Wednesday, May 16, 2007

What about it, then?

I am not to thrilled by today's post at Observing Japan.

But I love this observation from a few days ago.

When Abe talks about discarding the postwar regime, what does that mean? What part of the regime? Just the security bits? Or the whole bloody mess? If so, why isn't Abe talking about destroying the LDP, which has played an outsized role — arguably a more significant role than the constitution — in shaping postwar Japan?

Vestiges of the 1955 system, which has long distorted policy by placing sectional and local interests above national interests, remain. Why isn't Abe turning his attention to this significant piece of the "postwar regime"?

Please don't tell me I have to read Abe's book to find out the answer. I have been so successful so far in failing to read it.

If pressed, I may read it aboard a train to somewhere far away which passes through a lot of hideous suburban sprawl. It will put the title of the book into context.

Perhaps I will wait for it to come out in English . Then I can bounce back and forth between the export and domestic consumption versions of the vision.

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