Courtesy: The Asahi Shimbun
Aosuji ageha Graphium sarpedon"Rather than friendship, let's think about the party. At any rate, let's think about winning elections." *
Remove justice minister from execution process: HatoyamaI had predicted there would be trouble on this issue. Funny thing, though; I thought it was going to be the other way around--that his vulgarity and insensitivity would lead him to sign death warrants with abandon.
Kyodo News
Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama proposed Tuesday scrapping the rule requiring the justice minister's signature for executions because "no one wants to put his signature on an execution order."
Under the Criminal Procedure Law, the justice minister is required to sign and issue an execution order within six months after a death sentence is finalized.
"The law should be abided by," Hatoyama told a news conference after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet resigned. "But no one wants to put his signature on an execution order. "I wonder if there is any way not to delegate the responsibility solely to the justice minister," he said.
Hatoyama called for devising an "automatic and objective" procedure for executing people without having to involve the justice minister.
In addition, others in factions that supported Fukuda said a sizable number of the lawmakers changed their minds and voted for Aso because they felt uncomfortable supporting Fukuda, who is regarded as less conservative.
A junior Machimura faction member said, "Junior members of our faction have expressed displeasure toward Mr. Fukuda due to his support for equality between the sexes, [establishing] a state-run facility [to replace the religious Yasukuni Shrine] to honor war dead and improved ties with North Korea." (1)
Who would have ever imagined it would be Fukuda Yasuo who would fulfill Koizumi Jun'ichirō's pledge to the nation?
Tanigaki Sadakazu gives to any organization he is put in charge of what Michael Corleone gives to his brother Fredo in the Havana party scene in Godfather II.
Camera crew filming a "police in a bar in a rundown section of Saitama Prefecture" scene in Yodobashi 5-chōme.
Kurotaki
Nihon Tokage Plestiodon japonicus
Hauchiwa kaede Acer japonicum thunbergii
Akayamatake Hygrocybe conica
Headwaters of the Shijūhassegawa
Fukuda Yasuo - truth is, he's a huge weirdo!"He was really quiet. Didn't draw attention to himself. Said he liked reading and listening to classical music. You never would have thought such a unremarkable little guy would be such turn out to be such a weirdo."
Shimotsuke Spiraceae japonica
Memorial statue of Finance Minister Takahashi KorekiyoThe question is whether Ozawa's opposition to the anti-terror bill is a political tactic or a more fundamental shift away from his previous support for the U.S.-Japan alliance? And where, by extension, does the DPJ – which includes critics and supporters of the alliance – stand as a whole regarding elements of the U.S.-Japan security relationship?No, Mr. Konishi, it might be you who has to move beyond icon worshipping cheap shots. Please study the history of the Democratic Party's and Ichirō Ozawa's security thinking. There is one; I am sure of it.
Statements by Ozawa, as well the official DPJ policy platform, shed little light on these questions. The DPJ is generally supportive of the U.S.-Japan alliance, but calls for Japan to have greater "autonomy" in the decision-making process. The DPJ's basic security policy statement elliptically argues that: "The stance that Japan should take from now on is to engage in close dialogue and consultation with the United States, giving full consideration to Japan's national interests." (Since when did Tokyo stop considering national interests when engaging the U.S.?)
Now that the DPJ is no longer just a noisy opposition party, it needs to move beyond iconoclastic critiques of the alliance and start filling in the details of its position on security cooperation with the United States.
U.N. renews NATO troop mandate in AfghanistanThe Russians and the Chinese both criticized the inclusion of a phrase solely for domestic political consumption in one member state.
Reuters
By Evelyn Leopold - The U.N. Security Council authorized NATO-led troops to stay in Afghanistan for another year on Wednesday and gave the Japanese government support in its domestic dispute over refueling American and other ships in the Indian Ocean.
The vote was 14-0 with Russia abstaining in the resolution that emphasized "the increased violent and terrorist activities by the Taliban, Al Qaeda, illegally armed groups and those involved in the narcotics trade."
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has close to 40,000 soldiers in Afghan to combat the country's former Taliban rulers, toppled by U.S. and Afghan forces in 2001.
New in the resolution is a sentence expressing appreciation to NATO and contributions from many nations to ISAF, which includes Japan, "including its maritime interdiction component."
"A decision was made to give priority to domestic considerations of some members of the United Nations," Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said. "But we believe our main responsibility is to the Security Council."Uuuuh, the bear in New York is not pleased but shrugs with tired contempt.
Churkin noted that the mandate for ISAF did not expire for another month and council members should have "exerted every effort to get unanimity."
UNSC to praise MSDF antiterror roleYes, Vladimir Putin's Ambassador to the United Nations will cheerfully ignore the inclusion of praise of Operation Enduring Freedom, a non-UN operation, in a UN Security Council Resolution. Because at the UN nobody is very careful about the language inserted into resolutions nor worries much about establishing precedents.
Yoshikazu Shirakawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
A resolution to be adopted soon by the U.N. Security Council to extend the mission of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan will include words of appreciation for Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), which has been carried out by a coalition of nations, including Japan, Britain and the United States, sources said Tuesday.
The resolution likely will mention for the first time the maritime OEF activities the Maritime Self-Defense Force participate in by refueling U.S.-led ships in the Indian Ocean. The maritime activities are being carried out by multinational forces, including those of Britain and the United States.
As the Democratic Party of Japan has refused to extend the Antiterrorism Law, which is set to expire on Nov. 1, the MSDF's refueling operations would be halted. The government therefore asked Britain and the United States to recognize the important role played by the MSDF via its refueling mission in an attempt to sway the DPJ.
According to U.N. diplomatic sources, the key permanent Security Council members--Britain, France and the United States--have entered the final stage of discussion on a preamble to be included in the resolution, which likely will state the council appreciates the role played by participating countries in the ISAF and OEF operations, including the marine activities...
White manjushage - also called higanbana
White ginger - Shōga- Hedychium coronarium
Finial of the Main Hall, Myōhōji
Heavenly King, Chōshōji
Up through the cracks
Windsurfers, YuigahamaAbe Shinzō was selected to serve as a symbol for an election; got himself caught up in running a country he did not like; tried to replace it with a country and a population he could like; trusted sleazy friends to cover his backside just as he would cover theirs; and made China very happy by not doing things he had been doing for years. His popularity fell when he followed his own desires and rose whenever he acted contrary to his reputation. He was finally broken into shards by his appointments calendar.
Courtesy: Kobe City Museum
Prime Minister Abe Shinzō being driven to Keiō University HospitalSupport for Fukuda grows LDP race on Sept. 23 seen as 2-way battle with Aso; Nukaga may also join
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda has decided to run in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election to choose a successor to outgoing party leader and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, sources said Thursday.
LDP Secretary General Taro Aso is expected to declare his candidacy at a press conference scheduled to be held Friday, while Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga has expressed his intention to run.
The contest is expected to be a two-way race between Aso and Fukuda. According to observers, Fukuda is gaining support across the LDP's factions...
Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo announced his resignation Wednesday afternoon in Tokyo. Despite widespread agreement that he should have resigned after his party's rout in the July Upper House election, the decision still stunned many, especially since it came only two days after he had vowed to "stake his job" on extending the Maritime Self-Defense Forces' (MSDF) mandate to refuel vessels in the Indian Ocean.
While this may end Abe's political career, it is a brilliant tactical move: it robs the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) of political momentum and gives the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) a chance to reconnect with voters. Much depends on who the LDP picks to succeed Abe: a party determined to reassure voters will opt for an older, known quantity, even though that may herald a return to the old LDP and a retreat from the dynamism of the Koizumi years.
(...)
Abe's resignation changes the dynamic. Stepping down eliminates a lightening (sic) rod for criticism. Giving up the prime minister's office is the sort of sacrifice that Japanese expect from their leaders. It changes the focus of the political debate from Abe to Ozawa, who many believe is making a technical argument against a deployment that he would have supported under other circumstances. The MSDF is refueling ships from many countries (only 30 percent of the fuel has gone to U.S. vessels this year), supporting a multinational force that is struggling to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, and making precisely the type of international contribution that Ozawa fought hard for in the first Gulf War. Abe's retiring from the scene means that Ozawa's arguments, rather than Abe's behavior, will be the focus of debate. (The speed with which Abe reversed gears also feeds speculation that a deal may have been struck with the DPJ on the MSDF issue; such backroom maneuvers are not unknown in Japan.)
Courtesy: Nikkei Online
Courtesy: Nikkei Online
Courtesy: The Japan Times 
Aso struck the first blow in his declaration supporting the reabsorption of Hiranuma Takeo into the LDP without conditions. Well, not exactly his support--more like his his inability to think of why he might have any reason to oppose the idea.
Under normal circumstance another member of the party leadership would have already stepped in to point out to Aso that his fantasy of readmitting his buddy was sowing divisions within the party.
No doubt Abe Shinzō wanted to appear principled when he blurted out his intent to not cling to his post should the attempt to renew the Anti-Terrorism Law fail. Unfortunately, he could not have thought of a better way of encouraging every person opposed to the renewal to stand in league with Ozawa Ichirō --or to discourage those who were willing to fight for the law's renewal. The only goad for a face-saving compromise between the ruling coalition and the opposition before the November 1 deadline was the threat that Abe would still be in power; would still be able to lead an override of the House of Councillors through an extension of the Diet session leading to a revote in the House of Representatives; would use parliamentary procedures to make the opposition's lives miserable; would even resubmit a deployment bill in January--anything to fight back tooth and nail, no matter how malicious and petty it made him look, to keep Japan's ships in service in the Indian Ocean even if there were a brief interruption.
Now Abe has promised to walk away should the deadline pass without passage of the bill in the House of Councillors.
Who the hell will even bother showing up for committee meeting on the renewal bill in the House of Representatives ? Who the hell will speak up for the bill in the House of Councillors, except to score meaningless debating points?
Hurtling to his destruction goes Abe...does he think any of the rest of his party will clamber on board with him?
1) Water Temple in Shinkawa Park. Kiryū City, Gunma Prefecture.
2) The Kiryū Meijikan, formerly the Gunma Prefectural Hygiene Station and Medical School, built in 1874. Kiryū City, Gunma Prefecture.
3) Playing a 78 on the steel-needle Victrola in the tearoom (coffee with apple pie = 500 yen). The Kiryū Meijikan; Kiryū City, Gunma Prefecture.
4) Study Hall of the Ashikaga School. Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture.
5) Sunset from atop Ryōgaisan. Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture.
All images captured on September 8, 2007. All images by MTC.
