The End of the Covid-19 First Wave
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the last half of May 2020.
Tag Archives: Sanae Takaichi
South Korea Folds Under US Pressure
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the last half of November 2019.
The Aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the last half of October 2019.
A One-Sided US-Japan Trade Agreement
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the second half of September 2019.
Abe Rewards Friends in Latest Cabinet Reshuffle
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the first half of September 2019.
Infringing the Freedom to Hate
The ruling party makes belated and unconvincing efforts to legislate against the rise of hate speech.
Sanae Takaichi’s Disastrous Failure of Credibility
Female executives and government ministers in Japan probably always have a higher bar to cross to really be accepted in their positions. When she was Japan’s first foreign minister, the volatile and sharp-tongued Makiko Tanaka faced unprecedented open defiance from top bureaucrat Yoshiji Nogami. And if that seemed peculiar to the case of the changeable Tanaka, not many years later a quite similar thing happened to the first, and so far only, female defense minister, Yuriko Koike.
Team Abe Alienates Team Obama
Since we are based in Tokyo and not in Washington DC, we may not be the best source available for understanding US government policy, even its policy toward Japan and Asia. Nevertheless, it’s hard not to notice that the Obama administration is taking an unexpectedly cool posture toward Shinzo Abe and his band, and that this is having a major political effect here as well. It is also obvious that the Obama policy toward Japan is radically different than what US policy was a decade ago under George W. Bush.
