Victory

Haha...they fell for it again...whoohooo!

I think the idea that the Japanese people were duped by Abe is wrong. Japan has never been known as a country who stands up to their tyrant, no matter how wrong they are.

This is the ultimate bend over and take it country. You say Nuclear Power and coal is our only hope? OK. You say we need to revise the constitution? I may not like it, but OK. You say immigration hurts the purity of our people, thus no one should be let in? OK. Our economy is on track? Yes, sir.

The smiling face of soft dictatorship by the same ol'/same ol'. Great-great-grandons of feudal rulers and grandsons of militaristic overlords carrying on the family business. Just updated titles. An illusion of change for a few years, and then when eyes are elsewhere, the sudden reemergence of reality.

Abe is killed the economy and the country problem is he so deep in spending there is nothing anyone can do at this point. He's cashing out his buddies :(

Japan,

You reap what you sow. And what you have sowed is disaster upon you and your country.

Japan,

You reap what you sow. And what you have sowed is disaster upon you and your country.

Thank you for your concern. Perhaps you should mind your own country, whichever it is.

Thank you for your concern. Perhaps you should mind your own country, whichever it is.

No. I shouldn't. I don't live there. I live here. My wife is Japanese. My son is Japanese. Not minding what goes on in Japan is being an irresponsible parent. This is our children's country. My own flesh and blood is japanese. So don't tell me that what happens in japan is not my business. It is

Thank you for your concern. Perhaps you should mind your own country, whichever it is.

It is legit for any citizen sensible for the peace of the world to worry seeing another country falling for pro-militarization, might be that majority of Japanese did not really enjoy the last 70 years or peace so they want more.

This is our children's country. My own flesh and blood is Japanese. So don't tell me that what happens in japan is not my business. It is Im in the same situation as you Aly, but if you've lived in Japan long enough you'll know changing the J mindset is like extracting blood from a stone, the only positive thing you can take from it is (probably desperation ) if Japan becomes too unbearable to live in we can pack up and leave for greener pastures. Most Japanese would prefer to live in the stone age and preserve their unique culture than live in the 21st century and bring about changes required to live in this century.

Harvey Pekar is right about Japan being the ultimate "bend over and take it country". Just look at the closing stages of WW2: awful suffering, doomed hopeless cause, no freedoms and abuses rampant by the elites in power...and what did the poor put upon people do? Nothing, just kept on following orders and suffering. Where was the uprising then against the government and military criminals?

This is our children's country. My own flesh and blood is Japanese. So don't tell me that what happens in japan is not my business. It is Im in the same situation as you Aly, but if you've lived in Japan long enough you'll know changing the J mindset is like extracting blood from a stone, the only positive thing you can take from it is (probably desperation ) if Japan becomes too unbearable to live in we can pack up and leave for greener pastures. Most Japanese would prefer to live in the stone age and preserve their unique culture than live in the 21st century and bring about changes required to live in this century.

Well said my friend! Having said that its not just the Japanese; there are many apologist Gainjin pets who are just as guilty. You read their comments here all the time, though I won't name names

So why can't I comment on the negative aspects? I mean I can't vote anyways, but at least I want to tell and show others >>what's going wrong.

Please continue, every little steps are welcome to move a society and those afraid of progress change we will always reply with a "go home if you don't like". Some, for obvious reasons, wantse the whole world to be in state of total apathy and enrolled into a silent member of the "shouganai" club.

So why can't I comment on the negative aspects? I mean I can't vote anyways, but at least I want to tell and show others what's going wrong. Maybe there will be a change in the future and I can contribute to this change just a little bit. Am I worried about the country I was born? Yes, I sometimes am.

Of course you can comment, and people like me are interested in hearing your thoughts. That's why I come here instead of just sticking to Japanese groups and forums. Some of the posts on stories here have really given me food for thought.

That being said, the whole "Japanese are stupid/sheeple/living in the dark ages" sort of attitude by some posters puts me off. How can we take your views seriously when you start from such an insulting premise?

Three Right Honourable Members, with the Most Honourable Member in the middle.

Ginza tonight, boys!

@ChaosWyvern: You are from the more pleasant end of the Japan apologist spectrum, so I'll engage you. How do you explain 60 years of LDP rule, the rampant cronyism, resistance to change, corruption, low position of women and other minorities and staggering structural problems? One can only assume after DECADES of this that the mass of people here are shouganai when it comes to politics and are easily led by the mainstream media and government.

Victory

Disaster. By 2018 we will have a referendum on amending article 9. That is the time limit remaining on Abe's tenure. He wants to go down in history as the man who amended Japan's "shameful" consitution. Sure, a referendum is required. But the LDP will do whatever it takes to win it. Expect constant coverage for the next 2 years on "why" changes are necessary. Expect little converage of why it shouldn't be changed. Low voter turn out like yesterday will do the rest.

I fear you are right Christopher Glen. If that sorry state of affairs comes to pass, I shall leave Japan with my teenage son - I wont have him drafted to fight for these elite power structures that I have no say over.

klausdorthJul. 11, 2016 - 12:02PM JST

Agree ... Japan is MY country, too!

My wife is Japanese, my three daughters are Japanese and I consider (at least for now) Japan as my home!

So why can't I comment on the negative aspects? I mean I can't vote anyways, but at least I want to tell and show others what's going wrong. Maybe there will be a change in the future and I can contribute to this change just a little bit. Am I worried about the country I was born? Yes, I sometimes am.

I thought the same too, Klaudsdorth , A Japanese wife with two beautiful daughters, then the calamity came. I still can't talk about it, but that may be was my destiny . I'm glad for you .

@dharmadan I'm not an "apologist"; that sounds like someone who constantly defends this country in any situation, and that isn't me. I may have mentioned before that I have received a lot of criticism from nationalists for my views. I take a lot of flak from both the right and left. Rather, I am someone who tries to analyze society from a variety of perspectives as best I can.

How do you explain 60 years of LDP rule, the rampant cronyism, resistance to change, corruption, low position of women and other minorities and staggering structural problems? One can only assume after DECADES of this that the mass of people here are shouganai when it comes to politics and are easily led by the mainstream media and government.

Political science is not my field, so please forgive my rather amateur approach. I was not criticizing the view that there are major structural problems in Japanese politics -- I agree there are -- but criticizing the idea that the problems in Japan are due to Japanese culture and us Japanese ourselves being fundamentally flawed or primitive, etc. As I see it, I think the answer is more straight-forward. I think the LDP has benefited historically from having a consistent economic position and excellent organizational skills. The opposition has also been divided and unable to offer a compelling counter-narrative, if you will, in response. This means that most voters will go with the "devil they know," especially when they are thinking about their local political representatives, rather than risk supporting a confused and weak opposition party. People are not voting for the LDP because they love the party or agree with all its policies, but because they feel it is simply the only viable option. Corruption is seen as the price we pay for making such a choice.

Again, to be clear, I am not an LDP supporter, and I am not happy with the system as it stands. But stacks of stereotypes about us does nothing to help understand or alleviate the problems.

How do you explain 60 years of LDP rule

I think LDP rule comes down to this. First, as an entirety, it represents a set of views Japanese can live with if not love. 2nd, after it has been incumbent for awhile, it has accumulated enough institutional strength, experience and connections it is the only party that can get things done at all. Sure, occasionally say the DPJ gets the seat for awhile, but then it turns out they don't really know how to move the bureaucrats, or the realist boundaries they have to work with, so they end up like Hatoyama. The Japanese recognize this unfortunate reality so the short term best move for them is to keep the other parties just viable enough that they might still be slight threats to the throne of power, keep LDP on its crown, use massed protests to curb the worst excesses, and eat the res.

The mighty Abe prevails again... after calling an election when the timing was in his favor, when there was no viable oppostion and in a country where 54% turn out to vote, and in a country where a leader who whimpers about his bowel movements as an excuse for his resignation from his first time as Prime Minister, is not completely laughed out of politics all together....Well done Sir! You truly put the chicken in the hawk!

Touchdown is near. Japanese capitalism started its descent in the 1990's, and is about to land in Narita airport soon. Shinzo Abe's militaristic bragging and nostalgia to the glorious militaristic past will not help. The faulty Abenomics will not help either. The notion of socialism seems to belong to a remote planet right now, but the socialist revolution in Japan is inevitable. One of its sources of inspiration will be the nearby Korean socialism. This will happen in a manner similar to the arrival of Buddhism from Korea in the 6th century: Buddhism came, and swept the entire country.

The title should be "Victory".

@Aly Rustom,

No. I shouldn't. I don't live there. I live here. My wife is Japanese. My son is Japanese. Not minding what goes on in Japan is being an irresponsible parent. This is our children's country.

Great reply to a comment meant to dull the effect of good arguments. Keep on posting.

whatever it takes, please preserve J culture.