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Being a Japanese citizen myself, I agree to your sentiments to some extent. Yes, he is very keen to satisfy media outlets and spread support for Abenomics. He h

Being a Japanese citizen myself, I agree to your sentiments to some extent. Yes, he is very keen to satisfy media outlets and spread support for Abenomics. He has been jingoistic, using patriotic rhetoric to amass votes from nationalistic and conservative people alike. Yet, when it comes to leadership in Japan's political arena, there are hardly any viable candidates. I had high hopes for the former-ruling DPJ, which ended up as three years of abrupt administrations. Voters once believed that DPJ, with its emphasis on national welfare, can improve Japan, but switched back to LDP not because the former party appeared attractive, but merely because it is the least appalling party among the many. What Japanese voters appear to want is a stable regime while turning a blind eye to their increasing draconian policy that exploits the diplomatic fear against our East Asian neighbors. LDP is currently taking advantage of their most favorable term by passing many legislation to promote their conservative agenda. It would be overly simplified to remark that Abe is the worst politician. Stock market average soared since he returned as prime minister. Despite the heinous copyright agreements, the TPP ostensibly promotes free trade in other sectors such as agriculture. And we’re approaching the first anniversary of Abe’s leadership - and his regime still looks stable unlike the last months of Fukuda, Aso, Hatoyama, Kan, or Noda. (It would be fair to note that DPJ’s credibility crumbled partly due to the naturally-occured 3.11 earthquake.) To improve Japanese politics, as a nation we have to invest in the younger generation. Hone better leadership skills so that eventually when they too enter politics, they can influence their colleagues effectively. Make the youth more interested in politics so that whenever a horrible legislation like this act on secrecy appears, a massive portion of voters protest, not unlike when the US Congress tried to pass SOPA/PIPA. Clearly, Japanese politics doesn’t appear have a bright future as of now.

tsotha 13y ago
>What Japanese voters appear to want is a stable regime while turning a blind eye to their increasing draconian policy that exploits the diplomatic fear against our East Asian neighbors. If that's really what's going on China is playing right into Abe's hands.
- ninjin 13y ago
  What makes the situation even worse is that the PRC and Japanese governments are playing into each others hands. The ongoing conflict is a welcome distraction from the fact that both countries have an enormous need for domestic structural reform.
  - yapcguy 13y ago
    Abe wants an international incident so he can beat the drums of war and convince the people that Japan's self-defence force must be allowed to become a full military force again.
  - tsotha 13y ago
    That may be all be true, but I still don't see how it's in China's interest to get into an arms race with Japan. The Japanese have pretty much run the limits of the "construction state", and are looking for public sector projects to employ people. China, on the other hand, has plenty of private sector jobs for the technically inclined. In the long term a powerful military must be backed by a powerful economy, so to the extent the Chinese are setting aside economic growth to militarize they're delaying future supremacy. And it especially doesn't make sense for Beijing to goad the Japanese into deploying nukes and long range missiles. There just isn't any scenario where that's beneficial to China's long term interests, and the Japanese public wouldn't tolerate a domestic nuclear weapons capability in the absence of Chinese bullying.
rangibaby 13y ago
The stock market soaring doesn't mean alot to me. Then again, deflation didn't seem so bad either. Prices going down meant I was able to buy more things at more shops. Now Abenomics is raising prices on everything without raising my wage and I get to feel poor again.
- derleth 13y ago
  > Prices going down meant I was able to buy more things at more shops. Didn't your wages go down as well?
ekianjo 13y ago
The problem is that Japanese tend to believe too much in politics. When the press interviews people in the streets, it's always "the government should do this, should do that", it's depressing when the mindset is already so much centered around a mother-state with most of the population. > Stock market average soared since he returned as prime minister. This is pure bubble. Was there a sudden increase of productivity ? No. Was there a sudden increase of market size for Japanese companies? No. Then, you can easily conclude that the stocks increase is just fluff based on pure air. > TPP ostensibly promotes free trade in other sectors such as agriculture. I'd like to see a free market for agriculture instead of paying my apples 3 USD/apple in the store. Sustaining the small producer with his backyard is such a retarded policy in Japan in the first place. It makes food expensive for everyone and removes pressure on farmers to expand, automatize and be more productive. Again, we've seen the effects of such policies elsewhere. > To improve Japanese politics, as a nation we have to invest in the younger generation. Sadly the way young people are educated in Japan does not give me much hope: no discussion in classrooms, the cult of the sensei as a center for knowledge, the absence of criticism regarding anything... younger politicians are going to be as incompetent as their predecessors.
- seanmcdirmid 13y ago
  > This is pure bubble. Was there a sudden increase of productivity ? No. Was there a sudden increase of market size for Japanese companies? No. Then, you can easily conclude that the stocks increase is just fluff based on pure air. This doesn't make sense. Stock markets are just as much about confidence of the future as they are about the present (hence the term "investing"). You could also argue that previous stock prices were depressed vs. actual performance.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

tsotha 13y ago

>What Japanese voters appear to want is a stable regime while turning a blind eye to their increasing draconian policy that exploits the diplomatic fear against our East Asian neighbors. If that's really what's going on China is playing right into Abe's hands.

ninjin 13y ago
What makes the situation even worse is that the PRC and Japanese governments are playing into each others hands. The ongoing conflict is a welcome distraction from the fact that both countries have an enormous need for domestic structural reform.
- yapcguy 13y ago
  Abe wants an international incident so he can beat the drums of war and convince the people that Japan's self-defence force must be allowed to become a full military force again.
- tsotha 13y ago
  That may be all be true, but I still don't see how it's in China's interest to get into an arms race with Japan. The Japanese have pretty much run the limits of the "construction state", and are looking for public sector projects to employ people. China, on the other hand, has plenty of private sector jobs for the technically inclined. In the long term a powerful military must be backed by a powerful economy, so to the extent the Chinese are setting aside economic growth to militarize they're delaying future supremacy. And it especially doesn't make sense for Beijing to goad the Japanese into deploying nukes and long range missiles. There just isn't any scenario where that's beneficial to China's long term interests, and the Japanese public wouldn't tolerate a domestic nuclear weapons capability in the absence of Chinese bullying.

rangibaby 13y ago

The stock market soaring doesn't mean alot to me. Then again, deflation didn't seem so bad either. Prices going down meant I was able to buy more things at more shops. Now Abenomics is raising prices on everything without raising my wage and I get to feel poor again.

derleth 13y ago
> Prices going down meant I was able to buy more things at more shops. Didn't your wages go down as well?

ekianjo 13y ago

The problem is that Japanese tend to believe too much in politics. When the press interviews people in the streets, it's always "the government should do this, should do that", it's depressing when the mindset is already so much centered around a mother-state with most of the population. > Stock market average soared since he returned as prime minister. This is pure bubble. Was there a sudden increase of productivity ? No. Was there a sudden increase of market size for Japanese companies? No. Then, you can easily conclude that the stocks increase is just fluff based on pure air. > TPP ostensibly promotes free trade in other sectors such as agriculture. I'd like to see a free market for agriculture instead of paying my apples 3 USD/apple in the store. Sustaining the small producer with his backyard is such a retarded policy in Japan in the first place. It makes food expensive for everyone and removes pressure on farmers to expand, automatize and be more productive. Again, we've seen the effects of such policies elsewhere. > To improve Japanese politics, as a nation we have to invest in the younger generation. Sadly the way young people are educated in Japan does not give me much hope: no discussion in classrooms, the cult of the sensei as a center for knowledge, the absence of criticism regarding anything... younger politicians are going to be as incompetent as their predecessors.

seanmcdirmid 13y ago
> This is pure bubble. Was there a sudden increase of productivity ? No. Was there a sudden increase of market size for Japanese companies? No. Then, you can easily conclude that the stocks increase is just fluff based on pure air. This doesn't make sense. Stock markets are just as much about confidence of the future as they are about the present (hence the term "investing"). You could also argue that previous stock prices were depressed vs. actual performance.

deleted 13y ago

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