I’ve been going through our search data, to see what kind of keyword phrases people have used to find TPR in January. There are some very interesting results I’d like to share, along with some comments on them. So here goes:

rape of nanking

This is our top keyword phrase for January 2007. I guess it’s gaining a bit of steam…

There were some others that fit into that category:

what japan thinks of nanjing massacre
why did the nanjing massacre end
did nanjing massacre cause china to have communism
what did they gain after the nanjing massacre.
rape of nanking book controversy
the rape of nanking
robert wilson safety zone nanking
quotes on war and nationalism rape of nanking
japanese nanking rape massacre actual diaries
rape of nanjing important dates
nanjing japan
japan nanking massacre
nanking massacre photos
which is worse nazi holocaust or nanjing massacre

Clearly, the incident is a big search term…

myspace taro cards

This is one of my favorites. Actually, more than one person had clicked through on this search. The only explanation is that they found the TPR News post that discussed both the MySpace/Softbank tieup in Japan and Taro Aso.

(Read on …)

In this edition of TPR News, Welfare Minister Yanagisawa joins the gaffe parade, but Defense Minister Kyuma is not to be outdone. Abe continues to leave out the details, the Upper House Vice President resigns amid scandal, Japan tries to protect its whalers, Horiemon says he’s being persecuted, Fujiya gets dirtier, and more fretting about the birthrate.

Politics

In a clever step to improve the beleaguered ruling party’s popularity and to show his understanding side, Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare Yanagisawa Hakuo lamented the falling birthrate by saying,

“The number of women between the ages of 15 and 50 is fixed. The number of birth-giving machines (and) devices is fixed, so all we can ask is that they do their best per head.”

That’s right, he called women “birth-giving machines” while pushing for people to pull together in what this observer thinks is hardly a crisis, as explained in last week’s edition of TPR News. At least the comment was made for domestic consumption.
D’oh! The story has been picked up by a bit of the Western media, with even blog giant Boing Boing deciding to dedicate a post to the minister’s words, thus raising the question of whether or not Japan’s ministers are aware that in the information age, what they say can make them look bad in more than one country.

(Read on …)

Listen Now:

 TPR News: 1/29/07: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

So, I’ve spent a bit of time this afternoon trying to come up with something that would scrape Japanese news sites for the results of approval ratings polls as they are updated, but it proved to be a useless endeavor. I’ll have to update them myself as they’re published, since the data simply isn’t available in any real usable form. For now, I’ve put together something that will make an HTML chart with three sources. I’m hoping to develop this into something with the historical data from each source, but I don’t have much free time these days…it might take a few days. So, for now, this chart will keep track of the most recent poll data on Abe’s approval rating:

Most Recent Poll Results

I’ve created a static page where this will always be available: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approval rating tracker. So, you can check for updates by bookmarking that, and I’ll try to announce any updates here…

In this edition of TPR News: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s approval ratings continue their slide, Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma puts on some (more) shoeshine lipstick, the Education Rebuilding Council recommends longer class hours and beatings for the nation’s students, bid-rigging in Nagoya, food safety scandals and the affordability of your very own fashion consultant.

Politics

In its January survey, the Yomiuri is reporting a 7.5% fall in approval ratings for the Abe administration, to 48%. The administration had previously weighed in with a score of 65.1 in November and in 55.9 December. In the same survey, the Cabinet disapproval rating climbed by 8.9%, and now stands at 38.9%. The Yomiuri cited recent scandals as the most recent cause for the continued drop in approval ratings. Interestingly, amongst those who replied that they supported the Liberal Democratic Party, the Abe Cabinet’s approval ratings fell by seven points, to 79.3%.

At the other side of the editorial spectrum, over at the Asahi Shimbun, support for the Abe administration is reported to be at 39%, down 8% from last month. Disapproval ratings increased from 32% to 37%. The Asahi also reports that scandals are hurting the Prime Minister’s image, but also cites respondents as being upset that the administration is doing nothing to address the growing gap between Japan’s rich and poor. When asked if they perceived the administration as being ‘powerful,’ 12 % said yes. 67% also reported feeling that the administration is ‘unreliable.’ The Asahi concludes with the somewhat odd assertion that, “If the ranks of unaffiliated voters keep swelling until they form the largest group of voters, Japanese politics could become unstable.”

(Read on …)

Listen Now:

 TPR News: 1/25/07: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Shinzo Abe’s new job as Prime Minister of Japan will take a big turn in the upcoming week. The ordinary session of the Diet opens this Thursday, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to lay out his vision in a speech on Friday. Garrett and Ken have singled out seven items that could become the cornerstones of Mr Abe’s first regular session of the Diet as a Prime Minister. The seven items that might form the crux of his program include:

• Education reform
• Constitutional reform
• Pressure on North Korea
• Strengthening security ties with the United States
• Moving toward a bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council
• Proposing ways to tackle the nation’s declining birth rate
• Setting up a US-style national security council

Seijigiri looks at what Mr Abe might and might not prove successful at, as well as makes a few predictions for the upcoming Diet session.

Blogs and sites mentioned in this podcast:

Mutant Frog Travelogue: Amazingly weird DPJ commercial gets party leaders in trouble at annual convention by Adam Richards

Tokyo Calling: Japan’s first podcast by Scott Lockman

From the inside, looking in by Shin Fukushige

Rich Pav’s Herro Flom Japan

Japan Probe

Errata: Unfortunately, I referred to America’s former ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, as “Tom Bolton.” We did not catch the error in time to correct it. Red Sox fans in the audience might recognize Tom Bolton as a former Sox lefthander who pitched for us from 1987-1992, before being traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Billy Hatcher. Overall a mediocre pitcher, Bolton did go 10-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 1990. Of course, the man he was traded for, Billy Hatcher, had his most famous moment as a Red Sox in 1993, when he stole home at a game I watched from the first base side seats in Fenway Park; thus, there is a connection from TPR to Tom Bolton, tenuous as it may be. We regret the error - Ken.

Listen Now:

 Seijigiri #16: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this edition of TPR News: The government attempts to lay the smack down on sanction-violators; Japan gets set to meet with Russia; free trade with Switzerland is on the horizon; more political fund scandals; sales are slumping; and why birth subsidies are stupid.

Politics

If Prime Minister Abe is able to deliver on his vow, the upcoming ordinary Diet session will see the passage of a bill calling for the referendum necessary to the revision of the Constitution, as mentioned in the previous edition of TPR News. Undeterred by his failure to explain the white collar overtime exemption bill well enough to garner public support for it, Abe believes he can do it this time, saying,

“I will fight in a straightforward manner. If we explain our achievements to the people in a way that they can easily understand, I believe we will definitely win.”

(Read on …)

Listen Now:

 TPR News: 1/22/07: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Politics

From this week’s edition of Shukan Shincho, one of Japan’s weekly news magazines:

A yellow traffic light is shining at the Abe administration. Due to continued disappointments, its approval rating has fallen by twenty points since the administration’s inauguration, and now stands in the lower half of the 60 percent range, with no sign of recovery. Even beyond the year’s end resignations of Tax Commission Chief Honma and Minister Sata, the mass media has been harping that, “If a next resignation comes, the Abe administration will collapse.” And thus the administration has set out to clean up its ministers, in order to start anew.

That might be a bit generous, since we’ve seen figures approaching 40% and 55% at their highest. Nonetheless, the image is fitting: the Abe administration does appear to be approaching a yellow light, not quite sure whether to put the petal to the metal or come to a sudden stop.

LDP infighting! On Monday night in Kyoto, former finance minister Sadaharu Tanigaki stated that foreign minister Taro Aso recently approached him and proposed that the two men form a political alliance in a bid to take turns holding the LDP’s presidency and hence each become prime minister. Aso apparently had one condition attached to the deal: that he be prime minister first, and Tanigaki follow.

(Read on …)

Listen Now:

 TPR News: 01/19/07: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Ibuki

I missed him. I arrived late on Monday morning for my late start at work, only to hear I had just missed getting a glimpse of my main man, incompetent and now, it appears, crooked Education Minister Ibuki Bunmei. From what I could gather, Ibuki toured some of the facilities at Waseda University with University President Shirai Katsuhiko and Waseda University International Co., Ltd. (an education company primarily owned by the University) President Adachi Shinichi (the latter two having no affiliation with Ibuki other than being the guys in charge of the facilities he toured.) Apparently, the trio talked loudly in the hallways and Ibuki’s visit caused a few to comment (not to him) that he showed some nerve in showing up for the appointment despite the recent scandal.

(Read on …)

Society

A strain of H5 avian influenza was confirmed as the cause of death of 3,800 chickens on a farm in Miyazaki, marking the first known outbreak of the virus in a year. Testing is still going on to confirm whether or not the bird flu in question is the virulent H5N1 strain. Last January’s outbreak in Ibaraki was of the H5N2 strain, which is less dangerous to humans.

8,000 more chickens on the farm in Kiyotake are set to be culled by means of carbon dioxide and incineration, bringing the total to 12,000. No human illness has been reported and there is no evidence to suggest a danger to humans from the consumption of poultry or eggs. Retailers such as Kentucky Fried Chicken and Hokka-Hokka-Tei have responded calmly, neither cancelling orders nor expressing concern over the safety of chicken from Miyazaki, nevertheless the Agriculture Ministry is worried about panic.

(Read on …)

Listen Now:

 TPR News: 1/15/07: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This flash movie has been at the top of former Democratic Party of Japan president Hatoyama Yukio’s home page for some time. Hatoyama also stars in the DPJ TV ad that was shown in the previous post. The only difference is that the fonts are a bit different, since I used Flash on my laptop to turn it into an .avi file, and I didn’t have the font from the original file (Y2KBug?)..blah blah.

Because (I assume) of the font switching, the Japanese characters on the flower got a little messed up. They should be (from the top, going clockwise):

官製談合 (Kansei dangou): Bid rigging
ライブドア (Raibudoa): Livedoor
BSE
弱者切捨て (Jyakusha kirisute): Not caring for the ‘weak’
耐震偽装 (Taishin gisou): Faking earthquake-proofedness

When he cuts the veins, 増税 (Zouzei), a tax increase, is destroyed.

The issues are obviously quite ‘2006′ and an update to the site is expected soon (Hatoyama’s pretty good about being on top of things like that).

Point is, I assume that the movie might be changed soon with the changing times and this is worth documenting. Hatoyama used to have a whole load of flash animations on his website. They were rich; there were animations of him driving a car and knocking Koizumi off a cliff, and such hilarity.

Just in case: In Japanese, “Hato (鳩)” means dove. “Yama (山)” of course is mountain. This helps explain why in this, and other flash animations on Hatoyama’s site (if you can find them), there are always doves and often mountains present. I don’t know what the deal is with the Pegasus; if you know, please let us in on it.