Posts Tagged ‘DPJ’

General Election 2009 – The Trailer

An intro that TBS evening news has been using for its coverage of 2009 election news:

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Yukio Hatoyama: Freemason?

Saw some Japanese blog posts today that examined the following screen capture of DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama and determined that the thing he is doing with his hand is a masonic sign:

And, since there appears to be a crazy masonic-looking pyramid on top of a building next to a DPJ office, the whole party must be in on the Freemason’s conspiracy to control Japan! [A conspiracy that apparently dates back to at least the time of his grandfather, Ichiro Hatoyama, who, along with Taro Aso's grandfather, Shigeru Yoshida, was a freemason.]

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Foreigner Suffrage Bill Unlikely to Pass

Remember our previous post about a proposed law granting voting rights to permanent residents? It now seems likely that divisions within Japan’s main opposition party will prevent it from passing:

The split in the Democratic Party of Japan over a planned bill to grant permanent foreign residents voting rights in local elections has further deepened, with groups of advocates and skeptics holding separate meetings on the issue.

DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama has tried to bring the two sides of the conflict closer together, but with the issue tied to speculation over September’s party presidential election, it will be difficult to successfully resolve the problem.

Twenty-two DPJ lawmakers, including Vice President Katsuya Okada and House of Councillors member Yoshihiro Kawakami, attended the first meeting of proponents of the bill on Jan. 30.

[...]

On the same day the proponents’ group met 23 lawmakers, including senior House of Representatives member Kozo Watanabe–the party’s top adviser–and upper house Rules and Administration Committee Chairman Takeo Nishioka, attended the first meeting of a group of skeptics over the issue.

This group is also holding study meetings with outside experts when needed.

The skeptics group is calling for the party leadership not to apply a whip forcing lawmakers to vote in favor of the bill should it be submitted.

Japanese Troops in Afghanistan?

Japan’s naval refueling mission in support of the multi-national mission in Afghanistan has ended, after it became apparent that Ichiro Ozawa’s DPJ would not support the renewal of the mission. Ozawa rejected the mission, apparently because it does not have UN backing, and has instead suggested that Japan send some GSDF troops to join the ground mission in Afghanistan.

Ozawa, who is known as a shrewd politician and is pushing for an early general election, has said that officially pacifist Japan should not be part of “American wars.”

“I told him that I cannot approve of it,” Ozawa told reporters. “We need to have principles, which means that unless it’s part of UN operations, it would not be possible.”

If Ozawa got his wish and Japanese troops joined the ISAF ground forces in Afghanistan, what kind of situation would they be facing? Assuming that they were sent to Kabul, one of the safest areas of the country, they’d still be facing the constant threat of terrorist attacks. For a close up look at the situation, NTV sent a reporter on patrol with some British troops:

Could Japanese troops, who are usually placed under heavily restrictive rules of engagement, properly function in a situation where any civilian vehicle could be a suicide bomber? Would the Japanese people be able to handle having GSDF members killed in action?