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Fukuda's heir faces daunting task
Taro Aso faces few obstacles to replacing Yasuo Fukuda, who dramatically
announced his resignation as Japan's prime minister on Monday. Aso's real test
will be to sufficiently revive the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's fortunes
to prevent it from being trounced at an expected snap election. - Kosuke
Takahashi (Sep 2, '08)
Afghan violence hits home in Japan
The killing of a young Japanese aid worker in Afghanistan at the hands of the
Taliban will raise serious questions about Tokyo's refueling mission for United
States-led coalition vessels in the Indian Ocean. Early elections for the Lower
House are likely, and they could even lead to a change in government. - Kosuke
Takahashi (Aug 28, '08)
Fukuda's reshuffle buys some time
A comprehensive cabinet shakeup has done nothing to improve the popularity of
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and his administration. Potential
replacements for Fukuda are already lining up, but it will take more drastic
measures than simply replacing him to revive his party's fortunes. - Purnendra
Jain (Aug 8, '08)
China wary of a 'normal' Japan
Japan's ongoing discourse over so-called "normalization" is central to the
debate over the country's security policy. To critics, a "normal" Japan could
lead to military buildup, overseas deployment and a revision of its pacifist
constitution. Beijing is watching uneasily. (Aug 6,
'08)
Seoul has desert island dreams
South Korea and Japan are at it again in their long-running dispute over a
group of islets. It is no coincidence that Seoul revs up concerns about
the uninhabited crop of rocks just when it needs to deflect attention from real
problems, especially those with North Korea. - Donald Kirk
(Jul 25, '08)
Japan ducks rice-crisis solution
The Japanese government, faced with record global rice prices, TV images of
food riots and growing fears of increased malnutrition among the world's poor,
could have led the way in resolving the crisis this month when hosting the G-8
summit. It dodged the issue, as did China and the US, opting to keep rice
stocks in storage until they deteriorate enough to sell as livestock feed.
(Jul 17, '08)
An immigration conundrum in Japan
The Japanese population is shrinking and this unfortunate fact may be the only
thing that can move Tokyo to relax decades of stringent immigration policies. A
"revolutionary" proposal calls for a massive influx of foreign workers, but the
plan is likely to remain stalled until Japanese can open their hearts to more gaijins.
- Peter Taberner (Jul 15, '08)
Close encounters with North Korea
For some 20 years, outlandish stories of North Korean abductions pushed
Japanese imaginations to the outer limits of Cold War paranoia. With the
emergence of several true narratives, the abduction issue has taken on
September 11 significance and given Japan an opportunity to assert victimhood,
dust off plans to drive up defense spending, and embark on a new brand of
militarism. - John Feffer (Jul 7, '08)
Japan enters a new space age
Under a new law, Japan can now manufacture and operate its own satellites to
support its terrestrial military operations, including ballistic missile
defense. While a giant step forward for Japan, the development does not
guarantee closer cooperation between Tokyo and Washington in their civil and
defense space activities. (Jul 2, '08)
SEX IN
DEPTH
A new wrinkle in Japan's
porn boom
The Japanese are fast becoming the world's oldest population, so it hardly
seems odd that the fast-growing niche in Japan's massive adult film industry is
porn for the elderly. What is odd is that some septuagenarians are starting new
careers as porn stars in the increasingly lucrative "Grandpa porn" sector. - William
Sparrow (Jun 27, '08)
Japan, through the US looking
glass
After shaping itself to the American model for 50 years, Japan now sees the
US's plummeting prestige and economic problems and wonders if it hasn't gone
down a rabbit hole. This is the wonderland world of contemporary Japanese
politics in which conservatives are really radicals, those with a pro-US bent
are nationalists and revising the pro-US constitution may be the only way to
put the nation back together again. - Gavan McCormack
(Jun 25, '08)
Ranbaxy sale a perfect match
The purchase by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo of Indian generic-drugs maker Ranbaxy
induced smiles all round. Investors bought into the two companies' shares,
delighted at the market fit, while young Ranbaxy boss Malvinder Singh and his
family can look forward to his 36th birthday US$2.3 billion richer. - Neeta
Lal (Jun 18, '08)
BOOK REVIEW
Asia's awesome threesome
Rivals by Bill Emmott
Any friendship between China, India, and Japan is a facade, argues Bill Emmott
in his new book on the inter-state rivalry and its consequences for the world.
Asia's "Big Three" are prone to suspicions and jealousies due to their highly
competitive and strategic environment and this has led to a complex "new Asian
drama". Emmott's yen for futurology yields interesting speculations but his
premise of a is illogical and bypasses the impact of Russo-American tensions. - Sreeram
Chaulia (Jun 13, '08)
Japan sets standard to cope with oil
shocks
The world should not be surprised at the recent sharp oil-price increase; it
has happened before. Yet only Japan appears to have learnt the lesson of past
surges, whatever their cause. - Dilip Hiro(Jun 11,
'08)
Sinophile Rudd loses Asian
friends
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is clearly an Asia enthusiast. But his
opening salvo of unforced diplomatic errors - from favoring China at the
expense of Indonesia and Japan to an ill-formed proposal for an Asia-Pacific
bloc - has derailed relationships with Canberra's major neighbors. - Purnendra
Jain (Jun 10, '08)
Japan makes new push to Africa
Japan will double its assistance to Africa to US$1.8 billion in the next five
years, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told a conference of 52 African governments.
African officials, however, point out that 85% of Japan's investment goes to
South Africa and Egypt, and the domestic press claims Tokyo is simply making a
play for Africa's rich resources. (May 29, '08)
SEX IN DEPTH
Asia: The land of raising sons
A strong preference for male babies has led to social problems in Asia,
specifically in China and India, where traditions and state mandates have led
to serious gender discrimination in reproduction. Now, mothers are being
blamed, baby girls are abandoned and bachelors have trouble hooking up. Is it
not time to say, as Maurice Chevalier did, thank heaven for little girls? -
William Sparrow (May 23, '08)
COMMENT
Blair's Christian 'challenge' to the East
Former British premier Tony Blair, who recently converted to Catholicism,
apparently believes his or other Christian faiths should underpin the West in
meeting the challenges from the East. But people such as Blair should start
taking the "East" more seriously, and the coming Group of Eight summit in July
could be an opportunity for Europeans to start calling democratic Asians "we"
rather than "they". - Masayuki Tadokoro
(May 14, '08)
China and Japan tiptoe into a 'warm
spring'
Chinese President Hu Jintao's five-day visit to Japan was an
important step towards stabilizing relations between the two powers. Clearly, a
positive Sino-Japanese relationship serves the interests of the region - and
the United States - but territorial disputes, food safety issues and rising
nationalism in both countries remain unresolved. - Jing-dong Yuan
(May 12, '08)
SEX IN DEPTH
The young ones
In Japan, where the age of sexual consent can be as low as 13, the practice of
an older man hiring a teenage schoolgirl for a "date" is about as firmly
established as Mt Fuji. The time-honored custom of enjo kosai has for
years caused screams of outrage about innocence gone bad, but efforts to
regulate the practice are proving difficult. - William Sparrow
(May 9, '08)
Wind drifts out of Japan's green vision
Japan's engineering companies are taking full advantage overseas of 30% annual
global growth in the use of wind energy. Yet at home, thanks in part to
government policies and utility monopolies, there are few opportunities in a
country supposedly synonymous with efforts to combat global warming.
(May 8, '08)
Fukuda's political troubles deepen
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's popularity is sinking fast and the
opposition is making his life hellish, with an eye to his ouster. His only
escape may be a snap vote, like Junichiro Koizumi pulled off in 2005. But
Fukuda has neither the fighting spirit nor the public support that Koizumi
enjoyed. - Purnendra Jain
(May 2, '08)
Japan's bank crisis resolved,
others remain
Masaaki Shirakawa's appointment as Bank of Japan governor ends a long-running
political standoff in time for the world's second-largest economy to be
properly represented at this week's Group of Seven meeting of central bank
leaders. Now he must show whether he can steer the country away from recession.
- Hisane Masaki (Apr 9, '08)
Lost love over Yasukuni Shrine
Neo-nationalists have stopped the showing of a Chinese-directed movie about
Japan's controversial war memorial Yasukuni, the latest in a string of
incidents threatening freedom of expression in Japan. Director Li Ying, who
moved to Tokyo in 1989 and speaks fluent Japanese, rejects accusations of the
film being "political propaganda", saying it is his love letter to the Japanese
people. (Apr 8, '08)
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