Posts Tagged ‘Politics’

LDP tries to win back voters by turning politicians into tour guides

An NTV news report about LDP politician Shinjiro Koizumi (“Koizumi Junior”) trying to improve the image of his party by giving a tour of the naval base in his home district:

Some 50 participants, selected from about 5,200 applicants, went to the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Yokosuka base where they were expected to tour an escort ship, enjoy the MSDF’s specialty dish of “kaigun (navy) curry” and talk with Koizumi.

Since winning his father’s seat in the Kanagawa No. 11 district in the House of Representatives election in late August, Koizumi has been popular, particularly among young people.

NTV contrasts Koizumi’s popularity with that of LDP president Sadakazu Tanigaki, whom many have criticized for his lack of aggressive leadership. Whereas Koizumi draws excited crowds, Tanigaki is uninspiring and uncharismatic – so much so that people can’t even seem to remember his name!

—

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara angers Brazilians

Representatives of Rio de Janeiro’s successful 2016 Olympic bid are seeking an apology from Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, after the defeated leader of the Tokyo Olympic bid made some unfriendly comments about why he thought Rio won:

Mike Lee criticized Ishihara’s comments and went as far as to call the Tokyo governor “a bad loser.”

Ishihara said at a press conference in Tokyo on Sunday he heard that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made “daring promises” to African people and that French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to support Rio’s bid if Brazil purchased French-made fighter jets.

He also said, “invisible dynamics were at play.” It is unclear, however, which of those comments were a direct cause for Rio’s backlash.

“It was suggesting or hinting that there was some sort of trickery involved. It was very inappropriate. Everybody fights to win and some do better than others,” said Lee.

Update: A Japanese member of the IOC has apologized for Ishihara’s outburst.

[via JapanSoc]

—

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Ozawa favors granting voting rights to foreigners with permanent residency

Ichiro Ozawa, the man who is said to hold the real power within Japan’s ruling Democratic party, has said he favors passing a law to grant voting rights to foreigners with permanent residency:

Meeting at the DPJ headquarters in Tokyo, Ozawa told Lee, elder brother of President Lee Myung Bak and head of the South Korea-Japan parliamentarians union, that he is for the idea of granting such rights to permanent residents of Japan, including South Koreans.

“I want it to take form somehow during the regular Diet session,” Ozawa was quoted as saying, in remarks that suggest his intention to compile the opinions of DPJ members on the matter during the next ordinary session.

DPJ House of Councillors member Yoshihiro Kawakami, who took part in the meeting, told Kyodo News he believes the DPJ-led government would submit a bill aimed at giving permanent foreign residents the right to vote in elections for local government heads and assembly members to the regular Diet session.

While I think that it’s nice to give some local voting rights to foreigners who have come to Japan and received permanent residency, I think it is a bad idea to extend voting rights to Japanese-born Korean special permanent residents. Such a policy only encourages their position as perpetual non-citizens and discourages them from taking Japanese citizenship.

Wouldn’t it be better if the Japanese government streamlined the process by which they could naturalize and become full-fledged citizens of this country?

—

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Japanese politicians line up outside the Diet building at 3:00AM

The new diet session began today, with Prime Minister Hatoyama taking office. Early morning news shows could not yet report on Hatoyama entering the Diet because the gates to the building did not officially open until 8:00AM. Luckily, a few politicians lined up early and gave the media something to talk about:

The woman shown in the video is Yukiko Miyake, a newly elected representative from Gunma Prefecture and one of the “Ozawa Girls.” She arrived at the Diet building at 2:50AM this morning, eager to show the media how committed she is to her new position. She was carrying the diet lapel pin of her grandfather, who also served in the Diet.

Ten minutes later, another DPJ politician arrived. It was Yuichiro Tamaki of Kagawa Prefecture. In a blog post he wrote on his mobile phone this morning, he expressed regret over having failed to be the first to arrive as well as his desire to fulfill the expectations of the voters who elected him.

The presence of reporters and cameramen at the Diet gates at such an early hour seems to suggest that the media were expecting (or had been notified in advance) of the arrival of both politicians.

—

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Visualizing complaints about the American military presence in Japan

In a news segment yesterday morning about the Okinawa military base issue, FTV included a summary of some of the complaints Japanese have about American troops enjoying special privileges in Japan. To help the audience understand, they put their cartoonist to work.

Shown in the video:

• Members of the US military do not need alien registration cards to live in Japan.
• They don’t need to pay Japanese sales tax when shopping at on base stores.
• Japanese police are only allowed to arrest US troops if they are caught in the act of committing a crime. In other cases, they must request permission from the US military to question or detain members of the US military. This makes it difficult for Japanese police to carry out investigations.
• The Japanese government must pay for base expenses, including the salary of Japanese civilians who have jobs working for the bases.

The DPJ recently agreed to a coalition government, giving in to requests from its partners, the Social Democratic Party and New People’s Party, that it take a more aggressive stance towards revising the status of forces agreement between the US and Japan. Hatoyama has also maintained that his government will end Japan’s military aid to the international mission in Afghanistan.

—
Related link (Japanese): The Social Democratic Party is an extreme leftist party that advocates the total dismantling of Japan’s military and an end to the U.S.-Japan alliance. It recently made headlines for its strong opposition to a parade of Japan Self-Defense Forces troops, referring to their carrying of unloaded rifles as “menacing” and dangerous.

—

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

At home with the Hatoyamas

Back in July, FTV had a chance to visit Yukio Hatoyama and his wife Miyuki and observe their morning routine. Here’s a video clip of them eating breakfast together and fixing Yukio’s hair:

Miyuki prepares some okonomiyaki for breakfast. It is usually a lunch or dinner food, but she believes that it is good for breakfast because it contains a healthy amount of vegetables. After the meal, Yukio dons rubber gloves and washes the dishes! His wife supervises him. Apparently dish washing is a part of his daily routine.

Miyuki is in charge of coordinating her husband’s clothing and managing his unwieldy hair. After breakfast, we are shown a scene of her combing his hair into place and then declaring him to be “cool” when she finishes. It is said that her positive attitude is a great boost to Yukio.

—
Related video clip: Al Jazeera, like the rest of the international media, has had trouble finding anything interesting to report about Yukio Hatoyama, so they’ve focused on his weird wife instead:

—

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)