Today in Japan (12.19.17)
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported on December 19, 2017.
Tag Archives: Australia
Joe Walsh: Japan Needs a Music Venue
Joe Walsh of the Eagles explains that major music groups have been avoiding Japan in recent years because suitable venues are no longer available.
US Humiliates Japanese Allies over Osprey Aircraft
Doubt is once again cast on Japanese national sovereignty as the Abe administration is exposed as being utterly incapable of representing the concerns of Okinawa to the US military.
Cabinet Reshuffles Stabilizes Abe Administration
This Week in Japan is your source for news and information about politics and other happenings in this East Asian island country. This episode covers the Top Five stories of the first week of August 2017.
Japan Smokers Killing 15,000 Non-Smokers Per Year
Dr. Douglas Bettcher of the Director of the World Health Organization explains the human costs of cigarette smoking in Japan.
Government Warms to TPP Without United States
The Abe administration is now warming to the notion of moving forward with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact with the eleven nations other than the United States.
North Korea War Gains Plausibility
It’s Donald Trump more than Kim Jong-Un who brings us a greater possibility of war.
Sachs vs. Murdoch on Climate Change
Jeffery Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute, takes media mogul Rupert Murdoch to task for climate change denial.
Burying the Lessons of the Iraq War
There is probably no better method of predicting what people and institutions might do in the future than to have an accurate understanding of their behavior in the past. So much of what is popularly taken as surprising and “unpredictable” might easily have been foreseen by a better knowledge of the contexts, experiences, and the previous actions of the players involved in the construction of an event. When powerholders attempt to suppress the records of official behavior, it is therefore not simply the concern of a handful of cloistered intellectuals, but a matter that can be expected to have real-world impact on future policymaking and the fate of ordinary citizens.
China’s “Diplomatic Victory” over Japan
Japan Innovation Party leader Kenji Eda couldn’t have framed the events in starker terms when he discussed the issue of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank at a press conference last Thursday: “It was a victory for Chinese diplomacy and a complete defeat for Japanese diplomacy,” he declared.
