News On Japan

Tokyo ward mayor sets example by taking paternity leave

Japan Times — 2010-03-11 21:43:55

Hironobu Narisawa, mayor of Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, plans to take about two weeks of paternity leave in April to encourage other male staff to follow suit, officials said Thursday. "I want to enjoy both the joy and pain of child-rearing as a father," said the mayor, 44, whose wife had their first child, a boy, on Feb. 5. "As a mayor who has to exert leadership, I want to support male employees" in taking paternity leave, he said at a press conference. (Japan Times)

High F-35 cost may force Japan to review next main fighter choice

AP — 2010-03-12 11:50:23

The U.S. government told a congressional panel Thursday that the procurement cost of the F-35 next-generation stealth fighter will likely nearly double from the initial estimate to $95 million. The higher-than-expected cost could prompt Japan to think twice about selecting the aircraft as the nation's next-generation mainstay fighter, observers said. Tokyo sees the F-35 as the primary candidate to replace F-4 fighters currently deployed in Japan's Air Self-Defense Force. It aims to decide on its mainstay fighter by this fall. (AP)

65 years after the war, Japan needs convincing of the need for US bases

Times Online — 2010-03-11 06:55:45

On a humid March evening in Okinawa young American men with crewcuts and thick necks sprawl out from the bars and lap-dancing clubs that cluster near US military bases across the island. "Marijuana - it's like alcohol, but . . ." reads one T-shirt. A young white man weaves his Honda Saloon at speed through cars heading for a junction. "We all pull clear," one Japanese driver says. "There are so many accidents." The US has slapped tough rules on the 22,000 Marines and 24,000 other personnel on its vast bases on Okinawa, the southernmost island of Japan, after the rape of a 12-year-old girl by three servicemen in 1995 brought tens of thousands of people on to the streets in protest. (Times Online)

High court rules 2009 general election constitutional

AP — 2010-03-11 11:02:30

The Tokyo High Court on Thursday declared last year's general election constitutional despite a sharp disparity in the value of each vote between constituencies, ruling differently from four other high court panels that ruled it unconstitutional or close to unconstitutional. Presiding Judge Tatsuki Inada also turned down a suit filed by two voters in Tokyo and one in neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture who sought a court decision to make the election results in their single-seat constituencies invalid. (AP)

Chrysanthemum or Samurai?

foreignpolicy.com — 2010-03-09 22:51:24

In a thoughtful essay in today's Financial Times, Gideon Rachman asks whether Japan may now be tilting towards China after 60 years of aligning itself with the United States. This question is interesting on multiple dimensions -- including with regard to the future of U.S. primacy in Asia, the impact of China's rise on its neighbors, the nature of Japanese politics and identity, and our understanding of the deep structure of international relations at a time of systemic power shifts. Indeed, Japan is a critical case study for assessing how the developed world will respond to the rise of dynamic new power centers in Asia -- and what the implications will be for American leadership in the international system. (foreignpolicy.com)

U.S. subs unlikely to visit Japanese ports with Tomahawk: Okada

AP — 2010-03-10 12:22:16

Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Wednesday that he does not think the United States will load nuclear Tomahawk cruise missiles on its attack submarines when they make port calls in Japan, in line with a U.S. policy to withdraw tactical nuclear weapons on its ships. "There are deep exchanges between the Japanese and the U.S. governments...But I don't think that Tomahawk will be reloaded," Okada told a parliamentary committee, a day after a Foreign Ministry panel acknowledged the existence of a "tacit agreement" that led Japan to allow U.S. nuclear-armed ships to visit Japanese ports without prior consultation. (AP)

Hirano says unused secret funds to be returned to treasury

AP — 2010-03-10 12:22:16

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Wednesday any unused discretionary funds at his disposal will be returned to state coffers after the current fiscal year through the end of this month. He also pledged not to use up all of the funds, claiming the previous government led by the Liberal Democratic Party had done so. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who took office last September in a historic change of power, has said he will try to bring more transparency to the funds, which are intended to pay for the costs of classified government activities, including intelligence gathering. (AP)

Japan-U.S. secret pacts confirmed, gov't policy shift expected

AP — 2010-03-09 07:46:40

A Foreign Ministry panel concluded Tuesday that secret pacts on nuclear arms and other issues were reached between Japan and the United States in the Cold War era, leading the Japanese government to end its decades-long official denial of their existence. While such pacts have already been exposed through U.S. declassified documents and other sources, the panel investigation, launched following the historic change of government last year, made clear that previous governments were "dishonest" over the issue and raised questions over the management and disclosure of diplomatic documents. (AP)

Korea, Japan to sign e-government deal

Korea Times — 2010-03-09 12:21:25

Korea is set to export its e-government systems to Japan a hundred years after it was forced to adopt Japan's administrative system and rules under its colonial occupation. Korea and Japan will sign an agreement on e-government cooperation and technological exchange later this month, according to a government source. Korean IT companies have sold electronic government systems to Japan's local governments since 2004, but it will be the first such deal between the central governments of the two countries. (Korea Times)

Only 25 percent to vote for Japan ruling party: poll

Reuters — 2010-03-08 03:12:48

Only one in four Japanese voters plan to vote for the ruling party in a key election expected in July, a survey showed on Monday, as funding scandals and doubts about the prime minister's leadership erode his support. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party needs to win the election for parliament's upper house to avoid parliamentary deadlock and policy paralysis as Japan struggles to keep a fragile recovery on track and rein in its massive public debt. (Reuters)

Japan PM in a bind as upper house election looms

Reuters — 2010-03-08 10:09:18

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, his party flagging in polls ahead of a mid-year election, promised on Monday to find a way to regain public backing but said he was not considering a cabinet reshuffle now. Only one in four voters plan to cast their ballots for his Democratic Party in an upper house election expected in July, a Yomiuri newspaper survey showed on Monday, as funding scandals and doubts about the premier's leadership erode his support. (Reuters)

$10 visa charge by U.S. irks Japan

Japan Times — 2010-03-06 23:28:09

Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki expressed concern Friday over Washington's new policy of charging travelers to the U.S. $10 if they don't have a visa, saying it runs counter to bilateral exchanges. Asked about the travel promotion act that President Barack Obama signed into law Thursday, Fujisaki told a news conference: "Such a measure is not desirable. Regardless of the amount of the fee, it will not contribute to exchanges" between Japan and the United States. (Japan Times)

Australian police search anti-whaling ships for Japan

AFP — 2010-03-07 00:59:56

Australian police searched two anti-whaling ships at the request of Japanese authorities on Saturday, seizing log books and videos, after activists called a halt to their turbulent harassment campaign. Police boarded the Sea Shepherd group's Steve Irwin and Bob Barker ships as they were greeted by well-wishers in Tasmania, but refused to reveal the reasons for the search warrant. "As a result of a formal referral from Japanese authorities, the Australian Federal Police can confirm it conducted a search warrant in boarding the Steve Irwin this morning," a police spokesman told AFP. (AFP)

Antipoverty activist quits as adviser

Japan Times — 2010-03-06 00:14:29

Antipoverty campaigner Makoto Yuasa stepped down as an adviser at the Cabinet Office on Friday and his resignation was accepted by Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan. Kan and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama had urged Yuasa to stay in the position, but they eventually determined it would be difficult to persuade him otherwise. (Japan Times)

Kan: Govt had 'secret pact' account

Yomiuri — 2010-03-06 00:18:09

The government has confirmed the existence in a U.S. bank of an interest-free savings account that is linked to an alleged secret Japan-U.S. agreement on the financial cost of the 1972 reversion of Okinawa to Japan, Finance Minister Naoto Kan said Friday. According to government sources, the U.S. bank was the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. However, it remains unclear whether the government in power at the time, instead of earning interest on the deposit, might instead have used it to provide the United States with de facto funding for the reversion costs. (Yomiuri)

US sees 'critical role' for Japan on Iran

Bangkok Post — 2010-03-06 00:27:52

Japan -- which relies heavily on Middle Eastern oil and, unlike its chief ally the United States, maintains relatively cordial ties with Iran -- next month takes the rotating chair of the UN Security Council. US Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg, after a lengthy meeting with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, said they had focused particularly on Iran, which Western powers suspect is seeking a nuclear weapon. "Japan plays a very critical role on this question," said Steinberg. "It's a leader and a very strong voice in supporting a non-proliferation regime with a very strong commitment to dealing with the challenge of nuclear weapons." (Bangkok Post)

DPJ lawmaker says 'morally' responsible for arrests, future uncertain

AP — 2010-03-06 06:24:04

Japanese ruling party lawmaker Chiyomi Kobayashi, under fire for four arrests in connection with illegal donations for her election campaign, said Saturday she has moral responsibility for the alleged cases but denied her intention to step down any time soon. Kobayashi, a Democratic Party of Japan lower house member, said in her constituency in Hokkaido that she feels responsible for the misconduct "as a politician and from a moral standpoint" but added she will "await a decision by prosecutors before deciding" on her future as a Diet member. (AP)

The strange death of Japan�s LDP

East Asia Forum — 2010-03-06 00:32:33

When the Hosokawa government - with Ozawa Ichiro, then secretary-general of one of the leading parties of the eight-party coalition backing the government - passed electoral reform in 1994, one of the arguments made then and ever since by Japanese politicians (and American political scientists) was that the new mixed single-member district/proportional representation electoral system would produce a British-style two-party system that would complement the British-style administrative and political reforms desired by Ozawa and other politicians. (East Asia Forum)

Tokyo to shut its eyes on nukes

Asahi — 2010-03-05 02:08:11

Switching its take on whether U.S. warships have ever introduced nuclear weapons to Japan, Tokyo has opted to say it is "unaware of" such an apparent breach of its non-nuclear principles, sources said. Previously, the government maintained no U.S. ships or aircraft carrying nuclear weapons had made port calls or passed through Japanese territory because it had never been asked to permit such vessels to do so. (Asahi)

Upper house begins budget deliberations, Hatoyama gov't grilled

AP — 2010-03-03 08:46:28

The House of Councillors began deliberations over the budget proposal for the new fiscal year from April 1, with the opposition bloc continuing to focus on funding scandals involving ruling lawmakers, including Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. Pressed for a comment on the 1.17 billion yen his mother had provided to his office over seven years through 2008, Hatoyama told the upper house Budget Committee that he will explain how it was spent after the trial of his indicted former state-paid aide is over. (AP)

Maehara to be disciplined over disclosure on public works budget

AP — 2010-03-01 20:52:01

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama expressed intention Monday to discipline land minister Seiji Maehara over the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's disclosure of information to local governments on planned public works allocations in the fiscal 2010 budget before the passage of the budget through parliament. "The problem lies in the fact that the precious information that should be determined through budget deliberations was relayed to local governments through a political party," Hatoyama said during a session of the House of Representatives Budget Committee. (AP)

Why Japan is ready for anything Pyongyang might want to throw at it

guardian.co.uk — 2010-02-28 22:05:50

At Iruma military base in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo, air force major Hiroshi Taniguchi is ready for anything. As commander of the 4th air defence missile unit, Taniguchi is on the frontline of Japan's much downplayed but scarily real stand-off with North Korea, one of several potential conflicts in a rough neighbourhood. Japanese politicians and their US military allies tend to soft-pedal problems with Pyongyang, stressing the need to resume the diplomatic process broken off last year. But no one at Iruma has forgotten the moment last April when North Korea lofted a TaepoDong-2 long-range ballistic missile over Japan, sending it crashing into the Pacific - or the North's second nuclear test explosion the following month. (guardian.co.uk)

New Chinese Ambassador Cheng arrives in Tokyo

AP — 2010-02-28 22:13:46

China's new ambassador to Japan, Cheng Yonghua, arrived at Narita airport near Tokyo on Sunday evening and took up his official duties the same day. Cheng, who previously did four stints at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo including an assignment as deputy chief of mission, is expected to try to cement Beijing's ties with the government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in support of Tokyo's vision for an East Asian community. (AP)

Japan to provide $3 mil. in emergency aid to quake-struck Chile

AP — 2010-03-01 11:07:23

Japan decided Monday to provide up to $3 million in emergency grant aid to Chile to help the country cope with the massive magnitude-8.8 earthquake there, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said. Tokyo will also provide supplies worth up to 30 million yen, such as makeshift tents, water purifiers and power generators, which are stockpiled in Miami, Florida, by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, he said at a news conference. (AP)

Hatoyama, Obama 'to meet in April'

Yomiuri — 2010-02-27 22:20:51

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama will hold a summit meeting in April when the Japanese leader visits Washington, it has been learned. The two governments are close to finalizing the meeting, sources said Saturday. The talks between Hatoyama and Obama likely will be held on the sidelines of an international summit on nuclear security scheduled to take place in Washington on April 12 and 13. (Yomiuri)