politics

One year after election, Abe has big 'to do' list

18 Comments
By Shingo Ito

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© 2013 AFP

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18 Comments
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This is what happens when so few people actually bother to vote. He was elected not by a landslide but by the geriotocracy that always votes conservatively. Not enough younger, more enlightened voters out there.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

Nicely written. One can assume that the writer, Shingo Ito works for Abe.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

See the plummeted yen sell manufactures, attract tourists , repatriate profits ...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Nice piece of propaganda.

The US had their Bush, and now we have our Abe!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

GDP growth, which doesn't tell us anything about increasing inequality, has long been dependent on more people using more energy. Now Japan has a rapidly declining population and has been slow to move to renewable and sustainable energy sources, instead irrationally depending on a "safe" nuclear future to address climate change. Fukushima exploded this myth and growing inequality exposes how Abenomics is really just neoliberal class warfare dressed up with another name. Instead of being a real leader and working for the good of the nation, he is doubling down on failed policies, and using neo-nationalist rhetoric to mask his real objective, which is to further enrich and empower the elite.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Suggested 30 year plan: Big tax cuts for having kinds and free school lunches, then just wait for 30 years.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Abe has done more and made more progress in 12 months than all of the last prime ministers had done in 12 years.

I look forward to see next years progress.

Hopefully those at the lower end of things get a pay rise and use it to help the economy thus feeding the growth the country needs. Labour reforms are implemented along with other business and industrial reforms take shape.

Japan could be on the verge of a break through and business confidence is higher than ever with the yen at record levels for the last 6 years.

Good things take time and Rome wasn't built in a day, remember that.

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

All sounds good but the wage increase aint gonna happen. My factory is installing new assembly lines and palletizer robots to eliminate jobs and save money. They are also considering getting rid of some of veteran employees. There are many new-hires who are making about half the salary as the guys who have been here 20 or 25 years. THAT is what companies do with government money.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Abe has done more and made more progress in 12 months than all of the last prime ministers had done in 12 years.

You do realise that Abe was one of those prime ministers in the last 12 years. Furthermore, his first time around in office was such an unmitigated disaster that he is responsible for ushering in the wave of clowns that came after him and the turmoil it caused.

So aside from a lower yen (which helps only large exporting companies), an uptick in the stock market (which helps only those rich enough to afford the risk), increased taxes (which disproportionately effects the poor), record government spending (which screws future generations) and improved 'business confidence' (which has no real meaning), what do we have? Let's see... state secrets bill that nobody wants, zero actual progress on Fukushima and those displaced by it and further increases in taxes coming. Oh, and don't forget that coming labor reforms will soon mean that companies will no longer have to hire full time employees with pension and health benefits. Yeah, keep up the good work.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

BuBuBu. Excellent!! That about says it all.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

What goes up must come down. All the king's horses and all the king's men will not be able to put Humpty Dumpty together again. Sayonara Shinzo Abe!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I agree with BuBuBu. The politicians are focused on the next 20-30 years - which will probably see them out comfortably. They prefer to run the country into the ground rather than build a sustainable future for the children being born today. Incredibly selfish.

Oh, and any idiot can weaken the yen. Not difficult.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

A year later and Abe is still here. Well, there goes most of our predictions for 2013. Figured he'd be history once again by now.

That's what happens when the electorate gives one party supreme rule in such a setup. Nobody's strong enough to topple Abe. So guess we're stuck with him and his nitwit Abenomics until the next big general election ... when, of course, the voters will once again go with the Liberal Democratic Party.

Where's the oppostion? Ground into the dirt ....

As the above article concludes with Prof. Nishikawa's statement: “But the real tests are still ahead—next year will be crucial for Abe, and for Japan.” Like it or not, Abe will still be with us in 2014.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

the yen at record levels for the last 6 years.

Record LOW levels you mean. Not necessarily great news for everyone.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

'The military is limited to self-defense under Japan s pacifist constitution... a restriction Abe would like to change.'

AFP

All militaries should be limited to self defense, and all nations should have a pacifist constitution. Japan leads the way in this. It seems right to say that the military is not a political tool for any belligerence of the State but an extension of the justice system for self defense of the State against active threats. Consequently, the idea of normalization might be best realized in a gradual move towards dignity of the State in making a more realistic construction and broader interpretation of the pacifist constitution. Presently, the constitution contradicts reality (SDF) and is interpreted narrowly. So match its construction to the present reality and interpret it as widely as necessary, but keep it pacifist. Such a jewel is not to be tossed aside to become like other nations which would be a step back from Japan's leading position in this respect.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

7solace9.

How does Japan lead, when other have declared themselves neutral and had pacifist constitutions before Japan?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It'S ME

Pacifism is the leading position. It does not mean that Japan is the only one in that position. In other words, someone says 'leading position' and you think pyramid while I think trapezoid in relation to those in that position. Also, there is a spectrum of beliefs about what pacifism is. As it happens, I hold the definition that disputes should be resolved peacefully, but that military institutions should be maintained. There is also a spectrum of definitions for "belligerence" by which I was thinking of aggressive hostility. I might also add that normalization is not meant in anyway that would detract from the US alliance with out which Japan would easily be abused by China. Definitions have such a spectrum to them these days that a list of definitions would be helpful, but that would just be tedious and legalistic for a blog post. Interesting pointer though. Thanks.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This idiot is running Japan into the ground. Firstly, his Abenomics has done nothing but make life more difficult for the majority of people living in Japan. His visit to Yasukuni Shrine this morning definitely isn't going to help international relations either, especially with China and Korea. Fukushima's problems have basically been put on hold for a solution, while he spends more on regressing Japan to pre-WWII militarism. Something is seriously wrong with the Japanese government, and Abe is the cancer eating at its core.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

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