Will Shinzo Abe take Japan down the militant road ?

[Buraku]

Shinzo is Mori faction
Who's afraid of Shinzo Abe?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/04/opinion/edkomori.php
Some critics in Japan have called Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, a "hawkish nationalist." In fact, he - like the nearly 80 percent of Japanese also born after the war - has merely been shaped by democracy.



THE BAD ?
Problems with J-land's Shinzo and the rest of Asia ?
Abe says a male not some woman should ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne, he denies that Japanese troops used Taiwanese or Korean sex slaves during WW2, he censored an NHK program on this issue. Abe is vocal on Takeshima, he made remarks about Russians and calls Manchukuo an old democratic state. But no matter how much yen Abe pumps into Japan's Oyaji military unless its a Naval war I think they'll still get their butts kicked by China and Russia, while the Koreans are the wild card. Abe has Aso on this team who comes out with statements like "those burakumin are sub-human shit", and "no fucking way am I allowing those burakumin trash into minister positions", Taro Aso has also told the current J-Emepror to "get your ass to Yasukuni" and pay your respects at that controversial shrine

THE GOOD ?
He'll make token gestures to help the J-economy like Koizumi did and won't bother much with the current Japanese budget, he may even go on a few trips to S.Korea and China to say a few 'sumimasens' about old warcrimes to help trade with JapanINC but he'll follow that up with a a U-turn to Yasukuni just like Koizumi did. The Economy should continue running fine as long as Abe works with Japan's advantages, he might even reform Japan's military forces so it can defend itself which ain't a bad things considering the number of crazy rulers in Asia.

[Buraku]

sanctions are his answer to N.Korea, but I doubt the Koreans will lsiten to him.


Japan and the United States agreed Wednesday to seek a U.N. Security Council Chapter 7 binding resolution for imposing sanctions on North Korea if it conducts a nuclear test, visiting Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi said.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061006a6.html
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Nicholas Burns, U.S. Undersecretary of State for political affairs, Yachi said they also agreed to ask China and South Korea to "do more than us" to stop Pyongyang, which issued a statement Tuesday threatening to conduct a nuclear test.

Video
[yt]E_yYvNF0M7A[/yt]
Japan's SDF

[Buraku]

Japan's top government spokesman said Friday that Tokyo is stepping up monitoring of North Korea amid speculation that the communist nation could carry out a nuclear test as early as this weekend.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/05/world/main2069972.shtml
Shinzo Abe, the first Japanese prime minister born after World War II, has talked of his country needing a military capable of attacking North Korea if a missile aimed at Japan were to be detected.

[Buraku]

Abe tests ties in defense of `war criminals'
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=17&art_id=28903&sid=10270312&con_type=1
BANZAII !!
Abe's granduncle,

Shinzo is also grandson to the imprisoned Nobusuke Kishi

[Buraku]

Good on Abe, old Shinzo was smart enough to shut the fuck up about Yasukuni and stick to the more serious issues like NKorea


http://www.mainichi-msn.co.jp
Abe, Chinese leaders "deeply concerned" over North Korean nuclear test

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2541705

[AssKissinger]

Good news Boring Buraku! You can quit talking to yourself. I'm gonna contribute to your thread with the following tidbit:

[SIZE="6"]Bono thinks he's kelw![/SIZE]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061129/en_nm/bono_abe_dc_2

[font="Arial Black"][SIZE="6"][SIZE="5"]Bono praises Japan aid policy, calls PM Abe "cool" [/SIZE][/SIZE][/font]By George Nishiyama
Wed Nov 29, 1:50 AM ET



Bono, the Irish rock star and outspoken campaigner against poverty and AIDS, praised Japan's policies on those issues on Wednesday, in a departure from his usual criticism of rich nations for not living up to expectations.

Following a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the front man for U2 said the world could take a lesson from Japan.

"The world doesn't really understand that Japan in the '90s led the world not just as a percentage contribution to the world's poor but as the volume contribution," he told reporters at the prime minister's office.

"The world doesn't understand that Japan has had a lot of success in its aid and assistance in Southeast Asia in particular, and that there's a lot we can learn from Japan in applying this to the rest of the developing world."

[Samurai_Jerk]

Good news Boring Buraku! You can quit talking to yourself. I'm gonna contribute to your thread with the following tidbit:

[Greji]

Abe tests ties in defense of `war criminals'
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=17&art_id=28903&sid=10270312&con_type=1
BANZAII !!
Abe's granduncle,

Shinzo is also grandson to the imprisoned Nobusuke Kishi

Buraku, I bow to your cannine wisdom, however, that is not Nobusuke Kishi. I believe that you are depicting Matsuoka, toji no gaimudaijin.


Kisihi as Prime Minister and later Chairman of the US/Japan Society!

[Buraku]

I believe that you are depicting Matsuoka, toji no gaimudaijin.

Not sure but Abe is ALSO RELATED TO HIM
(great-uncle)
seems Abe has a blood connection to a lot of most of those imperial Yasukuni people


PS
I don't think Shinzo is a bad guy because of his relatives - ie You can't judge a book by its cover
However a lot of folks would be concerned with the family connections to past imperialism

[Taro Toporific]

[floatl][/floatl]

Breaking taboo, Japan votes to create defense ministry
Nov 30, 2006; TOKYO (AFP) -Japan's lower house of parliament has passed a bill to create a cabinet-level defense ministry for the first time since World War II.
Since its defeat, Japan has had a "Defense Agency" with lower standing than full-fledged ministries as the US-imposed 1947 constitution declared the country to be pacifist.
The reform would give the Defense Agency Director-General Fumio Kyuma the title of defense minister, although Japanese troops would still be called the "Self-Defense Forces."
The bill overwhelmingly passed the lower house with support of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's coalition...more...

[Captain Japan]

In Japan, new nationalism takes hold
Christian Science Monitor

TOKYO – On a pleasant November morning, some 300 Japanese executives paid $150 each to hear a lanky math professor named Masahiko Fujiwara give a secular sermon on restoring Japan's greatness. Mr. Fujiwara spoke quietly, without notes, for 80 minutes. His message, a sort of spiritual nationalism, rang loudly, though: Japan has lost its "glorious purity," its samurai spirit, its traditional sense of beauty, because of habits instilled by the United States after the war. "We are slaves to the Americans," he said.

Fujiwara's remedy is for Japan to recover its emotional strength. He says that Japan "can help save the world" - but its youths are lost in a fog of laxity and don't love Japan enough.

Fujiwara represents the milder side of an assertive discourse rising gradually but powerfully here. What direction it will take in this vibrant and complex society remains unclear. But as a new generation seeks to shed the remnants of what is commonly called the "American occupation" legacy, a range of speech and ideas previously frowned on or ignored, is showing up sharply in mainstream culture.

"We came because Fujiwara is one of few who speaks the truth to our politicians," says Hirofumi Kato, vice president of a family business who attended the talk. Those not there can buy Fujiwara's "Dignity of a Nation," a bestseller at more than 2 million copies this year, that describes how Western concepts like freedom and equality are inappropriate for Japan and don't really work in the US....more...

[DrP]

"TOKYO - On a pleasant November morning, some 300 Japanese executives paid $150 each to hear a lanky math professor named Masahiko Fujiwara give a secular sermon on restoring Japan's greatness. Mr. Fujiwara spoke quietly, without notes, for 80 minutes. His message, a sort of spiritual nationalism, rang loudly, though: Japan has lost its "glorious purity," its samurai spirit, its traditional sense of beauty, because of habits instilled by the United States after the war. "We are slaves to the Americans," he said." <Yahoo>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20061228/wl_csm/onationalism

I do know that a few Santas were interrupted by the black trucks and asked to turn back. I didn't, however, and was courteously received at the blue truck for a few questions. It seems the black truck folks had some kind of axe to grind against the West - and well - Santas seem in that mix. When push came to shove, though, all they had was loudspeakers and we had our Ho Ho Hos!!

[Greji]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20061228/wl_csm/onationalism

I thought the CSM was a little more accurate with their facts. I was surprised to learn that the book "The Japan that can say no" was written by Hideyuki Sekioka and was not a collection of essays by Blinky and Morita.

Also, it was a further surprise to learn that Mishima committed suicide by jumping off the building. This was especially shocking as I went to the scene at the time and can't understand how I missed that minor fact.

[Takechanpoo]

Mr. Fujiwara spoke quietly, without notes, for 80 minutes. His message, a sort of spiritual nationalism, rang loudly, though: Japan has lost its "glorious purity," its samurai spirit, its traditional sense of beauty, because of habits instilled by the United States after the war. "We are slaves to the Americans," he said.

This scholar better do mathmatics only.
Chrysanthemun absorbs all kinds of stuff in the earth (except fuckin gaijins) and always changes its shape.
I dont have both samurai spirit and traditional sense of beauty at all and dont want to do.
But I am a very Chrysanthemumist.

[james]

yer just sayin that!

i can't tell you what a warm feeling your presence here on fg brings. nice sig!

[Takechanpoo]

yer just sayin that!

i can't tell you what a warm feeling your presence here on fg brings. nice sig!

You flatter me?
You will regret to have done like that before long.
because I am a campaigner of ...

[Mulboyne]

Embassy writes to the Washington Post:

The Dec. 16 news story "Japan Upgrades Its Defense Agency; New Laws Widen Mission, Require Schools to Foster Patriotism" claimed that the "new education law is likely to dramatically increase the number of schools using revisionist textbooks that have been heralded by conservatives."

However, it should be noted that the revised Fundamental Law of Education stipulates cultivating attitudes of "respect for its own tradition and culture, as well as love of the nation and home country which nurtured them" and "respect for other countries and contributing to the peace and development of international society" as one objective of education. Such patriotism emphasizing international cooperation is alien to the revisionism mentioned in the article. The article's statement that the law would "dramatically increase the number of schools using revisionist textbooks" lacked substantiation and missed the mark.

The article also claimed that Japan "has begun to shed its pacifist shell," pointing to the upgrading of the Defense Agency to ministry status and noting that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe "has called for the drafting of a new constitution that would allow Japan to officially possess a flexible military again." However, as the prime minister has clearly stated, Japan has resolutely and consistently strived for peace with deep remorse that in the past it caused tremendous suffering by the people of Asian countries and elsewhere. The objective of the transition of the Defense Agency to a ministry is to better protect the Japanese people and better contribute to world peace.

MITSURU KITANO

Minister for Public Affairs, Embassy of Japan, Washington

[Buraku]

Abe Sees More Assertive Japan Across Entire World
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Abe_Sees_More_Assertive_Japan_Across_Entire_World_999.html

[TFG]

History repeats itself.

[Buraku]

great photo TFG !


Japanese military seeking stealth jet

http://www.imedinews.ge/en/news_read/35176

Japan wants the fighters US refused to sell Canberra
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21602809-2703,00.html

[Buraku]

Japan defense chief asks for secret F-22 data
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/05/defense_raptor__070502/
Japan’s defense minister, Fumio Kyuma, has asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates for top-secret technical data about the Pentagon’s prized F-22A Raptor, which Tokyo would like to buy.

[Tsuru]

I read an article in Flight about that today (not available online), saying Japan would likely be the only other country able to afford it.

How the fuck did they figure that? These jets are like $100 million a pop easy and take the same kind of money again every 5 years to keep them flying.

I guess you can't put a price on scaring China.

[Buraku]

I read an article in Flight about that today (not available online), saying Japan would likely be the only other country able to afford it.

I don't think the US will sell it, they never sold the nighthawk to anyone but the new JSF (F-35) is ready for export

more on Abe

Revising Japan's 'ambiguous' constitution
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6283952.stm

[Russell]

Abe's base aims to restore past religious, patriotic values

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promises voters a bright future for Japan’s economy, key parts of his conservative base want him to steer the nation back toward a traditional ethos mixing Shinto myth, patriotism and pride in an ancient imperial line.

Proponents say such changes are needed to revive important aspects of Japanese culture eradicated by the U.S. Occupation after World War Two and to counter modern materialism.

Critics say they mirror the Shinto ideology which mobilised the masses to fight the war in the name of a divine emperor. The legacy of that war still haunts ties with China and South Korea nearly 70 years after its end.

A predicted landslide win by Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a general election on Sunday, called as a referendum on his economic growth policies, and prospects Abe may become a rare long-term Japanese leader have given his ardent supporters their best chance in decades of achieving their goals.

“We really have trust in him,” said Yutaka Yuzawa, director of the Shinto Association of Spiritual Leadership (SAS), the political arm of the Association of Shinto Shrines. The group, which counts Abe as a member, is one of a network of overlapping organisations sharing a similar agenda.

“The prime minister’s views are extremely close to our way of thinking,” Yuzawa told Reuters in an interview.

Among the key elements of the SAS agenda are calls to rewrite Japan’s U.S.-drafted, post-war constitution, not only to alter its pacifist Article 9 but to blur the separation of religion and state. Education reform to better nurture “love of country” among youth is another top priority.

“After the war, there was an atmosphere that considered all aspects of the pre-war era bad,” Yuzawa said. “Policies were adopted weakening the relationship between the imperial household and the people ... and the most fundamental elements of Japanese history were not taught in the schools.”

Similar concerns drive other organizations such as Nippon Kaigi (Japan Conference), a broader lobby group for which Abe serves as a “supreme adviser”.

Experts see parallels between these groups and the U.S. Tea Party movement, with its calls to restore lost American values.

“Nippon Kaigi and the Shinto Association basically believe the Occupation period brought about ... the forced removal of Shinto traditions from public space and public institutions,” said University of Auckland professor Mark Mullins.

“For them, this was authentic Japanese identity ... and to be an independent and authentic Japan again those things need to be restored.”

Abe has long been close to such groups but they have increased their reach since his first 2006-2007 term as leader.

Membership data show 301 members of parliament, mostly from the LDP, are affiliated with the SAS, including 222 in the 480-seat lower house before the election. A Nippon Kaigi caucus had 295 members, including some opposition MPs.

Members of the groups are central to Abe’s administration.

Nippon Kaigi supporters accounted for 84% of Abe’s cabinet after it was rejigged in September and almost all ministers were affiliated with the SAS. Eighty-four percent also belonged to a separate caucus promoting visits to Yasukuni Shrine, seen by critics as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.

Abe’s December 2013 visit to Yasukuni sparked outrage in Beijing and Seoul. Far less attention was paid to what some see as his equally symbolic participation in October that year in a ceremony at Ise Shrine, the holiest of Japan’s Shinto institutions.

The ritual is held every 20 years, when Ise Shrine is rebuilt and sacred objects representing the emperor’s mythical Sun Goddess ancestress are transferred to the new shrine.

Abe became only the second premier to take part in the centuries-old ritual, and the first since World War Two.

“Without anyone blinking an eye ... it became a state rite,” said John Breen, a professor at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, commenting on Abe’s participation.

The lobby groups are also active at the grassroots.

On Oct 1, they launched the “People’s Council to Write a Beautiful Constitution” to boost support for revising the charter in 2016.

Amending the constitution faces big hurdles even if the LDP succeeds in winning two-thirds of both chambers, since a majority of voters must then approve changes in a referendum.

But other parts of the conservative agenda are moving ahead, such as making “moral education” part of the official school curriculum with government-approved textbooks, a change slated to take effect in 2018.

That follows a revision to a law on education during Abe’s first term to make nurturing “love of country” a goal.

“Things related to patriotic education are getting pushed through and institutionalised so they are shaping the next generation, whether parents know or think about it or not,” the University of Auckland’s Mullins said.

Link

I suddenly started to see Shintoism in a different light...

[wagyl]

I suddenly started to see Shintoism in a different light...

Russell, there is a deep, turbulent and controversial history here. It could be argued that Shintoism was not the cause of the militarism, but instead that it was used as a tool to enable the militarist government to achieve its aims. The crime that Shintoism as a group committed is perhaps not resisting those forces as strongly as they should have, in hindsight, done, but I am not sure how much power they had to resist. There had been, in living memory, the plan to expel Buddhism entirely as being non-native, the enforced separation of Buddhist sites from Shinto sites when up until that time there had been extensive co-mingling, and then the enforced amalgamation of Shinto shrines within each municipality to create the official shrine for that local government area. Oh, but the Burakumin shrines were not welcome... Each of those enforced changes were highly controversial, and then you have the Head of State as supreme figurehead Godhead of the organisation, and you come to realise that there were a few offers which could not be refused.

[matsuki]

I suddenly started to see Shintoism in a different light...

There had been, in living memory, the plan to expel Buddhism entirely as being non-native

cough cough most "Japanese" people/ideas/architecture/culture/language are non-native cough cough

[kurogane]

Anthropologically speaking, that's a silly idea but it works so beautifully I urge you to keep using it

Seriously, though. Silly. Anthropologically speaking.............................

[Mike Oxlong]

[Coligny]

I dun't know whut it is, but I'm going to assume this is not a good thing...

[matsuki]

banzai! banzai! bwaaaahahahahahahhaha