2008-09-04, 08:51 | Link #21 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Land of the rising sun
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Quote:
Domestic problems first and everything else like foreign affairs can be thrown in to the back burners for now. As I have wrote earlier the main agenda for next election will be TAX HIKES I for one do not mind paying taxes but when I see how grossly mis-used then I will talk with my votes. One more thing I can't stand how the LDP selects their head representative. The electerial system is that the elected representatives(member of the upper and lower house) has one vote each counting to 182 and the entire remaining party members represents 312(?) votes. How many party members are there anyays? They've got to have more than one million party members aren't they? So one regular party member's vote has only 0.04% of the total while the elected few who can meet regularly represents 3% of the total? This system is a hot bed for deciding the next PM behind closed doors. Last edited by Klashikari; 2008-09-05 at 10:12. Reason: starter line kinda unecessary |
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2008-09-04, 10:59 | Link #22 | |
Translator, Producer
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Age: 44
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Quote:
The fact is normally the "elite" votes follow the "electoral" votes anyway, (or maybe vica verca) so it doesn't really matter in the end. Any party that overrules the popular vote of its members too much ends up losing power in the end anyway.
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Last edited by Klashikari; 2008-09-05 at 10:13. Reason: starter line in quote removed |
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2008-09-04, 12:20 | Link #23 | ||
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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Quote:
The "genderbending" wasn't a mistake though. That what was just me practising the misogynistic house style of a certain newspaper in my recreational time. I shan't name any names — my privacy is more important. |
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2008-09-04, 19:19 | Link #24 |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Boston
Age: 35
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http://www.economist.com/world/asia/...ry_id=12070500
The Economist has long been hoping that the reformist members of both the LDP and DPJ will break away from their parties to form some kind of progressive party to create an actual two party system in Japan. I can't imagine such a drastic thing like that happening, but things should get interesting after the next lower-house election (September 2009 at the latest). The LDP will lose its supermajority of over 2/3 and will no longer be able to ignore the DPJ controlled upper-house. |
2008-09-04, 19:53 | Link #25 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Land of the rising sun
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Quote:
As I have painfully stressed, Domestic problems first and everything else like foreign affairs can be thrown in to the back burners for now. |
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2008-09-05, 09:44 | Link #26 | |
Gone for Good
Join Date: Apr 2004
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Quote:
It's as though I've offended you or something and I ought to apologize. Let's say you unintentionally something that might be misinformed and then someone yells, quoting your post, "TO HELL WITH THAT", you wouldn't feel nice now, would you? Discuss things with a cool head, mate. |
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2008-09-05, 14:02 | Link #27 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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Quote:
I find the pressure for her run at the office interesting. Is it cynical diversion? A real attempt to shake things up? A realization that all those women voters are kind of pissed off with the failure in "rice'n'soy" issues? (what we call bread'n'butter issues in the US). It is pretty clear the public in Japan is damned unhappy with the inability of the politicians to steer the bureaucracy and unhappy with the bureaucracy for forgetting their cushy lairs require keeping the populace at least marginally satisfied with government services (roads, healthcare, transit, help for rural sectors, etc).
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2008-09-05, 16:16 | Link #28 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Land of the rising sun
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Quote:
She is just an eye pleaser to gain coverage by the media, sympathy from the female voters and evade the real topic at the house of representative election. She is only going to be a one point relief and be disregarded after election. Knowing those LDP's tactic make me more frustrated and even if she remains, she is going to be a puppet and god forbid who know's who the puppeteer is going to be. As for foreign affairs, I am aware of it's importance but as I said many times it can be placed in the back burner FOR NOW. |
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2008-09-05, 19:59 | Link #29 |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Boston
Age: 35
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Anyone know anything about Yosano Kaoru? I've never heard of him before this.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/15e7a8b0-7...077b07658.html |
2008-09-05, 21:19 | Link #30 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Land of the rising sun
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Quote:
He began his political career becoming a secretary for Nakasone after quiting his job. He is an avid follower of raising the consumption taxes thinking it is the only way to obtain primary balance of the national budget. My impression is that he also has somewhat of a grude in tax hikes since he lost an election at the time when introduction of the consumption tax was a hot debate for the then election and now it looks as if he wants to settle the scores. To me he always seemed as a pushover following the footsteps of his mentor Nakasone, the greatest Yes-man politician of the decade. |
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2008-09-06, 14:36 | Link #31 | |
Translator, Producer
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Age: 44
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Quote:
Does such a position in Japan actually have any popular support?
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2008-09-06, 17:47 | Link #32 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Land of the rising sun
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Quote:
Japan is more of a Liberal authoritarian society than a republican state accepting limitation of freedom to obtain benefit as a society as a whole, like nation wide mass transit system, universal insurance and so on. The key to this debate is fairness, but at the moment the bureaucrat are sapping away tax money with no real consideration of the general public and the LDP government is impotent to correct that situation and some will even comes back saying we need to hike up taxes to obtain primary balance? If the politicians real can show a better future 20 years down the road then a proposal for tax hike will be seriously considered by the voters but not in a situation like now. |
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2008-09-22, 03:32 | Link #33 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Neo-Venezia...I wish!
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Turns out I've consumed 3-6 litres of Yili milk in the past month. Shame as those milk are the tastierst ones we get here in Hong Kong.
Taro Aso wins the LDP leader vote by a landslide. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7628495.stm Quote:
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2008-09-22, 07:32 | Link #34 | |
Honyaku no Hime
Fansubber
Join Date: May 2008
Location: In the eastern capital of the islands of the rising suns...
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^
How come? I'm more curious as to what he's gonna do for foreigners living in Japan. but his profile sure breaks the mould for a change Quote:
But 68, wonder if he's keeping in touch with the rest of us
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2008-09-22, 13:04 | Link #36 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Not even close. Aso looks much more like a throwback trying to go back to the LDP's root support base of rural folks.
It probably means that he's a fan of manga like "Salaryman Kintaro"; in other words, works for older people. It's just unfortunate that "adult" now connotes "pornographic" in the minds of much of the English-speaking world.
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2008-09-22, 15:50 | Link #37 |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Boston
Age: 35
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It's official now, Aso Taro will be the next prime minister of Japan.
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/...=features_box1 I hope he calls a snap election so the LDP loses its two-thirds majority. |
2008-09-22, 16:04 | Link #38 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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wait... he's Catholic and he's "one civilization, one culture, one race"????
Considering the rise in mixed marriages in Japan and foreign residency .... and the basic qualities of Shinto/Buddhism interwoven in the culture --- this should... prove interesting
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2008-09-22, 22:30 | Link #39 | |
( ಠ_ಠ)
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Somewhere, between the sacred silence and sleep
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Quote:
He said "Japan is the only country that has had one culture, one civilization, one race, and one language" at the opening ceremony of a cultural museum in Kyushuu. He did not state in any way, that that is his political goal. It was statement saying Japan has been, for the majority, only one culture in its history. (In contrast to say, China which is compromised of various mixed east asian culture, race and language, and obviously the "melting pot" of the world America) That statement is not entirely true, of course, since there were other cultures in Japan (and other nations with the same trait). But majority of those predates the current Japanese culture, and it still doesn't change the fact that the country's history was comprosed in majority of one culture by a single race. (the "sakoku" period during the modern times in 19th century no doubt attributed to it also, and postponed the modernization process) There has been many media... especially in his opposition party and outside of Japan, that only quoated part of that line, to make it look like that was his political goal. Political pandering makes me sick to the stomach.
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Last edited by aohige; 2008-09-22 at 22:45. |
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2008-09-22, 22:32 | Link #40 | |
神聖カルル帝国の 皇帝
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Korea
Age: 37
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Quote:
The main reason I hate Aso. Seriously, those ultranationalists ignoring their relatives across the strait. |
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Tags |
japan, politics |
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