Saki Oshitani, the featured artist this month, is playing as a part of triple bill at Comfort in Takadanobaba starting at 18:30. The entry fee is 1500 yen.
Monday, September 22, 2008
L' Ancien Régime
A.
Grandfather and grandfather's brother
Father
Grandfather
Q:
The last three presidents of the Liberal Democratic Party all had close relatives serve as presidents of the LDP. List these close relatives, in order of the last three LDP sōsai.
Image courtesy: Nikkei Online
Grandfather and grandfather's brother
Father
Grandfather
Q:
The last three presidents of the Liberal Democratic Party all had close relatives serve as presidents of the LDP. List these close relatives, in order of the last three LDP sōsai.
Image courtesy: Nikkei Online
Saturday, September 20, 2008
In the Python Embrace of Ozawa's Electoral Strategy
While the five candidates vying for the position of president of the Liberal Democratic Party pout and preen for the cameras, Democratic Party of Japan Leader Ozawa Ichirō has been preparing his own party and its allies for an all-out battle in the House of Representative districts.
In the past few days we have seen the feelgood failure of the merger the anti-reform People's New Party (on a technicality, not a matter of policy); the recruitment of Hepatitis C poster child Fukuda Eriko to run in Nagasaki #2 district against chronic gaffemeister and hideous calligrapher Kyūma Fumio*; the sudden quiet reassignment of youthful Ōta Kazumi from the Chiba #7 seat to the Fukushima #2 (Ōta's unexpected victory in the April 2006 Chiba #7 by-election had been the first serious reversal of LDP's winning ways in the last years of the Koizumi Era); and the DPJ's stunning capture of the endorsement of the Ibaraki Prefecture Medical Association, the reward for the DPJ's opportunistic opposition to the new over-75 years of age eldercare system -- a switching of allegiance so shattering to the LDP that party bigwigs have sent Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare on a mad scramble to junk the reform (Japanese only).
While the more cynical among the commentariat may see Ozawa's flurry of moves as an attempt to steal the media spotlight away from the LDP leadership race, Ozawa may actually be unveiling his grand strategy for countering the LDP's significant advantages in the district elections. By promising the moon to all who have lost in from The Reforms and recruiting anyone and everyone hurt by The System, Ozawa is lashing his own bumptious party together with the ideological potpourri of the People's New Party, the Socialists and Communists. The result is an angry, broad-based, below-the-Nagatachō-radar movement with a winning campaign theme:
"The DPJ and Friends - Fighting As One for the Disdained and the Disenfranchised!"
A bit wordy - but you get the picture. No rural vs. urban dichotomy, the usual fracture line of the Japanese polity. No division between the winners in the economic reforms and the losers: everyone is aggrieved in some way from the way things have turned out -- and all are ready to lash out at The Powers That Be.
Once Asō Tarō clears the hurdle of winning the presidency of the LDP he will have to start thinking seriously about what, if anything, his own ruling coalition will be running on.
What is the advantage of reelecting the LDP-New Kōmeitō coalition rather than handing power over to a ragbag army of the nearly powerless and the largely forgotten? Asō cannot point to the LDP's record of responsible, capable leadership. He probably will not attempt to convince the voters that the LDP and the New Kōmeitō should be rewarded for the freshness of their ideas, their unity of purpose or their intellectual heft. He would probably be really on thin ice claiming that only the LDP/New Kōmeitō coalition can meet the challenges posed by the so-called "twisted" Diet.
Keep in mind (because, believe you me, the voters will) that if the ruling coalition wins a majority of seats in the next House of Representatives election, we will be right back where we have been for the last year - with one House under the control of an LDP-led coalition and another under the control a DPJ-led coalition.
A prospect that will not thrill the voters. Trust me.
So what will be the ruling coalition's stirring campaign slogan? "In the distict, vote for the guy (they are almost all guys, so humor me here) whom you have known for all these years and in the bloc, for the party of the glib dude with the distressingly ready smile"?
For after this remarkable LDP leadership race comes to a close tomorrow, that is all the party will have.
-------------------------------------------
* In unintentional tribute to Japan's purported pacifism, Kyūma's odious rendering of "Bōeishō" is now cast in bronze and affixed for all eternity to the gates of the Ministry of Defense.
In the past few days we have seen the feelgood failure of the merger the anti-reform People's New Party (on a technicality, not a matter of policy); the recruitment of Hepatitis C poster child Fukuda Eriko to run in Nagasaki #2 district against chronic gaffemeister and hideous calligrapher Kyūma Fumio*; the sudden quiet reassignment of youthful Ōta Kazumi from the Chiba #7 seat to the Fukushima #2 (Ōta's unexpected victory in the April 2006 Chiba #7 by-election had been the first serious reversal of LDP's winning ways in the last years of the Koizumi Era); and the DPJ's stunning capture of the endorsement of the Ibaraki Prefecture Medical Association, the reward for the DPJ's opportunistic opposition to the new over-75 years of age eldercare system -- a switching of allegiance so shattering to the LDP that party bigwigs have sent Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare on a mad scramble to junk the reform (Japanese only).
While the more cynical among the commentariat may see Ozawa's flurry of moves as an attempt to steal the media spotlight away from the LDP leadership race, Ozawa may actually be unveiling his grand strategy for countering the LDP's significant advantages in the district elections. By promising the moon to all who have lost in from The Reforms and recruiting anyone and everyone hurt by The System, Ozawa is lashing his own bumptious party together with the ideological potpourri of the People's New Party, the Socialists and Communists. The result is an angry, broad-based, below-the-Nagatachō-radar movement with a winning campaign theme:
"The DPJ and Friends - Fighting As One for the Disdained and the Disenfranchised!"
A bit wordy - but you get the picture. No rural vs. urban dichotomy, the usual fracture line of the Japanese polity. No division between the winners in the economic reforms and the losers: everyone is aggrieved in some way from the way things have turned out -- and all are ready to lash out at The Powers That Be.
Once Asō Tarō clears the hurdle of winning the presidency of the LDP he will have to start thinking seriously about what, if anything, his own ruling coalition will be running on.
What is the advantage of reelecting the LDP-New Kōmeitō coalition rather than handing power over to a ragbag army of the nearly powerless and the largely forgotten? Asō cannot point to the LDP's record of responsible, capable leadership. He probably will not attempt to convince the voters that the LDP and the New Kōmeitō should be rewarded for the freshness of their ideas, their unity of purpose or their intellectual heft. He would probably be really on thin ice claiming that only the LDP/New Kōmeitō coalition can meet the challenges posed by the so-called "twisted" Diet.
Keep in mind (because, believe you me, the voters will) that if the ruling coalition wins a majority of seats in the next House of Representatives election, we will be right back where we have been for the last year - with one House under the control of an LDP-led coalition and another under the control a DPJ-led coalition.
A prospect that will not thrill the voters. Trust me.
So what will be the ruling coalition's stirring campaign slogan? "In the distict, vote for the guy (they are almost all guys, so humor me here) whom you have known for all these years and in the bloc, for the party of the glib dude with the distressingly ready smile"?
For after this remarkable LDP leadership race comes to a close tomorrow, that is all the party will have.
-------------------------------------------
* In unintentional tribute to Japan's purported pacifism, Kyūma's odious rendering of "Bōeishō" is now cast in bronze and affixed for all eternity to the gates of the Ministry of Defense.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Sic Transit Gloria
In a futile gesture, in its final regular Friday meeting, the Fukuda Cabinet approved a Cabinet Decision (kakugi kettei) declaring its full-throated support for a bill that would extend the dispatch of Maritime Self Defense Forces ships to the Indian Ocean.
A gesture almost as pathetic and ridiculous as today's resignation of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as a show of remorse for the tainted rice scandal.
Which is neatly matched by the absurd approval today of yet another kakugi kettei in support of three bills necessary to establish a Consumer Protection Agency.
Call the whole sad performance "Fukuda Yasuo's Last Stand" if you will.
The Cabinet minus Agriculture Minister Ōta (I am guessing here) will meet once more next week in order to resign en masse.
Ave Tokyo! Morituri te salutant!
A gesture almost as pathetic and ridiculous as today's resignation of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as a show of remorse for the tainted rice scandal.
Which is neatly matched by the absurd approval today of yet another kakugi kettei in support of three bills necessary to establish a Consumer Protection Agency.
Call the whole sad performance "Fukuda Yasuo's Last Stand" if you will.
The Cabinet minus Agriculture Minister Ōta (I am guessing here) will meet once more next week in order to resign en masse.
Ave Tokyo! Morituri te salutant!
The Third Dawn
A few weeks back, in a surprisingly unreflective blog post (for him at least) Adam Richards asked why Japan should be admitting more "foreigners" -- and laid out what to him seemed strong arguments against such a policy.
The arguments, that Japan can somehow compensate for a declining labor force by abandoning unprofitable activities or by making better use of female labor, senior citizens and technology, are either unworkable (yes, let's just abandon agriculture, small-scale manufacturing and retail) or nonsense (having the elderly work is a way of showing them "respect" - right).
The basic argument for increasing immigration into Japan is relatively simple: in order for the economy to remain the same size, much less grow, one has to, as workers retire, either radically improve output per worker or keep adding new workers. On a structural level, as an increasing amount of domestic labor is shifted into the eldercare industries arising from longer lifespans, and the number of children and young adults shrinks, the physical labor jobs and the non-touchey-feeley lower level service economy jobs will either a) have to be filled by non-Japanese or b) disappear - which means a deterioration in overall quality of life.
[A neat little shorthand economic argument for immigration, if you need one: every time a poor country immigrant, legal or illegal, crosses a border in order to work in a rich nation, World GDP rises by tens of thousands of dollars - making everyone better off. As for the strategic, moral and revitalizing consequences of a state's being open to immigrants, I do not think that these are even disputable.]
Ishizuka Masahiko has published a neat little thought piece in the Nikkei Weekly on the potential impact of the coming increase in immigration. He puts forth the radical yet eminently sensible proposition that immigration over the next few years and decades will be a third opening for Japan, comparable to the coming of the Black Ships and the Occupation.
If Ishizuka is right -- and I believe he is -- then everyone we should welcome the crashing in of this third wave. The two prior openings did much to improve the prestige, wealth, autonomy and security of Japan...and lot of the average Japanese citizen.
The arguments, that Japan can somehow compensate for a declining labor force by abandoning unprofitable activities or by making better use of female labor, senior citizens and technology, are either unworkable (yes, let's just abandon agriculture, small-scale manufacturing and retail) or nonsense (having the elderly work is a way of showing them "respect" - right).
The basic argument for increasing immigration into Japan is relatively simple: in order for the economy to remain the same size, much less grow, one has to, as workers retire, either radically improve output per worker or keep adding new workers. On a structural level, as an increasing amount of domestic labor is shifted into the eldercare industries arising from longer lifespans, and the number of children and young adults shrinks, the physical labor jobs and the non-touchey-feeley lower level service economy jobs will either a) have to be filled by non-Japanese or b) disappear - which means a deterioration in overall quality of life.
[A neat little shorthand economic argument for immigration, if you need one: every time a poor country immigrant, legal or illegal, crosses a border in order to work in a rich nation, World GDP rises by tens of thousands of dollars - making everyone better off. As for the strategic, moral and revitalizing consequences of a state's being open to immigrants, I do not think that these are even disputable.]
Ishizuka Masahiko has published a neat little thought piece in the Nikkei Weekly on the potential impact of the coming increase in immigration. He puts forth the radical yet eminently sensible proposition that immigration over the next few years and decades will be a third opening for Japan, comparable to the coming of the Black Ships and the Occupation.
If Ishizuka is right -- and I believe he is -- then everyone we should welcome the crashing in of this third wave. The two prior openings did much to improve the prestige, wealth, autonomy and security of Japan...and lot of the average Japanese citizen.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
For The Very Best Article on the Current State of Sino-Japanese Relations
Read Sophia University Professor James Farrer's article on the the Japanese media's portrayal of the Beijing Olympics.
If you read nothing else all year, let it be the above. It is worth more than 5 kilos of International Relations books.
If you read nothing else all year, let it be the above. It is worth more than 5 kilos of International Relations books.
Southern Encounter
An image from a long, strange trip.
Portrait of Abe Shinzō
Floor of the Swanson Gallery in Louisville, Kentucky
September 5, 2008
Portrait of Abe ShinzōFloor of the Swanson Gallery in Louisville, Kentucky
September 5, 2008
Could Someone Please Make Kyōdō News Items More Bland?
From the department of grossly insufficient reporting comes:
Bear attacks man in west TokyoExcuse me, but if you going to report that Yamanoi Yasushi was attacked by a bear, it is really not out of line to explain in detail who the hell he is, that all things considered he really does not have any more body parts to sacrifice to the mountain gods and that he somehow managed to get attacked by a bear within the confines of the Tokyo Metropolitan District, home of 13 million people, a year after the population of bears in Japan had been decimated by culling.
Kyodo News
Alpinist Yasushi Yamanoi was seriously injured Wednesday by a bear while jogging in the mountains near his home in western Tokyo, police said.The 43-year-old climber, who has scaled the Himalayas and other peaks, sustained face and arm injuries before fleeing to a nearby home in Okutama.
The homeowner called an ambulance at around 7:30 a.m.The two bears involved in the incident near the Yamanashi Prefecture border were thought to be a mother and cub, police said.
The Environment Ministry said bear attacks are rare in Tokyo. The most recent, in 2006, was the only attack recorded since 2004.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
In the Eye of the Storm
With the world's financial systems going through their worst crises since the Great Depression, and the governments of the world's first and second largest economies functionally decapitated, it is hard to be jocular about the vagaries and quirks of Japanese politics.
I would like to say something about how the rumored absorption of the People's New Party into the Democratic Party of Japan is indicative of Ozawa Ichirō's preparation for a seizure of control of the House of Representatives, if only by a razor thin margin -- but that the sacrifices made for victory will stymie Ozawa's implementation of a reform agenda.
I would like say that I fail to see the point of Koizumi Jun'ichirō's vocal support of Koike Yuriko in the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race. Is he signaling that he and his surviving followers are up for grabs, post-election? Or is this merely a vanity action, a final bit of theater for the press to dissect prior to the inevitable wipeout of all the urban district and bloc representatives he led to victory in 2005?
Somehow all the ongoing madness makes it difficult for even a policy nut to stay interested in the stream of petty gestures.
I feel like I am watching a cricket match during a typhoon.
I would like to say something about how the rumored absorption of the People's New Party into the Democratic Party of Japan is indicative of Ozawa Ichirō's preparation for a seizure of control of the House of Representatives, if only by a razor thin margin -- but that the sacrifices made for victory will stymie Ozawa's implementation of a reform agenda.
I would like say that I fail to see the point of Koizumi Jun'ichirō's vocal support of Koike Yuriko in the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race. Is he signaling that he and his surviving followers are up for grabs, post-election? Or is this merely a vanity action, a final bit of theater for the press to dissect prior to the inevitable wipeout of all the urban district and bloc representatives he led to victory in 2005?
Somehow all the ongoing madness makes it difficult for even a policy nut to stay interested in the stream of petty gestures.
I feel like I am watching a cricket match during a typhoon.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Oh Great, Now That's Just Spiffy
Doesn't this man know I am on vacation?
The Rapid Decline of the Fukuda
and
The Run on the Fukuda Begins
Now my aunt has invited me to dinner and I am going to go.
Damnation.
Japan searches for a new prime minister, againJust to make sure we know who is zooming who here, a few hits frome the back catalog.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan began searching for a new prime minister on Tuesday after Yasuo Fukuda became the second leader to resign in less than a year, threatening a further policy vacuum as the economy teeters on the brink of recession.
Topping the list of likely candidates to become Japan's 11th prime minister in 15 years is former foreign minister Taro Aso, 67, an outspoken nationalist who now holds the No. 2 position in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He was runner-up to Fukuda in the race for party chief last year.
The Rapid Decline of the Fukuda
and
The Run on the Fukuda Begins
Now my aunt has invited me to dinner and I am going to go.
Damnation.
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