*We Western immigrants ought not be too hard on Kamei for this view, for he was apparently referring to those permanent residents of Korean heritage which makes it all OK.

22 Feb 2010 update: They have now begun to work directly on the road (instead of the sidewalk) and are no longer covering it with asphalt every evening. Time and money saved---what will they think of next?

Ozawa to keep fighting and the LDP to keep being hypocritical

Japan's main opposition party pledged Sunday to pursue a funding scandal involving political heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa...

Prosecutors are investigating whether Ozawa... ...took millions of dollars in bribes...

One could be forgiven for being confused, but no, the prosecutor's office is not the main opposition party referred to in the article.

Sadakazu Kanigaki of the LDP represents the opposition party:

"We will keep asking questions as to whether the leaders who run the government are qualified," Tanigaki said, vowing to win July's upper house elections. All quotes from AFP

Since Joesph Welch did not ask "Have you no sense of shame, sir?" of Senator McCarthy, I will feel free to ask Tanigaki and the LDP that question. However, I wonder if Tanigaki would like voters to ask his question of the LDP next summer?

In my usual un-random,* unscientific poll of friends and acquaintances of Japanese nationality, I have found nobody who is falling for this. Then again, the folks I poll are those who haven't enough sense to avoid me and as such, they may or may not be representative of the general public. They certainly aren't representative of those who ride the Wednesday/Thursday evening trains from Otemachi or the Saturday evening train from Kawasaki as most of those folks do a very good job of avoiding sitting beside me.

*Caution: non-standard English.

I am not implying that Ozawa is a victim of McCarthyism. (At least I don't think I am. Yet.)

Speaking of sweet

I have been about as surprised that the now official scandal involving Ozawa has resulted in arrests as I was to learn that caramel is sweet.

There had been talk that Ozawa might step in as PM before this summer's upper-house election if Hatoyama proves to be not up to the task, but I am sure that such a possibility has nothing to do with the prosecutor's decision to pursue this case. Some might assume that the purity-and-light party, the LDP, might be behind this in some way, but we know that cannot be true. All such cases are thoroughly and fairly investigated and then successfully prosecuted no matter who is involved. This is a country of laws, not men, that is governed by the elected representatives of the people, not faceless, unaccountable-to-the-public bureaucrats. The timing is a mere coincidence:

The 150-day regular Diet session convened Monday with the money scandals embroiling Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama expected to snarl efforts by the ruling bloc to pass budget and other bills...

"We need to implement policies that protect the livelihood of our people, especially considering our current economic situation," Hatoyama said. Japan Times

(Not so fast Y, the only policies which could achieve those goals are the ones of the LDP which were just about to show results when you came in and spoiled it all.)

I will admit, however, to a bit of residual belief that the LDP and their buddies in the bureaucracy will never be truly defeated for any more than a temporarily spell at best. Not that I think many are fooled by what is going on, but months and months of "scandals" and a continuing poor economy has to take a toll. The good news is that we can be confident that the fair and impartial media will cover the stories with at least as much skepticism toward the prosecutors as it will toward Ozawa and the DPJ.

1242: Same JT article: Irony defined: "The supplementary budget is important, but to restore political credibility we ask that intense deliberations be conducted on the issue of politics and money," LDP Diet Affairs Chief Jiro Kawasaki said.

Gobblins of the past

Was watching BS Fuji Live Prime News when that fellow who quit due to bowel trouble appeared, Ol' Beautiful Country Abe himself.

I actually got the creeps. I feel unclean and unwashed. Abe began to opinionate* about North Korea and I could not switch the channel fast enough.

For the simple-minded and naive, it is difficult to understand why anyone in the US would have any sort of nostalgia for the Japan of that fellow's party.

Today, it was reported in a number of articles that Secretary of State Clinton has moved to cool down the crisis(!!!???) over Futenma---though one reported that she expressed no willingness to compromise.** Joseph Nye had earlier written an article for the NYT trying to talk some sense into everyone---and it was necessary?

How unbelievable it is that such a thing escalated into what seemed to be (at least in news reports) such a major issue. If the US-Japan relationship is still "the most important relationship in the world, bar none"*** (or even close to it) how can that single issue "threaten" it? Obviously, we peons don't understand anything that's going on and cannot determine what is important and what is not. Our esteemed leaders cannot seem to explain what's going on and why it is of such importance either,**** which does not reflect especially well on them.

Hatoyama may not have handled the issue perfectly, but I do admire him for hanging tough. Maybe the days of Abe and his ilk are over for a while.

*Note to the language sensitive: Intentional use of Nonstandard English.
**Read it this morning, but cannot recall where.
***It obviously ain't now, if it ever was.
****Repeating the same-ol', same ol' a zillion times is not an explanation either, especially when the explanation seems to assume that the same ol' same ol' relationship will continue unchanged forever.

Let me cut my nose off to spite my face

I saw this briefly mentioned on NHK news earlier today, and now it's at Reuters:

The leader of Japan's tiny Social Democratic Party [Mizuho Fukushima] threatened on Thursday to leave the ruling coalition if her views on a U.S. military base were ignored...

Surely this is just a bluff; just a negotiating ploy, for the SDP would not take a chance on damaging the coalition and perhaps reviving the snake.

Or, could it be explained by Chie Nakane's view of groups in her book Japanese Society?* Sometimes when these sort of things happen, I am tempted to turn to those sort of cultural explanations to rationalize the seemingly irrational. But sometimes, the irrational is simply irrational.

*This is a short book that I think is still worth reading even though it is now decades old. It was recommended to me by one of my university professors who told me that in order understand Japan I should read that book. He was a Japanese fellow who did not subscribe to the theory that non-Japanese could never understand Japan. In fact, he had a reputation for insisting that students in his class did their damnedest to do so. And he was a grammar-nazi too.

Shoichi Nakagawa dies

Apparently found dead at home by his wife just after 8 this morning. I don't know why, but I have always felt somewhat sorry for him. Asahi article (Japanese) here.

Not a good way to return to blogging...

1240: Article in English here. Apparently the whole world already knows about it.

How to become depressed.

After a year of living in what seems to be an unreal world---or at least one entirely different than I thought existed for the first 4.5 decades of my life---I thought it was becoming hard to become more cynical. I was wrong. It is not.

Read this at Armchair Asia.

As stereotypically resistant to change as the Japan is said to be, I am beginning to think that the US is just as much so*. And the "change"---LDP to DPJ---that certain folks in the US are resisting, does not really appear to be a huge, 180 degree change. Anyone paying any attention to Japan should have expected most of what the DPJ (vaguely) says it would like to do.

Over the last few weeks I have received much information about the US "alliance managers" fears of the DPJ victory and am grateful for all of it. One PDF which I can link to (and well worth reading) at NBR explains the DPJ's foreign policy visions and addresses some of the fears of the timid: Electing a New Japanese Security Policy? Examining Foreign Policy Visions within the Democratic Party of Japan.

Of course there are numerous blogs in addition to the above mentioned which have covered this much better than I could ever pretend or want to do including the ones here, here, and here**.

I am already dreaming of being lost in the sticks for several days in mid-September during which time I hope not to read, hear, nor think of anything related to the last year. I'll do fine not to meet another human being, I think. But for now, I shall try to go back to being a week behind the news...

*The US seems to be extremely resistant to changes in foreign policy, especially in NE Asia.

**Not being cynical enough has its penalties. When I first read at Shisaku that Hatoyama's CSM/NYT shortened and condensed article might mean problems with the US, I thought that it was very unlikely. Surely, nobody would either be surprised at what Hatoyama had written, or gotten their undies in a twist about such a vaguely written nuttin'.

6:39pm: I may need to clarify some points. The depressing thing at the Armchair Asia post is Jim Hoagland and his inane article. Also, when I wrote of not being cynical enough and referred to the Shisaku post, I meant that I was not cynical enough about what some in the US would stoop to regarding Hatoyama's article.

Excellent TV: Bahahahahaha. They lost.

Watching a number of TV stations report the election has been quite interesting for reasons other than seeing the LDP get completely stomped. Channel 6 had Beat Takeshi on as a non-commenting commentator. He barely said anything but was seated with the reporters through out the evening. I was informed that since it was a live broadcast, that they were afraid to let him on open mic because of his tendency to say things not supposed to be said on TV. The theory must have been that his mere appearance would attract viewers.

The stations had wildly different results at times, with NHK being one of the most conservative. Channel 11 on satellite was the quickest with its predictions often having the DPJ up to 20 seats more than some other stations.

What interested me for about 5 minutes---after which I became cross-eyed---were the messages from viewers that were streamed on the upper part of the screen. They were nothing special for the most part and one could hear the same sort of thing in most democracies during an election, especially one as historic mind-boggling as this one.

Below are just a random sample with no real logic for selecting them except that they are shorter messages which I could get quickly. Should be read with the caveat that these are not only are these my "inelegant" translations, but I had to read them and try to translate and write them down as fast as I could.

This country has changed. (A 20-something person.)

Can the DPJ really do it?

I'm worried the DPJ will raise insurance fees.

I don't want the DPJ to turn into the LDP.

I want the number of kids and students to increase.

From here it will be terrible.

I worry about Japan from now. (50 year old man.)

I want Japan to become a country that is easy to live in. (A person in his/her 20s.)

To Mr. Hatoyama: Is the DPJ the same as, or different from, the LDP?

Japan can also change.

I want politics to change 180 degrees from what it has been.

I am against the elimination of highway tolls.

Toward a new Japan. (50-something man)

Because we want Japan to change, this will be the election it begins.

One I could not really be sure of was from a woman who wrote something roughly like: "Everyone says the same thing, we saw America change and now we will too."

I wonder if this will be the election in which a bit of optimism begins in Japan. If so, now it's up to the DPJ to preserve and develop it. They cannot blow this opportunity.*

* As noted in the comments, they certainly can blow the opportunity.

I don't care. I don't care. I really don't

I've been trying to avoid it. I don't really wanna watch what is likely the certainty of a DPJ victory over the LDP. I mean nothing will please me more than to see the LDP slapped silly unless it would be to see it happen several times over the next decade. I figure with the election pretty much locked up---my commie wife even voted non-commie---that I would just wait and see what the DPJ actually is able to do when in power before getting all excited. I even tried watching Chibimariko-chan and Sazae-san to keep my finger off the remote that would lead me to any news about the election results which should start in an hour or so.

I have failed, mainly because of the damned blogs I have checked when not watching cartoons. Observing Japan has an Election Day Open Thread , and Our Man in Abiko has promised live coverage from 9PM which I am sure won't be replicated elsewhere. There may be others I haven't found yet. But I don't care. Means nothing to me.

8:33pm And it's just terrible. Results so far are 207 for the opposition and 51 for the LDP and its lone ally Komeito.

Duh! Trans-Pacific Radio is also covering the election live,as is Observing Japan.