What the Board of Geographic Names Hath Wrought

From comments it is clear there is a little confusion the point I was trying to make in my post yesterday.

I am not mocking any country - well, the United States, a little.

Instead, judging from the contents of their server, the Board of Geographical Names-- the advisory body to the U.S. Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency that so offended the government and people of South Korea over a redesignation of the sovereignty of Dokdo/Takeshima that President George W. Bush had to intervene -- seems to be a lot like the editorial board of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: permanently out to lunch.

As with The Guide, it looks as though anyone wishing to do some work can just find a USBGN terminal, open up a file and start ascribing sovereignty according any old scheme he or she likes.

Take the wildy variable terminology used to indicate sovereignty is unclear. If one asks about the Habomai Islands, the server tells you that they are Russian...unless you go to bottom of the page where it tells you they are Japanese. The Senkakus are Japanese, period - no hint of a dispute. Until the President Bush's intervention, Dokdo/Takeshima suffered from "undesignated sovereignty." The Spratly Islands of the South China Sea, however, are "disputed." Perplexingly, the sovereignty of the rather populated city of Jerusalem (al-Ouds) is described as, and this is the capitalization used, as "No Man's Land."

For uninhabited and uninhabitable bits of rock, sovereignty is assigned in equally arbitrary ways. The tetrapod and titanium dome protected rocks of Okinotorishima are listed as Japanese territory. However, Bassas da India, a rather equally moist coral atoll in the middle of the Mozambique Channel under the jurisidiction of France, is the purportedly governed by...Bassas da India.

Maybe the Bassasian government is hiding inside the wrecked ship.

Suffice it to say that no one should have ever become too upset at the sovereignty assignments of the Board of Geographical Names - at least not what the ones they have loaded into their information server.

There is no rhyme or reason to any of them.

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As for Socotra Rock, the undersea feature claimed by both the Chinese and South Korean governments -- a claim the South Korean government has reinforced by building a base and declaring the result an island called Ieodo -- the BGN server takes mercy on poor old logic by declaring the sovereignty to be..."an undersea feature."

Oh, Give It A Rest

Funny thing about this Chosun-Ilbo article on the decision of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to change the official U.S. government designation of Dokdo/Takeshima to the neutral "Liancourt Rocks" and alter the status of the islets from a territory of the Republic of Korea to a new official political status of an "Undesignated Sovereignty."

The article suggests that Japanese pressure to change the status designation of the Northern Territories from Russian sovereignty to "undesignated sovereignty" bled into the ROK-Japan dispute over the islets, leading the U.S. to no longer support the ROK's claims to Dok-do/Takeshima.

Before anyone wets their shorts over this, either for or against, I suggest taking a trip to the National Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency's GNS server (http://geonames.nga.mil/ggmagaz/geonames4.asp) and searching any of these four names:

Etorofu
Kunashiri
Habomai
Shikotan

and then

Liancourt

Interesting results, eh?

Danged Japanese influence. Now you see it. Now you don't.

The USBGN is a funny body. I know this because a few years back I emailed the United States Geological Survey's seismic disturbances officer after the USGS reported a large earthquake "off the Bonin Islands." I suggested that this was a darn peculiar designation to still be using 30 years after the reversion of the islands to Japanese sovereignty. In a very courteous written reply the officer explained that he had no control over the designation, that it was officially set, and that when the board that decided such things changed the designation he would of course comply with the new designation.

Later - Gosh this is fun. According to the GNS server, the Habomai-shotō and the Habomai Islands at 43°30' 00" N 146°10' 00" E are Russian territory but the Habomai-shotō and the Habomai Islands at 43°30' 00" N 146°10' 00" E are Japanese territory.

The barren island 250 meters off the Moroccan coast that the Spanish call Isla del Perejil, to which Spain sent commandos in 2002 to evict 6 occupying Moroccan troops, is actually the Moroccan island of Leila.

Take that Spain!

And as any right winger could tell you, there are no Diaoyutai Islands.

As regards the second largest party in the ruling coalition

Just in case anyone is wondering, I do not suddenly have it out for the New Kōmeitō. The party's intentions and actions have just been the fulcrum for a number of recent political developments. Given the abolutely crucial role the two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives plays in the implementation of the government's plans, and the near certainty that no coalition of parties excluding the Democratic Party of Japan will hold a two-thirds majority post-next election, the New Kōmeitō will likely seem to have an aberrant amount of leverage over the Liberal Democratic Party this fall and early next year.

An understanding of the politics behind government decision making over the next few months will depend on ascertaining what it is that the New Kōmeitō probably wants -- such as may be the case in the government's reported abandonment of any attempt to extend the Air Self Defense Forces mission to the Gulf.

Sleeping With the Fishes

The government has caved in to the demands of the fishing cooperatives:

Japan to Help Fishing Industry With Fuel Costs, Asahi Reports
Bloomberg

July 29 -- Japan will provide 74.5 billion yen ($693 million) in aid to help the fishing industry cope with rising fuel costs, the Asahi newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information.

About 8 billion yen will be provided for subsidies covering up to 90 percent of the increase in fuel costs since December, the newspaper said.

The remaining funds will be for loans to improve fuel efficiency and other support measures, the report said. The package is scheduled to be announced today, the Asahi said...

In its original report this morning, the Asahi could not help but point out the hypocrisy of the ruling coalition's cave, noting that last year in the run up to July House of Councillors election the coalition criticized the Democratic Party of Japan's plan to expand agriculure subsidies to all farmers as "tossing rose petals about in all directions" (baramaki) policy. Having been scared and scarred by their electoral losses last year, the paper concludes, the parties making up the ruling coalition have gutlessly adopted the strategies of their opponents.

So fishing vessels are as vital to the economic and social life of Japan as rural bus systems and local governments, the previous recipients of fuel subsidy support.

Cue the "fish play a crucial, almost spiritual role in the Japanese diet (no pun intended)" fanfare.

And yet...I cannot help noticing the prominence of the New Kōmeitō in the brokering of this deal setting up of this subsidy. Indeed on July 24th New Kōmeitō Secretary-General Kitagawa Kazuo held a press conference at which he revealed (akiraka ni shita) that on the 28th the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries would announce an aid package for fishermen in distress due to the high prices of fuel.

Now this is damn peculiar. Where does Kitagawa get the authority to announce upcoming government policies?

Luckily, we have Okumura Jun around to do the heavy lifting. As he revealed in a blog post in March, the Maritime Self Defense Forces Aegis destroyer Atago did not just hit and sink any old fishing boat in February with the loss of all onboard. The Atago sank a fishing vessel crewed by New Kōmeitō supporters (i.e....you know what I mean).

Did the New Kōmeitō/Sōka Gakkai lean on the bereaved family members of the lost fishermen, encouraging them to receive the abject apologies of both the Minister of Defense and the Prime Minister? Did the New Kōmeitō work hard to make sure that the controversy died down despite the rage of the other members of the Katsu'ura fishing cooperative? Did the Liberal Democratic Party, especially Defense Minister Ishiba Shigeru, come to owe the New Kōmeitō a huge debt of gratitude for getting the loss of the two fisherman off the front pages?

A debt that might someday come due in the form of the New Kōmeitō's ascribing to itself the role of savior of the fishermen, able to squeeze blood from the budget stone as the fisherman's true friend and protector?

Of Iron and Steel and Smoke and History

The Yawata Iron and Steel Works is on fire this morning.

Go ahead, regale us with wacky tales of Estonian weirdness

The Diet is out of session...can you tell?

Superbowl of soup bowl goes to Japanese champ
The Age

Alex Kennedy, Singapore - July 29, 2008 - A small but enthusiastic crowd got its first taste of professional eating yesterday as the sports' two titans made their debut in the city-state.

About 300 competitive eating fans roared as local favourite Takeru Kobayashi, of Japan, slammed home five kilograms of chicken satay in 12 minutes...


Eel drink for Japan's hot summer
AP

TOKYO (AP) — It's the hottest season of the year in Japan, and that means it's eel season. So, bottom's up!

A canned drink called "Unagi Nobori," or "Surging Eel," made by Japan Tobacco Inc., hit the nation's stores this month just ahead of Japan's annual eel-eating season, company spokesman Kazunori Hayashi said Monday.

"It's mainly for men who are exhausted by the summer's heat," Hayashi said of the beverage, believed to be the first mass-produced eel drink in Japan.

Many Japanese believe eating eel boosts stamina in hot weather.

The fizzy, yellow-colored drink contains extracts from the head and bones of eel and five vitamins — A, B1, B2, D and E — contained in the fish...

Celebrating the navel in Japan's "belly button"
Reuters

By Hiroyuki Muramoto - SHIBUKAWA, Japan - It was belly-up for thousands of people who indulged in a weekend of navel gazing at a festival dedicated to the belly button in central Japan.

Children and adults, many of them sporting painted stomachs, took part at the annual Belly Button Festival in Shibukawa, north of Tokyo, where dancing in the streets is compulsory.

"The belly button is traditionally believed to be located in the middle of the body and the most important part. Our town, Shibukawa, is also called the belly button of Japan, and that is how this festival began," said festival organizer Kazuo Yamada...


Japan's parents party to marry off stay-at-home kids
Reuters

By Mari Saito - TOKYO - The Japanese are true hands-on parents, helping their children with everything from university entrance exams to finding a job. Now, they're playing matchmakers, and on a nationwide level.

Japanese traditionally house and support their children until marriage, which has usually occurred at a younger age than now.

But as the kids stay at home longer due to job uncertainty and an unwillingness to compromise, panicked parents are flocking to mass matchmaking events at hotels and conference centers...

In other news, Bloomberg is still paying William Pesek, long after his shōmikigen has passed.

Sloth and inertia brought on by the hot weather, I guess.

Karasuyama - Yama Agesai - July 25-27, 2008

Yama Agesai - Children's outdoor kabuki, originally performed to ward off summer epidemics. Each performance lasts about 50 minutes, then the entire stage is dissembled, moved to the next neighborhood location and rebuilt.

Fifteen performances over 2 1/2 days.

Final scene of "Masakado"
Nakanocho 4 pm performance. July 26, 2008.
Click on image to see in larger size.

in Nakanocho and Kioicho
Karasuyama City, Tochigi Prefecture
July 26, 2008
Photo courtesy: MTC

Sauve Qui Peut

OK, let me see if I understand this.

Because the New Kōmeitō is concerned that its image as a party of peace is being compromised by its acquiescence heretofore to the repeated passage of the Anti-Terror laws (which have legalized the dispatches of Maritime Self Defense Forces ships to the Indian Ocean and Air Self Defense Forces fixed-wing aircraft to Iraq, both in logistical support roles) the party wants to avoid voting on the renewal again.

In order to avoid having to vote on a renewal of the maritime dispatch law, which sunsets on January 15, 2009, the New Kōmeitō is simultaneously asking its coalition partner the Liberal Democratic Party to:

1) call the extraordinary fall session of the Diet to order in mid-September rather than late August and

2) dissolve the Diet in early December, setting up a House of Representatives election in mid-January.

If the Prime Minister were to call the extraordinary session to order in late August that would leave plenty of time for the ruling coalition to pass the renewal legislation in the House of Representatives, wait the 60 days required by Article 59 of the Constitution for the override of non-budget, non-treaty related legislation ignored or rejected by the House of Councillors, then override using the ruling coalition's two-thirds majority-- all within the same Diet session, as is required by law.

So to avoid this the New Kōmeitō wants to start the fall session late. That way, come early December, the party can throw up its hands and say, "Oh, darn. We ran out of time. We just have to let the renewal wait until after the New Years holidays!"

Now as to the need to get the House of Representatives election out of the way early next year the reason being proffered is -- and I am not making this up -- that the New Kōmeitō wants to have no distractions next year as it prepares for the all-important Tokyo prefectural assembly elections of mid-July.

So national elections are a distraction; the real prize is seats in the Tokyo assembly.

Right.

Now into this mix throw loose talk, encouraged and abetted by bored political journalists, of a cabinet reshuffle. New Kōmeitō leaders are doing their damnedest to squelch such speculation, dismissing a reshuffle as unlikely to raise Prime Minister Fukuda's popularity ratings.

This almost certainly true--and anything true in all this political gamesmanship is conspicuous for its lonesomeness (all apologies to Mark Twain, from whom that line is stolen). With only a few minor exceptions (Hatoyama Kunio) the current Cabinet is the best the coalition could hope for. As stated earlier posts, where is there this fanciful second string of all-stars, ready to jump in to replace the Rule and Reign of the Faction Leaders?

Furthermore, if one is going to dissolve the Diet anyway in less than six month's time (I am following here the purported ideal New Kōmeitō political calendar) what would be the point of reshuffling the Cabinet now? Nothing would make the ruling coalition look more shallow and sleazy than the appointment of a whole new slew of actors, only to dismiss them less than six months later.

Oh sure, one could appoint a cabinet out of spite, dragging the Koizumi loyalists out of their all-important -- and I am not making this up either -- bowling at the Prince Tower Hotel. The willingness of the Koizumi Kids to fight under the LDP banner is becoming less credible by the day, especially after LDP Elections Measures Chairman Koga Makoto's rejected basically all of the Koizumi "assassins" as unworthy of being LDP district candidates.

However, it is doubtful that Prime Minister Fukuda is depraved enough to summon a cabinet Koizumi loyalists just to prevent them from slipping the bonds of the LDP. Asking them to form a government could also end in embarrassment for Fukuda -- they might just refuse to accept their appointments.

So what do we have, at the end of the day and the work week?

- A sadly unpopular prime minister with no post-G8 Summit bump (a result of the attendance at the Summit of a certain Texan of very little brain. Why did the organizers invite him? Oh, right) and little likelihood of a post-reshuffle bounce.

- A partner in the ruling coalition that would rather bring the House down than let its members vote their consciences

- A citizenry so primed to dump the ruling party that in some districts the opposition could put up a dog as a candidate and win.

Yikes.

Me, I think I'll flee north, to Karasuyama.

Hasegawa's Statement

The only problem with this is that the executives of the Keizai Dōyūkai have been calling for these kinds of radical changes in Japan for years.

An analytical weakness - I have never understood how such a high-powered advocacy group for classical liberalism could be so bereft of influence.

Shaking the House

Whole lot of shakin' going on, round about midnight.

Courtesy: Japan Meteorological Agency

A reminder that Tokyo's time will come.

The political earthquake this morning is a sudden coordinated spate of public musings by Liberal Democratic Party power brokers about an election either before or after New Years. According to an article in the Nihon Keizai Shinbun, Election Measures Chairman Koga Makoto and Deputy Election Measures Chairman Suga Yoshihide (not a current bio) both floated trial balloons about a House of Representatives election this fall.

Now if this had been just one of the two elections officers, the other members of the central core leadership of the LDP could just shrug off the suggestion of the need for an election in either December or January as"X-san is just blowing off steam." However, with Koga and his deputy both offering the same message in speaking engagements at opposite ends of the central axis of the country (Koga spoke in Tokyo, Suga in Fukuoka) the other LDP leaders are faced with nearly a fait accompli.

In the paper's view, the Koga-Suga maneuver is somehow connected to the desire of the New Komeitō leadership to not have its representatives vote yet again on a renewal of the Anti-Terrorism Special Measures Law. The New Komeitō's women's and youth arms have been unhappy, reportedly, at the party's support for a policy with only the vaguest connection to the defense of Japan, one which sullies the mother organization Sōka Gakkai's reputation as a force for peace.

This is probably a bit of a stretch. With the certainty that the current ruling coalition will lose its two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, the LDP's relations with its coalition partner are more likely to be of the "Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma'am" variety (all apologies to those of tender sensibitilities and to David Bowie) than of the deferential and caring variety.

The LDP allied itself with the New Komeitō in order to consolidate a majority in the House of Representatives - when the coalition also controlled the House of Councillors. Control of the House of Councillors has since passed to the Democratic Party of Japan, possibly for another five years.

It will almost certainly be pointless for the LDP to continue its alliance with New Komeitō post-election. In the most likely scenario, the LDP will gratefully accept the get-out-the-vote efforts of the New Komeitō machine over the frenetic, passionate weeks of the campaign -- whenever it may take place -- but on the morning after the big night, the New Komeitō leaders will awaken to find the love nest empty, with a note on the counter explaining how the two sides had grown apart.

What I am saying is that when you are set to leave 'em, you generally do not arrange your schedule to fit their plans.

Later - Weirdness. Reuters has one take on the news in its English version and a very different one in its Japanese version.