Japanese Politics

[rladls2121]

Based on the recent news, I guess things did not really end all well.

But really I wonder what is with the statue removal?
If is just some pride or honor, I don't think the statue just being there isn't a big problem, whether there are some shrines or not.
Even so, it is not like people are that weak that they cannot bear with its existence, all we should do is just get strong enough not to be badly influenced by not giving up, we all have each other.

With just one kind of multiple statues spread somewhere around the world to be known as if really happened or not, and that one big shrine that is like a museum to reflect things whatever true or false words recorded there in just one country.
At this rate, there's no way some are going to live on a different life, chained by some country's duty whether right or wrong.

So both sides aren't going to talk in a personal, closer way?

[TinyRedLeaf]

The agreement is a done deal, regardless of the protests on both sides. Mr Shinzo Abe and Ms Park Guen-hye clearly knew that no matter the terms, there will always be people in Japan and South Korea who would be angered by the deal.

I feel that the paramount point for South Koreans is that it's time to put the past behind and look to the future. The surviving comfort women — only 46 are known to be still alive — are already in their 80s. As the officials in the Park administration rightly explained: They have to do the deal now, as there would be no point of getting compensation from Japan after the women are dead.

In the meantime, Japan appears to be taking further steps to put historic issues to rest, as it gears up to focus on its true competition in the region:

Abe says summit with Putin needed to resolve territorial row

[SeijiSensei]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/10/op...boomerang.html

A Korean observer's view about how his country's politicians continue to play the anti-Japan card to gain leverage in domestic politics.

This game of who-better-confronts-Japan contributes to the breakdown of our politics. While certain Japanese politicians provoke South Koreans by questioning established historical truths, Japan provides a convenient excuse for politicians to ignore more important matters.

Talking to South Koreans about Japan today, you might think they are still fighting an occupying force. Starting in elementary school, children learn to dislike Japan. A 2015 survey showed that more than 72 percent of South Koreans had unfavorable impressions of Japan.

Anti-Japanese emotions also trump security. Despite the growing nuclear threat from North Korea, South Korea and Japan failed to sign an intelligence-sharing pact in 2012; the Lee administration backed out at the 11th hour over the usual tensions. The two countries pledged in December 2014 to share information about North Korea’s weapons, but only through the United States. Last July, South Korea ruled out any possibility of a formal military intelligence pact with Japan.

The collaborationist past seems to be real story, while the comfort women provide a convenient visible symbol. Contemporary politicians' have been assailed for the actions of their grandparents or great-grandparents back in the 1930s and 1940s.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Any anti-Japanese Korean probably fail their history entirely. Because as far as I am aware the founder of the modern South Korea nation was in fact trained by the Japanese and served them in WW2 under the name Takagi Masao. And that founder's daughter is currently the ruler of South Korea. The only way this was possible is if the public just obeys what they were told without thinking.

Thus, whatever reason Korea is against Japan, it isn't based on logic or facts.

[Ithekro]

Old hatreds take a few generations to pass. The last of those that grew up under Japanese rule are dying off. The first post-Japanese rule babies are turning 70.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Old hatreds take a few generations to pass. The last of those that grew up under Japanese rule are dying off. The first post-Japanese rule babies are turning 70.

That still doesn't make sense. Because South Koreans are still being ruled, right now, by the daughter of a man who fought on the side of the Japanese during WW2.

This is not a secret, it is literally on Wikipedia. If South Koreans are serious about being anti-Japanese then they would have never elected Park Geun-hye as their President.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Any anti-Japanese Korean probably fail their history entirely. Because as far as I am aware the founder of the modern South Korea nation was in fact trained by the Japanese and served them in WW2 under the name Takagi Masao. And that founder's daughter is currently the ruler of South Korea. The only way this was possible is if the public just obeys what they were told without thinking.

Thus, whatever reason Korea is against Japan, it isn't based on logic or facts.

Did you read the article I posted? Park's collaboration with the Japanese is touted by the Korean left as a reason to oppose both his and his daughter's rule. On the right, things are more tricky, but conservative politicians play the anti-Japanese card to maintain domestic popular support. This is hardly a new strategy for political leaders, focusing discontent on foreign "enemies" to divert attention from problems at home.

[SeijiSensei]

Japan 'paternity leave' MP quits amid affair scandal

LDP Diet member Miyazaki Kensuke became a symbol for expanded paternity leave when he requested time off from his duties after his wife Kaneko Megumi, also an LDP MP, gave birth.



As it turns out, a few days before Kaneko delivered their child in Tokyo, a bikini model and "professional kimono dresser" was seen leaving his home in Kyoto. The story was reported in a gossip tabloid, and yesterday Miyazaki resigned his seat.



He admitted to the affair and also admitted it was not his only dalliance.

The Abe Government has been pressing for greater acceptance of paternity leave as part of its campaign to expand the number of women in the Japanese workforce. Despite now having the most generous paternity leave policies of any OECD nation, only 2.3% of Japanese men took advantage of the benefit last year, a figure the government would like to see reach 13% by 2020. Many employers either refuse these requests or threaten retaliation if their male employees request leave. Miyazaki's earlier announcement stirred considerable controversy.

[KiraYamatoFan]

That's a real shame. I can only hope that the idea of implementing better conditions for paternity leave will not die with him because of a scandal. There is a strong need for change of that nature in family policies if the government hopes to increase the number of women in the workforce.

I wonder if there is something that currently enforces labor laws in a way that employers who refuse requests and use other intimidation tactics can be sued and punished.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by KiraYamatoFan

I wonder if there is something that currently enforces labor laws in a way that employers who refuse requests and use other intimidation tactics can be sued and punished.

I found a Reddit discussion about this. One commentator observed:

[W]hile the letter of the law is clear, be prepared for your company to passive-aggressively oppose the spirit of the law by guilt-trip discouraging your absence, or essentially side-lining you while you're away and potentially making your position untenable on return.

From the employer's point-of-view, the leave is unpaid. Fathers who request leave receive 60% of their base salary from the government for six months, and 50% for the next six.

[SeijiSensei]

LDP politician calls President Obama a descendant of slaves

Apparently Maruyama-san didn't pay attention during the idiotic "birther" controversy here in the US. President Obama's father came from Kenya; his mother was white. There's no evidence that he has slaves in his lineage, unless perhaps one that was freed or escaped and returned to Kenya.

Of course, that ignores the implicit racial slur involved.

Also, what the heck was this about?

Also at the meeting of the Upper House constitutional panel, Maruyama asked, “What kind of problems with the Constitution could arise if, for instance, Japan becomes the United States’ 51st state?"

I wonder if Maruyama has ever met a black person? Maybe he thinks they all look like Elean and Samath from Baccano?

[KiraYamatoFan]

I really wonder if the LDP's higher-ups can deem that controversy being bad enough to expel that idiot out of the party. Some politicians are just that unfit to serve.

[rladls2121]

I think it is just sad.
To me it doesn't really matter if that person's comment on President Obama is racially offensive or not.
I don't know if this person actually look down on slaves.

But I cannot be encouraged by how Murayama said about President the one of the people bloodlines that were slaves becoming a president is unthinkable, and saying that one of his country bloodlines are rather possible compared to the former.
And African and Japanese are both not former British, so why is possibilities of becoming President of US has to be compared between Africa and Japan depending on a bloodline and a status!?

Many people did not become slaves because they wanted to be one, other people just took away their freedom and being used them as objects for money.
Knowing that just because some Africans became slaves before and Japaneses has no background of being enslaved(don't know if there's any), to be treated this differently.

I'm saying things in my personal point of view.
I know these kind of happenings are rather common, but wanted to vent my feelings.
Really, I need to stop being discouraged only because of this.
I don't know about the President's nationality though.

[yulinard]

because his view on world is pathetic?

I think Japanese also forgetting their history. Both Oiran and Geisha also slave since they are not free and traded as object.

[solomon]

You gotta understand. I live over here in Japan. Most Japanese DO NOT CARE about the politics, aside from the recent Defense bill. Whats more this is the first I have ever heard about this, and I look at the Japanese news regularly.

[IceHism]

Originally Posted by solomon

You gotta understand. I live over here in Japan. Most Japanese DO NOT CARE about the politics, aside from the recent Defense bill. Whats more this is the first I have ever heard about this, and I look at the Japanese news regularly.

And that's a tragedy. I don't understand how they can continually vote in the LDP when they've been in a rough position for like the last 20+ years and considering that there has been little progress.

[KiraYamatoFan]

Originally Posted by IceHism

And that's a tragedy. I don't understand how they can continually vote in the LDP when they've been in a rough position for like the last 20+ years and considering that there has been little progress.

Unfortunately, that doesn't help when the other parties have leaders who are so incompetent as fuck. What really bothers me is how there is nothing such as the rise of charismatic leaders for other parties; they just need people who can find ways to make a number of key LDP representatives and councillors simply defect. In politics as in any other sphere, there are a number of people who can become turncoats, especially when their government is supposedly eroding like the Tories post-Margaret Thatcher.

[SeijiSensei]

Why Obama Is Shinzo Abe’s Enabler

Since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s election in 2012, the Obama administration has relied on Japan to help escalate America’s military presence in Asia. The Abe administration has expanded Japan’s commitment to maintaining U.S. bases, relaxed restrictions on bilateral arms trading, and negotiated a framework for joint operations that makes America responsible for maintaining a regional balance of power that protects Japanese interests.

This restructuring of the U.S.-Japan alliance depends on the continued progress of Mr. Abe’s legacy project: removing language from Japan’s Constitution that forbids the use of force to settle international disputes.

I see the merit in these arguments, but I find it unlikely that Japan can stand quietly by as China expands its influence and military presence throughout East Asia. Though I have had many objections to American foreign policy over the past forty years, I do think the US must play a major role in thwarting Chinese ambitions. I also prefer multilateral solutions for such problems which means including Japan.

[Eisdrache]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Any anti-Japanese Korean probably fail their history entirely. Because as far as I am aware the founder of the modern South Korea nation was in fact trained by the Japanese and served them in WW2 under the name Takagi Masao. And that founder's daughter is currently the ruler of South Korea. The only way this was possible is if the public just obeys what they were told without thinking.

Thus, whatever reason Korea is against Japan, it isn't based on logic or facts.

I know I'm a few months late but I'd like to comment on this because it is very, very wrong. Up to this day Japan has not apologized for the crimes they committed during their invasion of Korea. Even Germany did for their respective crimes but Japan does not seem to even acknowledge the whole thing. Additionally the Japanese government keeps sweeping the issue under the rug, treating it as a non-important issue that Korea should just get over with. The very same party is continuously kept in power by the voters showing ignorance if you put it nicely, supportive views if viewed more critically. It is known that part of Japan still thinks that an apology is not required even among the younger generation.

That is the major reason for anti-Japan sentiments in Korea, their president being the daughter of someone who served the Japanese is only an outlet.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Japan has apologised, many times. But YOU know that. And we both know why you still say they haven't apologised. So I will save both of us time by letting you continue with the lies.