Twice each week, TPR News brings you podcasts and streaming audio coverage of Japan's biggest news events. You can listen to TPR News here at Trans-Pacific Radio, or you can subscribe and get each episode automatically, as they're released. It's easy to subscribe to TPR News: Just copy and paste the RSS feed link for TPR News into iTunes or your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment; we'd love to hear what you have to say.

In this edition of TPR News, we look at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision against a Cabinet reshuffle at this time, what the Prime Minister has to say about the 1993 ‘Kono Statement,’ Japan’s recent bilateral talks with North Korea in Hanoi, two economic reports from the Cabinet Office, and discover which nation in Asia now has the largest number of billionaires…

Politics

Speaking on NHK television on Sunday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that there will be no reshuffle of his cabinet members before the July Upper House election, saying, “I am not at all thinking about reshuffling my Cabinet, and the election will be held under the current Cabinet.”

Rumors of a potential restructuring of the Cabinet had been swirling since late February, when both the Asahi Shimbun (Shiozaki battles lawmaker plotting) and the Yomiuri Shimbun (Calls for Cabinet reshuffle continue and Shiozaki target in reshuffle) reported that such a move was seemingly in the works. Shiozaki’s name emerged as a target due to his seeming inability to handle the consensus building necessary to ensure that the Kantei continue to work well with the Liberal Democratic Party itself, among other factors.

In a telephone interview poll conducted by the Nikkei on February 23-25, immediately following the published rumors of a Cabinet reshuffle, 29% of respondents agreed that, “There should be restructuring before the House of Councillors election in July,” while 31% agreed that, “There should be restructuring after the House of Councillors election in July,” and 26% felt, “There is no pressing need to restructure.”

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An anouncement: Have you seen the documentary television series Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa? If so, did you see it on Japanese TV? Karin Muller, the series’ creator heard that it had been aired in Japan and wants to know if it was aired on a national broadcaster. If you have any helpful information, please get in touch with TPR or Jun Okumura of Globaltalk 21, who is leading the search on Ms. Muller’s behalf.

If you’ve seen it, let us know. If you saw it in Japan, we really want to hear from you.

If you do not have information on Japanland in Japan, you would still do well to visit Globaltalk 21, which is one of the most consistently insightful and interesting blogs of, from, or related to Japan and politics.

Society
In the first test of a September decision by a Tokyo District Court that a Metropolitan School Board directive ordering teachers to stand and sing or play “Kimigayo” violated their rights, the Board punished its 346th teacher for such an offense.

Hamura High School music teacher Mikiko Ikeda, who refused for the second time to play the piano accompaniment to the controversial national anthem, the first being in April 2005, was reprimanded and saw her pay cut by ten percent. She called the punishment unacceptable and said she would continue to fight for what she believed in.

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In this edition of TPR News, we again look at the Education Minister’s recent comments, the upcoming Tokyo governor’s race, the plans to form a US-style national security council, recent business news, and discover how your toilet may help you get rich…

Politics

In the last edition of TPR News, we commented on Education Minister Ibuki Bunmei’s comments that Japan is a ‘extremely homogeneous’ nation. In the same speech, however, the Minister decided to compare human rights to butter, declaring:

Japan has stressed the individual point of view too much. If you eat butter everyday you get metabolic syndrome. Human rights are important but a society that over indulges in them will get ‘human rights metabolic syndrome.”

There is an old saying in Japanese: “It stinks of butter!” This is a comment made in the old days to disparage Western ideas, as butter (and thus fat) was seen to be a major part of the Western diet. The Eductaion Minister’s comments have been picked up by the Telegraph in the UK and have generated a response editorial from the Asashi Shimbun. Prime Minister Abe has expressed no displeasure with Ibuki’s remarks. Amnesty International has slammed Minister Ibuki’s remarks.

On Wednesday, the speculation surrounding the Tokyo gubernatorial race took a turn as former Miyagi governor and current Professor of Public Policy Management at Keio University, Asano Shiro, unofficially announced his candidacy. Like the incumbent, Ishihara Shintaro, Mr. Asano is technically an independent, although he viewed as being allied with the DPJ, whereas Mr. Ishihara is aligned not with the forces of evil as his many vociferous critics seem to think, but with the same LDP he has spent the better part of his time in office maligning.

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In this edition of TPR News, we look at Shinzo Abe’s recent meeting with Japan’s returned abductees from North Korea, LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa’s recent comments to the cabinet, Scott Callon’s shareholder revolt, a tieup between McDonald’s and DoCoMo, and a short roundup of the Japan blog scene.

Politics

On Sunday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with five of Japan’s repatriated abductees and promised them that he would continue to pressure North Korea to resolve the issue. Japan and North Korea are set to begin their first round of bilateral talks in mid-March, with the top of Japan’s agenda being the return of all persons abducted to North Korea. Japan officially claims that 17 of its citizens have been abducted to the reclusive state. North Korea has claimed that 13 were abducted, five returned and the remaining eight are dead, and thus the issue is resolved.

Abe, who has made the return of all abductees one of the platforms of his administration, met with the five returnees for the first time since coming to office in October of last year. In a move to seemingly add a harder line to the upcoming bilateral negotiations, Abe has said that Japan will insist that North Korea hand over two former intelligence officials who are suspected of having instructed an operative to abduct Kaoru and Yukiko Hasuike in 1978. The Hasuike’s are amongst the five people who have been repatriated to Japan since North Korea admitted their kidnapping.

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In this edition of TPR News, we look at Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro’s bid for re-election, Japan’s drive to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhiaoxing’s meeting with Shinzo Abe, and what’s happening to bullies.

Politics

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhiaoxing met with Prime Minister Abe on Friday and offered China’s help to Japan in resolving the issue of Japanese abducted by North Korea, saying, “I fully understand Japan’s concerns and would like to offer support as much as possible.”

On a less cordial note, Li asked for patience and seriousness in dealing with a dispute over natural gas rights that both countries claim when Abe expressed displeasure of China’s development of gas fields in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The Six Party Talks have dominated foreign policy lately, but, rather than touch on such a complex event here, we ask our readers to listen to the forthcoming Seijigiri #18, in which Ken and Garrett will do their best to dissect the talks and figure out who actually got what in the agreement that emerged.

Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro has apparently decided to go it alone. According to “an LDP member in Tokyo,” in mid-January, the LDP decided to offer Ishihara the party’s support in the upcoming Tokyo gubernatorial election after being approached by one of Ishihara’s contacts. However, last Friday, Ishihara denied that the LDP had made such an offer, saying: “I have been working without any party affiliation. I want to keep that as my principle. I will fight in my own way.” Some observers believe that Ishihara may be trying to distance himself from the increasingly unpopular Abe administration. The Asahi Shimbun hints that this story may not yet be over, writing: “A senior LDP Tokyo metropolitan assembly member suggested…that Ishihara, haunted by his own scandals, may eventually seek LDP support.”

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In this edition of TPR News, we cover a range of political ground, touching on the situation surrounding Yanagisawa Hakuo’s remarks, his actions in the diet, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s popularity ratings, US Vice President Dick Cheney’s upcoming visit, Shintaro Ishihara’s comments as filtered by William Pesek, who’s working and how much for the Yakuza, and a bit on the whaling controversy…

Politics

Fallout continues over the recent remarks made by Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Yanagisawa Hakuo. At first, Mr Yanagisawa referred to women as “birth-giving machines,” and he later remarked that “healthy couples” should want to have two children. His words have led to strong censure and calls for his resignation from the opposition parties, and a growing feeling that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe simply failed to choose the best people available for his cabinet positions when he became Prime Minister back in September.

A recent Japan Times editorial echoes what was said on the most recent release of TPR’s Seijigiri program, and asserted that Mr Yanagisawa’s comments do not construe a mere ‘gaffe,’ but rather betray a lack of connection with the citizens of this country, and especially with those who are of the child-bearing age. An excerpt:

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In this edition of TPR News: The gaffes that keep on giving, the LDP and opposition split local elections on Sunday, victims of the A-bomb get their due, Fujiya tries to clean up its act, JAL slims down, bird flu is spreading, some pricey luxury goods go on sale, and much more.

Society

What worse than being a victim of the atomic bomb? Being a victim of the atomic bomb, hibakusha, and having to fight for compensation already awarded to you.

Things just got a little better for two hibakusha, though. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ordered the Hiroshima prefectural government to pay 2.9 million yen to three survivors who had emigrated to Brazil. From 1974 to 2003, Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare Directive No. 402 made only those hibakusha living in Japan eligible to receive compensation. In 1994 and ‘95, Hosokawa Teruo, Horioka Mitsugu, and Mukai Shoji returned to Japan after living in Sao Paulo for as long as forty years, then returned to Brazil to have their payments cut off. They sued in 2002, then Directive No. 402 was repealed, and the Hiroshima government paid them back benefits for five years, as would be done with other benefits.

The Supreme Court, though, held up a prefectural court ruling by saying, “To claim that the time limit had expired goes against the principles of faith and trust, and is not acceptable,” and called Directive 402 illegal and “based on no grounds whatsoever,” thus making Messrs. Hosokawa and Horioka the first of potentially hundreds of hibakusha to collect back benefits. Mr. Mukai died in December.

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In this edition of TPR News: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tells his cabinet to watch their mouths, constitutional reform is on the agenda, William Pesek makes some interesting comments with regards to comparing Mr Abe to a former US President, several major economic indicators suggest hard times lie ahead for the Japanese worker, a look at mobile phone company advertising campaigns, and a brief foray into some of the English-language blog coverage on Japan…

Politics

At a regular cabinet meeting this week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has told his peers to watch their mouths with public comments. Abe’s exhortation comes on the heels of Health, Labour and Welfare Minister Hakuho Yanagisawa’s comment that women are, “birthing machines” and Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma’s remarks that the US-led war on Iraq was started over the belief that Iraq had nuclear weapons. Abe, keenly aware that support for his administration continues to dwindle, has tellingly not asked for the resignation of either minister.

DPJ Chief Ozawa Ichiro increased the pressure on Abe by asking, Monday, why the Prime Minister put Constitutional reform ahead of helping people on his list of priorities. While Abe said he could do both at once, Ozawa invoked the specter of July’s House of Councillors elections, saying:

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In this edition of TPR News, Welfare Minister Yanagisawa joins the gaffe parade, but Defense Minister Kyuma is not to be outdone. Abe continues to leave out the details, the Upper House Vice President resigns amid scandal, Japan tries to protect its whalers, Horiemon says he’s being persecuted, Fujiya gets dirtier, and more fretting about the birthrate.

Politics

In a clever step to improve the beleaguered ruling party’s popularity and to show his understanding side, Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare Yanagisawa Hakuo lamented the falling birthrate by saying,

“The number of women between the ages of 15 and 50 is fixed. The number of birth-giving machines (and) devices is fixed, so all we can ask is that they do their best per head.”

That’s right, he called women “birth-giving machines” while pushing for people to pull together in what this observer thinks is hardly a crisis, as explained in last week’s edition of TPR News. At least the comment was made for domestic consumption.
D’oh! The story has been picked up by a bit of the Western media, with even blog giant Boing Boing deciding to dedicate a post to the minister’s words, thus raising the question of whether or not Japan’s ministers are aware that in the information age, what they say can make them look bad in more than one country.

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In this edition of TPR News: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s approval ratings continue their slide, Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma puts on some (more) shoeshine lipstick, the Education Rebuilding Council recommends longer class hours and beatings for the nation’s students, bid-rigging in Nagoya, food safety scandals and the affordability of your very own fashion consultant.

Politics

In its January survey, the Yomiuri is reporting a 7.5% fall in approval ratings for the Abe administration, to 48%. The administration had previously weighed in with a score of 65.1 in November and in 55.9 December. In the same survey, the Cabinet disapproval rating climbed by 8.9%, and now stands at 38.9%. The Yomiuri cited recent scandals as the most recent cause for the continued drop in approval ratings. Interestingly, amongst those who replied that they supported the Liberal Democratic Party, the Abe Cabinet’s approval ratings fell by seven points, to 79.3%.

At the other side of the editorial spectrum, over at the Asahi Shimbun, support for the Abe administration is reported to be at 39%, down 8% from last month. Disapproval ratings increased from 32% to 37%. The Asahi also reports that scandals are hurting the Prime Minister’s image, but also cites respondents as being upset that the administration is doing nothing to address the growing gap between Japan’s rich and poor. When asked if they perceived the administration as being ‘powerful,’ 12 % said yes. 67% also reported feeling that the administration is ‘unreliable.’ The Asahi concludes with the somewhat odd assertion that, “If the ranks of unaffiliated voters keep swelling until they form the largest group of voters, Japanese politics could become unstable.”

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