Japanese Politics

[SeijiSensei]

Trump and Abe are playing golf today as it turns out, but off the golf course Abe looks to be foundering.

Japan Fears Being Sidelined by Trump on Trade and North Korea

When Mr. Trump and Mr. Abe appeared before reporters in Palm Beach on Tuesday, the American president declared that “Japan and ourselves are locked, and we are very unified on the subject of North Korea” and that Japan and the United States “have never been closer than they are right now.”

But as the two leaders were meeting, news emerged that Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, had been to North Korea this month for secret meetings with its leader, Kim Jong-un. There, Mr. Pompeo was laying the groundwork for a meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim to discuss the North’s nuclear program.

It was yet another sign that the United States was acting independently of Japan, its strongest ally in Asia. Mr. Abe originally planned his trip to meet Mr. Trump after news last month that Mr. Trump had accepted an invitation to meet Mr. Kim for negotiations.

Mr. Abe hoped to secure Mr. Trump’s commitment on two issues: curtailing the North’s nuclear and ballistic weapons programs, and facilitating the return of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and ’80s.

On Wednesday in Tokyo, critics were skeptical that Mr. Trump would give Japan much consideration once he got into a room with Mr. Kim.

“The possibility of the U.S. thinking about Japan is zero,” said Terry Ito, a commentator on Nippon Television, from Tokyo.

Trump might give Abe support on the abductee issue. One Times commentator suggested that the issue of the North Korean abductees catapulted Abe into the public spotlight.

"Also, a word about Abe's obsession with Japanese citizens abducted and taken to North Korea over the years: Abe owes his rapid political ascendance in Japan to the revelation made by Kim Jong Il in 2002 that North Korean agents had in fact kidnapped Japanese citizens. Until 2002, Abe was just another mediocre hereditary backbencher typical of the people in the Liberal Democratic Party. But he then skillfully exploited the outraged reaction to Kim Jong Il's admission and used it to gain popularity within his party and nationwide. The abductee issue helped make Abe leader of Japan, so he can't and won't let it go. "

[Verso Sciolto]

In this week's Weekly Shincho, second week in a row. The weekly was able to break the story last week because a TV Asahi superior failed to act properly on revelations from a TV Asahi reporter reporting her own experiences of sexual harassment.

http://www.shinchosha.co.jp/shukansh...mber/20180419/

Also:
女性は輝けない!?　「麻生財務相」が「嫌なら男の記者に替えればいい」

Edit to add:
"Abe Gets Little From Trump to Douse Japan Scandal Firestorm" - By Isabel Reynolds for Bloomberg
April 19, 2018 at 18:58:24 GMT+9 Updated on April 20, 2018 at 9:24:17 GMT+9
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...storm-in-japan

Things seem to be getting worse by the day. The resignation of Japan’s top Finance Ministry official over sexual harassment allegations was splashed across Thursday’s front pages in Tokyo, the latest blow to the administration after a string of accusations of cronyism and cover-ups.

Some members of Abe’s ruling party are now saying Finance Minister Taro Aso should consider his position to take responsibility for the harassment case and a separate land-deal scandal involving the ministry.

"Finance Ministry's myopic response to sex harassment accusations backfires"
Mainichi, April 20, 2018 - Japanese original by Wataru Okubo and Daisuke Oka, Business News Department.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles...0m/0na/026000c

TOKYO -- The Finance Ministry's inappropriate response to sexual harassment allegations against its top bureaucrat has backfired, as the general public is increasingly critical of such cases.
The problem has also highlighted ministry officials' immature understanding of sexual harassment.

国会でも＃ＭｅＴｏｏ　野党議員、セクハラ疑惑に抗議
山岸一生 for the Asahi Shimbun, 2018年4月20日15時01分
https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL4N3DQJL4NUTFK00C.html

"#MeToo takes off as opposition lawmakers raise papers in protest" - by Kazuo Yamagishi / Staff Writer for the Asahi Shimbun, April 20, 2018 at 14:40 JST
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201804200027.html

The #MeToo movement is fast gaining traction in Japan, with opposition party lawmakers raising papers bearing the anti-sexual harassment slogan at a joint hearing in the Diet on April 20.

[Verso Sciolto]

"Support for Abe administration slips further to 30%: Mainichi survey" - April 22, 2018 (Mainichi Japan)
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles...0m/0na/016000c


Abe and Aso both recently left the country, seemingly deeming the unfolding sexual harassment and power harassment scandals against women less important aspects of their duties and responsibilities. It would, in my opinion, be truly poetic if these old men misjudged that too. So many women leave Japan temporarily or permanently because in Japan women are indeed still treated as second rate citizens. It would be fantastic if not cover-ups of hidden and forged documents but ultimately the treatment of women brought down these two politicians and the systems of governance they and their party have represented for decades.


On another intersection of politics and popular culture, last week oral argument was heard in court in the lawsuit against "Cool Japan Fund" executives, including Japanese government officials.
In English, Japan Today and The Japan Times picked up the Kyodo news story when it previously reported on the case, in February 2018, with headlines like these: "Woman sues Cool Japan Fund over sex harassment"
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...ment-official/

The woman, who used to work at Cool Japan Fund Inc. as a temporary employee, is seeking 20 million yen in damages, claiming she was sexually harassed by her former bosses, including a senior official from the central government, between 2015 and 2016.

The woman also asserts that the fund, sponsored by the government and major Japanese companies, illegally refused to renew her contract after she formed a labor union.

On April 18, 2018, several Japanese papers reported on the court case with headlines and articles like these from Asahi Shimbun クールジャパンのセクハラ訴訟　被告の官僚ら棄却求める and クールジャパン機構争う姿勢　訴訟、第１回口頭弁論 from Sankei Shimbun indicating that those representing "the Fund" have decided to fight her in court and have asked the court to dismiss her case.

https://www.sankei.com/affairs/news/...180034-n1.html


One hour ago - NHK World: "Disgraced bureaucrat to get $500,000 on retirement"
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180423_19/

Reuters - Linda Sieg: "Voter support for Japan's Abe slips amid calls for finance minister to quit"
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-j...-idUSKBN1HU0BD

Abe’s ratings fell three points to 30 percent in a poll by the Mainichi newspaper. The conservative Yomiuri put his support at 39 percent, also down three points, while the right-leaning Sankei showed a drop of 6.7 points, to 38.3 percent.

The three results were in contrast to firm backing from a majority in the business community shown in a Reuters poll.

[Verso Sciolto]

"Japan PM Shinzo Abe sends ritual offering to war-linked Yasukuni Shrine" - Kyodo News - Apr 21, 2018 - 13:10
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2...ni-shrine.html

"Young assault victim using "comfort women" experience to drive change" - By Natsume Watanabe, Kyodo News - 22 hours ago - 10:33
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2...ve-change.html

[SeijiSensei]

The scandals involving the Abe Government, and why they probably won't matter.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/o...ndal-land.html

With so much power now vested in the prime minister’s office, Mr. Abe embarked on a controversial series of laws, including on defense matters. Cronyism and corruption returned in force. Today’s scandals seem rather small compared with the Lockheed bribery case in the 1970s or the Recruit scandal of the late 1980s. But the extent of the recent cover-ups — and the fact that those seem designed to protect Mr. Abe personally — is new, and it undermines the legitimacy of Japan’s entire governance structure like never before.

So why, then, hasn’t there been more pushback?

One reason is that the opposition is too weak and too divided to hold this reckless administration accountable.

[Toukairin]

And what about other politicians within the LDP? I thought they would still try eating each other for the top job like they did after Koizumi finished his time as PM. Like it happened for Margaret Thatcher in Britain, Abe cannot and should not expect to stay unchallenged by his own party members when too many scandals and bad decisions pile up.

[Eisdrache]

YouTube

https://youtu.be/TwmVTn3sJZ0

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[Key Board]

This explains the ending of Darling in the Franxx!

[SeijiSensei]

Why does Japan have so much plutonium?

Japan’s status as a plutonium superpower is increasingly under scrutiny. The government says it has no intention of building a bomb. But China and other countries question how long it can be allowed to stockpile plutonium. Analysts worry about a competitive build-up of plutonium in Asia. Moreover Japan’s stock, which is weapons-grade, is reprocessed and stored in France and Britain. It is moved across the world in heavily armed convoys. America says those shipments and the storage of plutonium in civilian sites present a potential threat to non-proliferation goals: they could be redirected to make weapons, or targeted by terrorists. It is nudging its ally to start reducing the hoard.

[Ithekro]

To power their mecha and space battleships in the near future?

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Why does Japan have so much plutonium?

Why would japan not copy Israel's model? China has had nukes for decades and NK has been pursuing them for longer than Iran. So why would japan not build nukes and load them into their diesel powered submarines? They do not want to start a nuclear arms race so they have no need to brag about it, they only need them to retaliate in a worst case scenario. So maybe that "plutonium stockpile" is nothing but lead they parade around. So what would happen if terrorist stole the containers and only found lead? Japan would announce to the world that the terrorists stole a decoy.

Of course, I do not have proof or connections to back any of this, but IMO that is what someone smart would do. The japanese might have some corrupt government officials, but I doubt they have any high ranking bureaucrats with low IQ scores.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Why does Japan have so much plutonium?

What are people expecting? Japan create plutonium as a by-product of their nuclear reactors, and it is very difficult to sell them internationally due to it being weapon grade fuel. it is also toxic, so you can't just throw them away. Stockpiling is just about the only thing they CAN do that is sensible. What, you want them to sell the stuff to other nations to make bombs with?

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

What are people expecting? Japan create plutonium as a by-product of their nuclear reactors, and it is very difficult to sell them internationally due to it being weapon grade fuel. it is also toxic, so you can't just throw them away. Stockpiling is just about the only thing they CAN do that is sensible. What, you want them to sell the stuff to other nations to make bombs with?

FYI my country has had a nuclear reactor for some decades now. Nuclear reactors produce nuclear fuel. Do we stockpile? No. Do we sell it to the highest bidder? No. Do we dump it in the ocean? (meditates the possibility for a second) No. We trade it with the USA (in exchange for non enriched uranium)! I could post a link,but found none in english.

BTW, japan made a deal with Obama to do the same:

https://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/25/w...eal/index.html

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by mangamuscle

FYI my country has had a nuclear reactor for some decades now. Nuclear reactors produce nuclear fuel. Do we stockpile? No. Do we sell it to the highest bidder? No. Do we dump it in the ocean? (meditates the possibility for a second) No. We trade it with the USA (in exchange for non enriched uranium)! I could post a link,but found none in english.

BTW, japan made a deal with Obama to do the same:

https://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/25/w...eal/index.html

I am sure if America want to buy it off Japan's hands at fair price, Japan will be happy to. But obviously USA doesn't NEED more plutonium. So what does America get out of it other than just giving Japan money?

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

But obviously USA doesn't NEED more plutonium. So what does America get out of it other than just giving Japan money?

Plutonium Shortage Could Cripple NASA's Deep Space Exploration. Ohh, so you don't want a piece of this tasty plutonium?

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by mangamuscle

Plutonium Shortage Could Cripple NASA's Deep Space Exploration. Ohh, so you don't want a piece of this tasty plutonium?

NASA is science. Trump doesn't want to waste money on science. That's why he put someone with no science background in charge of it.

[Ithekro]

Same equipment would be needed for his Space Command.

[SeijiSensei]

This is more about economics than politics, but ...

The Economist has been unusually interested in Japan these days. Today's story concerns Japan's holding of foreign assets. Japanese now hold some $3 trillion in foreign assets, more than China or Germany. Japan's persistent low (actually negative) interest rates and substantial capital "outflows" have driven the yen lower. It is now the most undervalued currency using The Economist's "Big Mac" index.

https://www.economist.com/finance-an...ancial-markets

[SeijiSensei]

It may look as if Europe is the master of global trade in America’s absence, but it is actually Japan that has taken the reins. As it turns out, Japan — not Europe — is the one finding the right balance between privacy and protectionism.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...an-free-trade/

[Blueknight78]

here a very disturbing and interesting issue in japan toward the gender issues

YouTube

https://youtu.be/1rQcj-ocGmE

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sources:
https://www.youtube.com/redirect?red...eo_description

https://www.youtube.com/redirect?red...eo_description

https://www.youtube.com/redirect?red...eo_description

man while i do love many of japanese culture, it is as a "society is really a very screwed democratic country, they have a lot of issues to work if they want to survive since the birth rates are dropping like rain.

Womans being screweds like that and a country where you must "work to die" and family bounds are screwed and all you need is just work like a robot until you drop dead i'm really start to not get surprised by the low number of marriage and childrens, who really want to have a family in that crazy conditions.

And before peoples talk about "worst places in the world like the middle east of NK and others places like that i know but what i'm saying is about a "top world potence", where "freedom" and equality are trying to be promoted and we still getting a lot of big issues in the country not only toward gender discrimination but toward the whole "freedom" and individuality where you are only a person if you are part of the whole mind hive society and being "different" is wrong