Japan 2012

[jaichind]

But KinKi region is quite large

Insert canned laughter here, right?

I guess my Chinese bias comes in here.  The places is 近畿 and when pronounced in Chinese Mandrain is is very close to KinKi.  Sometimes it is called 関西 or Kansai where the similiarity to the Chinese Mandrain way of pronouncing it is much larger so I am used to calling that area KinKi.

[asexual trans victimologist]

I prefer 関西 by analogy to 関東, and that's what I've been taught by my Japanese instructors as well.

[Vasall des Midas]

The old "Socialists" changed their name to DPJ.

[asexual trans victimologist]

The old "Socialists" changed their name to DPJ.

The etiology of the DPJ isn't anywhere near as simple as that.

[Harry Hayfield]

If there is a general election this year (2012), then does that mean that they will be using the same boundaries as at the last election?

Also you might like to know that NHK World (now in HD) broadcasts a type of election results programme so if any one would like me to record it, then please let me know and I will be able to estimate the cost of postage.

[jaichind]

Osaka mayor eyes political realignment, hints at tie-up with Nod

OSAKA, July 10 Kyodo 
     Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who also leads a political group in 
the western Japan city, said Tuesday he is expecting a national 
political realignment to take place and suggested the possibility of 
a tie-up between his group and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's ruling 
party.
     The mayor told reporters at Osaka city hall that he believes the 
main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and the ruling Democratic 
Party of Japan led by Noda will likely reorganize in the near future. 
"If politicians rally together for the premier, they will form a very 
strong administration," he said.
     "There are many rank-and-file LDP members who share the 
premier's vision. If they join forces and create a new group, it 
would gain a high approval rating," Hashimoto said.
     The mayor also said Noda's basic ideas, such as introducing a 
system for the direct election of the prime minister and accelerating 
decentralization to give more power to regions, are shared by his 
political group called "Osaka Ishin no Kai" (Osaka restoration group).
     Hashimoto had been rather critical of Noda's political skills 
but spoke highly of the premier Tuesday, saying he "has steadfastly 
made (important political) decisions."
     Noda's plan to double the nation's consumption tax rate from the 
current 5 percent has led to the recent departure of former DPJ 
leader Ichiro Ozawa and his allies from the ruling party.
     The Osaka mayor has expressed his readiness to enter national 
politics, suggesting his group would field candidates in the next 
general election that Noda could call at any time.

[jaichind]

Ozawa courting Hashimoto for tieup

OSAKA — Former Democratic Party of Japan power broker Ichiro Ozawa is saying he would welcome a tieup with Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto in the next Lower House election.

The appeal, initiated Sunday, to the popular Hashimoto, who plans to field up to 300 candidates and hopes to capture 200 seats, came as the mayor and his supporters fine tune their political platform by calling for the national consumption tax to be turned into a local tax, and for a national referendum on whether to revise Article 9 of the Constitution.

Ozawa, expected to form a new political party Wednesday with around 50 followers, said his political philosophy is in tune with Hashimoto's Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka).

"Hashimoto says that unless the fundamental way Japan is governed is changed, things will get worse. I've been saying this for a long time, and have emphasized that power must devolve from the central government to the local regions," Ozawa said on NHK.

"Hashimoto's thinking is basically the same as mine, and I want to tie up with those who think along similar lines."

Last week, Osaka Ishin no Kai finalized its political manifesto for the Lower House election. Though there were few changes from the basic platform released earlier this year, the revised version doesn't come out for or against raising the consumption tax. Instead, the group calls for it to become a local tax administered by local governments.

"The way to change Japan is by making the consumption tax a local tax, which will help local governments achieve independence from Tokyo and realize a system of semiautonomous regions," Hashimoto said last week.

The mayor believes that, along with the question of whether to keep using nuclear power, the structure of the sales tax will be the main issue in the next poll.

But he and Osaka Ishin no Kai have also stirred controversy among potential allies with another proposal, which is to revise the Constitution to allow revision by a simple majority vote instead of a two-thirds majority and then hold a national referendum on whether to revise Article 9, the passivist clause.

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said late last week that, rather than revise Article 9, the Constitution should be scrapped entirely. The governor, who plans to field his own supporters in the election, is a close ally of Hashimoto and would likely tie up with him after the election.

However, Ishihara and Ozawa have long been political opponents. Many in Osaka Ishin no Kai are reluctant to join forces with Ozawa, saying it's better to remain on good terms with Ishihara and that Hashimoto's rising popularity in Kansai and elsewhere means it's unnecessary to court Ozawa.

[jaichind]

Iwate governor to part with DPJ and join Ozawa's planned party

Iwate Gov. Takuya Tasso said Monday he will part with the ruling Democratic Party of Japan this week and join the new party expected to be headed by former DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa.

"The new Ozawa party is expected to lead moves to open up new politics in Japan while standing by the people," Tasso told a press conference.

Tasso was elected governor for the first time in April 2007 after serving as a House of Representatives lawmaker from the DPJ. He is now in his second four-year term.

Ozawa and dozens of other DPJ lawmakers close to him bolted from the DPJ last week after casting dissenting votes against bills to hike the consumption tax during a Lower House plenary vote. Ozawa is a veteran Lower House member elected from a constituency in Iwate, one of the three prefectures hit hardest by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami last year.

[asexual trans victimologist]

Re: The first article, regarding Noda apparently thinking direct election of the Prime Minister is a good idea or makes any sense: NO. Seriously, just no.

Re: The second article: Ugh, these people are just horrible, aren't they?

Re: The third article: Of course, it's Iwate. Lovely place but Ozawa's little playground politically.

[The Mikado]

Hashimoto, Ishihara, and Ozawa under one roof?  Isn't it a cardinal rule of movements like that that you can only have one Fuehrer?  I doubt any of those egomaniacs would yield.

[asexual trans victimologist]

That's my hope. The worst case scenario is a more annoying repeat of 1993-6 with even less getting done.

[jaichind]

That's my hope. The worst case scenario is a more annoying repeat of 1993-6 with even less getting done.

Even back in 2006-2008 there were all kinds of talks/rumors of realignements where significant parts of the "reform" wings of LDP and DPJ would merge into a new party.  DPJ's landslide victory in 2009 ended such talks.  I think we might be entering into another period (like 1993-6) where there will be significant political realignment. This will be a political version of the Sengoku period of the 1500s (or 戦国時代) In theory this benifits Ozawa but he is not the same Ozawa of the 1990s. Local power brokers like Hashimoto I think will benifit due to disappointment with national parties.  I personally like Your Party, I think it has a lot of potential but not sure it will come out a winner in all this.

[asexual trans victimologist]

That's my hope. The worst case scenario is a more annoying repeat of 1993-6 with even less getting done.

Even back in 2006-2008 there were all kinds of talks/rumors of realignements where significant parts of the "reform" wings of LDP and DPJ would merge into a new party.  DPJ's landslide victory in 2009 ended such talks.  I think we might be entering into another period (like 1993-6) where there will be significant political realignment. This will be a political version of the Sengoku period of the 1500s (or 戦国時代) In theory this benifits Ozawa but he is not the same Ozawa of the 1990s. Local power brokers like Hashimoto I think will benifit due to disappointment with national parties.  I personally like Your Party, I think it has a lot of potential but not sure it will come out a winner in all this.

It's not the realignment in general that I have a problem with. I even think that, unlike in many other purportedly homogeneous countries, things like regionalization could be very good ideas in the particular Japanese context, even if it would give people like Ishihara more power within their own little fiefdoms; Tohoku and Chugoku, for example, simply do not face the same issues that Tokyo and Osaka and Nagoya do. In this respect and in some others relating to proposed structural reforms I'm certainly with people like Hashimoto and groups like Your Party. It's just that, everywhere else, these specific people are so incredibly awful that I really don't want them staying in power for very long, past the period of the realignment itself. Hashimoto isn't as despicable as Ozawa or Ishihara but that's setting the bar so low as to bury it in the ground. Remember that this is the man who's explicitly said that public employees don't have human rights.

I like the Kizuna Party, but I'm doubtful about their ability to benefit from any of this.

[jaichind]

A history of Ozawa

     The following is a chronology of major events related to former  
Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa, who launched a new  
party with his allies on Wednesday after breaking ranks with the DPJ.
     December 1969 -- Ozawa wins seat in the House of Representatives  
for the first time as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.
     August 1989 -- Ozawa is promoted to LDP secretary general.
     June 1993 -- Ozawa quits the LDP and forms Shinseito, or Japan  
Renewal Party.  This leads to the fall of the LDP government.
     December 1994 -- Ozawa launches Shinshinto, or New Frontier  
Party.
     January 1998 -- Ozawa forms the Liberal Party, which is then
allied with LDP
     September 2003 -- The Liberal Party merges with the DPJ.
     April 2006 -- Ozawa becomes DPJ leader.
     May 2009 -- Ozawa resigns as party leader over a political funds  
scandal, becomes acting leader in charge of elections.
     September -- The Cabinet led by DPJ chief Yukio Hatoyama is  
launched, with Ozawa assuming the post of the party's secretary  
general.
     June 2010 -- Ozawa resigns as DPJ secretary general, while  
Hatoyama resigns as prime minister.
     January 2011 -- Ozawa faces mandatory indictment over the funds  
scandal.
     April 2012 -- Ozawa wins acquittal at a district court.
     June 26 -- Ozawa votes against a tax-hike bill in the lower  
house.
     July 2 -- Ozawa and his allies submit letters of resignation  
from the DPJ.
     July 11 -- Ozawa launches new party "Kokumin no Seikatsu ga  
Daiichi," which roughly means putting people's lives first.

[jaichind]

It is also funny that when I do a search on Youtube for Ozawa to watch videos on developments for Ozawa's new party, all I get is videos of porn star "Maria Ozawa."

[jaichind]

Most believe Ozawa's new party not a game-changer; Noda's rating drifts lower

Note that  Hashimoto's outfit level is support is almost as high as DPJ.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More than 80 percent of voters think the new party formed by former Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa will not significantly impact politics, a survey said Sunday.

The nationwide survey by Kyodo News, which drew responses from 1,012 voters on Saturday and Sunday, also said that the approval rating for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Cabinet had fallen 1.8 points since June to 28.1 percent and that its disapproval rating rose 5.7 points to 60 percent.

On Wednesday, Ozawa launched a new political party named Kokumin no Seikatsu ga Daiichi (People's Life First) to challenge the Noda government over its push to double the country's 5 percent sales tax rate by late 2015.

According to the results of the poll, 57.9 percent oppose enacting the tax legislation at this time, while 36.7 percent support it.

The House of Councilors is holding deliberations on the bills, which cleared the House of Representatives last month.

Asked which party they would support in the proportional representation portion of the next general election, 19.2 percent said the opposition-leading Liberal Democratic Party and 14.1 percent said Noda's ruling DPJ.

Another 13.2 percent said they would support the fledgling group Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) led by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, while 5.6 percent opted for the new Ozawa party.

As for the reactor in Fukui Prefecture that became the first to resume power generation since the Fukushima disaster, 51.9 percent said they oppose reactor restarts and 40.7 percent said they support them.

Asked what the kind of government they wanted to emerge from the next general election, 38.8 percent said they prefer a new framework based on a realignment of the major parties, the highest figure since Noda took office. Another 19.8 percent said they prefer a DPJ-LDP grand coalition, while 16.3 percent want to revert back to the old LDP-led government and 7.9 percent want a DPJ-led government.

[asexual trans victimologist]

So Kizuna has apparently allied with Ozawa Ichiro Appreciation Life. Quite frankly, I'm hugely disappointed. They're hitching their wagon to a moron.

[jaichind]

So Kizuna has apparently allied with Ozawa Ichiro Appreciation Life. Quite frankly, I'm hugely disappointed. They're hitching their wagon to a moron.

Well, Kizuna broke from DPJ over the consumption tax issue, the same reason Ozawa broke with DPJ.

[asexual trans victimologist]

So Kizuna has apparently allied with Ozawa Ichiro Appreciation Life. Quite frankly, I'm hugely disappointed. They're hitching their wagon to a moron.

Well, Kizuna broke from DPJ over the consumption tax issue, the same reason Ozawa broke with DPJ.

I know. It makes sense politically, they just seem like horrible judges of character. If I were them I would have tried to cobble together a coalition with some of the other very small parties.

[Sibboleth]

That's my hope. The worst case scenario is a more annoying repeat of 1993-6 with even less getting done.

Insert Marx quote here

[asexual trans victimologist]

Let's play a game!

WHO SAID IT: HASHIMOTO OR STALIN?

We think that a powerful and vigorous movement is impossible without differences — 'true conformity' is possible only in the cemetery.

I want each of you to see yourself as a person who now has no personal privacy and no fundamental human rights.

''No' to cutting off weak people. 'No' to widening disparity. 'No' to competition' —  these sweet words are really dangerous. We will stop this evil trend.

Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.

When you approach cockroaches, they dash off even though they have no eyes on their back. They have a great sense of crisis and we have to share the same sense of crisis.

The precondition of our national character is our blood.

This leads to the conclusion, it is time to finish retreating. Not one step back!

The Jews are not a nation!

[jaichind]

One thing that will stop Hashimoto, Ishihara and Ozawa from coming togeather is differences in domestic policy but mainly significant differences in foreign policy.  All are for a more independent Japanese foreign policy.  Ishihara is anti-Mainland China, anti-Korea, and anti-Russia.    Hashimoto talks a lot about assertive nationalism but Hashimoto appears less anti-Mainland China or anti-Russia in tone, and more likely to advocate a pragmatic power
politics stance of improving ties with these two powers.  Ozawa is strongly pro-Mainland China and would find it hard to forge common cause with Ishihara on foreign policy.  In this context, it may be difficult for these new local political forces to create a credible foreign policy which they can take to influence the national level.
   

[Peter the Lefty]

Well, it was inevitable. 
http://m.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jul/30/japan-green-party-nuclear-power?cat=environment&type=article

[RogueBeaver]

Wiki says that the DPJ and LDP have agreed to a snap election in January once a VAT increase is passed. Any news on that?

[asexual trans victimologist]

Wiki says that the DPJ and LDP have agreed to a snap election in January once a VAT increase is passed. Any news on that?

First I've heard of it, but I'm unsurprised. My guess would be that there's a feeling in the two establishment parties to get this over with and give the various insurgent groups as little time as possible to really organize and get good candidate recruitment going. Personally, I welcome this, not because I like the DPJ and LDP very much but because Ozawa Ichiro Appreciation Life, the Hashists, and their ilk, with the possible exception of this new Greens Japan outfit, which apparently isn't going to contest anything until the upper house election next July, are just awful.