Abe Maintains Do-Nothing Policy on Covid Second Wave
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the last half of July 2020.
Tag Archives: Donald Trump
Aegis Ashore and Japan’s Defense Policy Dysfunction
On June 15, Defense Minister Taro Kono announced a suspension of the deployment of the Aegis Ashore missile interception system—a suspension that ten days later became a cancellation. The progression from deciding to deploy Aegis Ashore, to cancelling it, to considering alternatives, reveals policy formation fraught with dysfunction.
Visible Minorities: A Despotic Bridge Too Far
How bad does it have to get? I’m talking about Japan’s cruelty and meanness towards its Non-Japanese residents. How bad before people think to step in and stop it? With Covid-19, we might have an answer.
No Alert as Covid-19 Cases Rise
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the last half of June 2020.
A Cautious Reopening for Business
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the first half of June 2020.
Fascists Would Win a New US Civil War
Since the 1990s, US society has been drawing into two broad camps, which for simplicity’s sake we will call the Reds and the Blues. This year, the polarization between them has reached a new level of passion and intensity. If this polarization descends entirely into a civil war—and the November 2020 elections could very well be a trigger for such a scenario—history suggests that the initial victory would be decisively in favor of the Red fascists.
Trump Uses Taiwan and Hong Kong Only to Score Points Against China
A press conference by US President Donald Trump took an unexpected turn after Trump announced not only the end of Hong Kong’s favorable trade status under American law, but that the United States would be withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
Softening the Soft Lockdown
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the first half of May 2020.
Misreporting, Bias, and Fake News
Defense Minister Taro Kono’s denunciation of NHK and the mainstream news media as “fake news” for reporting that his ministry had decided to give up the Araya Training Area in Akita city as host for an Aegis Ashore facility was a cynical ploy on his part, but it did highlight once again that many people misunderstand the news media in rather fundamental ways.
Expanding the State of Emergency
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the last half of April 2020.
