Japan Watch Thread

[firestar464]

Given that this is, uh, Japan, they'll likely innovate

[Time_Traveller]

Japan raises interest rates for first time in 17 years

4 days ago

Japan's central bank has raised the cost of borrowing for the first time in 17 years.

The Bank of the Japan (BOJ) increased its key interest rate from -0.1% to a range of 0%-0.1%. It comes as wages have jumped after consumer prices rose.

In 2016, the bank cut the rate below zero in an attempt to stimulate the country's stagnating economy.

The hike means that there are no longer any countries left with negative interest rates.

When negative rates are in force people have to pay to deposit money in a bank. They have been used by several countries as a way of encouraging people to spend their money rather than putting it in a bank.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68594141

[wjfox]

Everyone in Japan will be called Sato by 2531 unless marriage law changed, says professor

Tue 2 Apr 2024 06.15 BST

Japanese citizens will all have the same family name in 500 years’ time unless married couples are permitted to use separate surnames, a new study has suggested as part of a campaign to update a civil code dating back to the late 1800s.

The study, led by Hiroshi Yoshida, a professor of economy at Tohoku University, projected that if Japan continues to insist that couples select a single surname, every single Japanese person will be known as “Sato-san” by 2531.

Yoshida conceded that his projections were based on several assumptions, but said the idea was to use numbers to explain the present system’s potential effects on Japanese society to draw attention to the issue.

“If everyone becomes Sato, we may have to be addressed by our first names or by numbers,” he said, according to the Mainichi. “I don’t think that would be a good world to live in.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... rriage-law

[wjfox]

Japan’s Kishida warns world at ‘historic turning point’ as he touts US alliance ahead of Biden summit

Sun April 7, 2024

Spiraling geopolitical tensions have pushed the world to a “historic turning point” and are forcing Japan to change its defense posture, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told CNN Sunday ahead of a closely watched summit with US President Joe Biden next week.

“As we are witnessing Russia’s Ukraine aggression, the continuing situation over the Middle East, as well as the situation in East Asia, we are faced with a historic turning point,” Kishida said during an interview at his private residence in Tokyo.

“That is why Japan has made a decision to fundamentally reinforce its defense capabilities and we have greatly changed Japan’s security policy on these fronts,” he said.

In the face of mounting security challenges, the prime minister stressed, the Japan-United States alliance is becoming “ever more important,” a view he said he hoped would garner bipartisan support in Washington.

Kishida made the remarks days ahead of his Wednesday meeting with Biden in Washington, where he will also address a joint session of Congress and participate in the very first trilateral summit between Japan, the United States and the Philippines.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/07/asia ... index.html



CNN

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

More on that by CNN:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/13/asia/jap ... index.html

[caltrek]

U.S. Expresses Hope to Foster Even Closer Ties With Japan's Next Prime Minister
September 27, 2024

Introduction:

(Kyodo News) The U.S. government on Friday congratulated former Japanese defense chief Shigeru Ishiba on winning Japan's governing party's presidential election, which sets him up to be the country's next prime minister, and expressed hope to "cultivate even closer ties" with Tokyo.

The White House has not made official comments on Ishiba's victory, but U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel promptly put out the statement in a brief post on X.

The ambassador also said the United States is "looking forward to working with" him to "strengthen" its alliance with Japan. In a similar vein, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told Kyodo News that Washington wants to further promote "our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific."

Ishiba, a 67-year-old veteran lawmaker of the Liberal Democratic Party who served as Japan's defense minister between 2007 and 2008, is known for his expertise on security affairs. He has called for a more balanced security alliance between the two countries and advocated an Asian version of NATO.

Also a former agriculture minister, he has held key party posts since entering parliament in 1986. In his fifth attempt, Ishiba was finally chosen to lead the LDP and will become Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's successor.

Read more here: https://english.kyodonews.net/news/202 ... t-pm.html

[caltrek]

Ishiba Will Face Rocky Road in Quest to Regain Public Trust
September 28, 2024

Extract:

(The Asahi Shimbun)…support for Ishiba within the party is far from rock solid. He only narrowly defeated Sanae Takaichi, the economic security minister, in a runoff vote in the party’s election, with support from the LDP Diet members for the two candidates almost evenly split.

The question facing the new LDP leader is whether he can fully eradicate the legacy of corruption and money politics, regain the public’s trust, and at the same time unite the party that has long been highly factionalized.

The road to being recognized as a “reborn” LDP remains steep and rocky.
…
When asked during the news conference about his plans to dissolve the Lower House for a snap election, Ishiba expressed his intention to face the opposition in debate on the Diet floor and then seek the public’s judgment by holding an election.

This should involve not just delivering a policy speech and answering questions from party representatives but, at a very minimum, attending question-and-answer sessions at the Budget Committees and party leader debates. The rational process Ishiba should follow is first clarifying the distinctions between the ruling and opposition parties in these opportunities before asking for the voting public’s verdict.

Read more here: https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15444745

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

https://www.barrons.com/news/japan-s-lo ... m-897f48c6

[Time_Traveller]

Japan general election: what would it take for the ruling LDP party to be ousted?

Fri 18 Oct 2024 00.01 BST

Bruised by months of financial scandals, a cost-of-living crisis and unpopular leaders, some might be forgiven for expecting to see the end of Japan’s beleaguered ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP), which has been in office for most of the past seven decades.

The election on 27 October will take place a year earlier than many had expected, following the surprise resignation of the former prime minister, Fumio Kishida, following record low approval ratings and public anger over his party’s apparent addiction to in “money politics”.

His successor, Shigeru Ishiba, was selected last month by party MPs and rank-and-file member to revive the LDP’s fortunes and douse the flames of a factional war that saw Ishiba narrowly fend off a challenge from the party’s right.

Yet even at a time of political turmoil, polling suggests many believe the party will go into the 465-seat lower house election reasonably confident it would be returned to office for the fifth time in succession.

Some polls even showed the LDP would retain its majority, aided by a projected low turnout and a divided opposition. A poll last weekend by the Kyodo news agency put the LDP on 26.4%, well ahead of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic party on 12.4%.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... arty-polls

[firestar464]

Kishida was relatively good compared to Abe and Suga. It's a shame he had to resign because IDK if the Ishiba dude is going to be similarly good

[Time_Traveller]

Exit poll suggests Japan ruling party set to fall short of majority

26 October 2024

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is set to fall short of a single-party majority after a close-run snap election, exit polls suggest.

The LDP is projected to win from 153 to 219 lower house seats, broadcaster NHK said. The Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) is projected to win from 128 to 191 seats.

A party needs 233 seats to control the house, known as the Diet, meaning the LDP will need to enter a coalition to stay in power.

It was previously in coalition with the smaller Komeito party, though projections suggest their joint vote share may still fall short of a majority, prompting uncertainty about how the world's fourth-largest economy will be governed.

The election was called by the LDP’s new leader Shigeru Ishiba three days after he was selected as new leader - before he had been officially sworn in as prime minister.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8xpev42g78o

[caltrek]

What Might Come Next in Japan’s Politics After LDP Election Setback
by Shinobu Konno
October 29, 2024

Introduction:

(The Asahi Shimbun) The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito lost its majority in the Lower House for the first time in 15 years, throwing control of the chamber into uncertainty.

With the more powerful Diet chamber almost equally divided between the ruling and opposition blocs, three scenarios look likely.

First, the ruling coalition may opt to forge a “partial alliance” with one or more opposition parties, depending on policy issues, such as budget proposals, bills and draft treaties.

In the Oct. 27 Lower House election, the LDP gained 191 seats and Komeito won 24 seats. The combined strength of 215 seats falls 18 seats short of a 233-seat majority.

Prospective alliance partners include Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party), which seized 38 seats, and the Democratic Party for the People, which garnered 28 seats.

Read more here: https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15486114

[caltrek]

Opening Borders for Workers: Abe’s Profound Influence on Japan’s Immigration Regime
November 13, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) Japan grapples with labor shortage due to low birth rates and an aging population, prompting recent governments to bring in more foreign workers. Under the leadership of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, significant immigration reforms were introduced between 2012 and 2020, aiming to alleviate these challenges by increasing the foreign population. However, despite these efforts, the government has continued to uphold the long-standing status quo of not having a formal immigration policy, mainly to balance business and nationalist interests.

This status quo originated with Japan's 1990 immigration system, which recruited highly skilled foreign workers and denied entry for unskilled workers. However, Japan created ‘side-door’ policies, such as the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) and visas for descendants of Japanese emigrants, to admit unskilled foreign workers to address labor shortage while upholding its immigration status quo.

In this vein, Mr. Maximilien Xavier Rehm, a Ph.D. candidate from the Graduate School of Global Studies, Doshisha University, investigated whether Abe’s reforms have propelled Japan toward becoming a ‘country of immigration’—a country with a formal immigration policy—without openly admitting it. His research, made available online on October 09, 2024 in Japan Forum, assesses whether these incremental reforms have led to long-term changes in Japan’s immigration trajectory.

Rehm highlights his motivation for the study, “I have been living in Japan for nearly ten years, where I completed my M.A. and am now in the final stages of my PhD. As a foreigner here, I care about Japan's success in addressing demographic challenges and the well-being of foreign residents. While my experiences do not bias my academic analysis, they inspired me to research Japan's migration policy.”

To this end, Rehm used a specific incrementalist approach, known as the mechanisms of institutional change, from the field of historical institutionalism to analyze how institutions like laws and policies gradually evolve and eventually change the status quo through two mechanisms: ‘layering’ (adding new rules to existing ones) and ‘displacement’ (gradually replacing old rules with new ones). To support his analysis, Rehm gathered information from government-released data, policy proposals, and whitepapers.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1064630

[weatheriscool]

[zzz]

The printer must not stop.

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

'Art of the Stupid Deal': Trump's Japan Trade Pact Bashed by Automakers, Unions, Economists
By Brad Reed
July 25, 2025

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) President Donald Trump this week announced that he had cut a deal with Japan that would lower tariffs on Japanese cars to 15%, which was a cut from the 25% tariffs that he'd originally placed on them.

However, many of the parties whom Trump claimed he was trying to help are not happy with the deal, including major automakers and unions representing hundreds of thousands of workers.

Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council that represents America's "Big Three" automakers, told The Associated Press this week that the deal Trump struck with Japan leaves U.S. automakers "at a disadvantage" compared to their Japanese competitors given that "this is a deal that will charge lower tariffs on Japanese autos with no U.S. content."

The United Autoworkers (UAW) similarly blasted the deal, saying it makes clear that "American workers are once again being left behind."

"This deal hands a win to transnational automakers that rely on low-road labor practices: Substandard wages, excessive temps, and union-busting," said UAW in a press statement. "Now, those same companies stand to benefit from lower tariffs, while unionized automakers—who could quickly create tens of thousands of good jobs using existing capacity—are left with fewer incentives to do so. Once again, American workers are being forced to suffer the consequences."

Read more of the Common Dreams article here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/trum ... rade-deal

The article goes on to note an article written by Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman on this subject, which can be read using the following link: https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the ... upid-deal