In this edition of Seijigiri, co-hosts Garrett DeOrio and Ken Worsley begin by noting that Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has just returned from a visit to Russia, where he announced over the weekend that he has no intention to reshuffle his Cabinet before the G-8 summit in July.

With this show being recorded on Tuesday the 29th, the lower house vote on extending the gasoline tax was slated to take place on the following day. The discussion turns to the divided Diet and the reasons why the LDP’s pushing the gas tax renewal through the lower house by using its supermajority may cause the Fukuda administration to see a further fall in approval ratings.

After that, the topic of how Japan is portrayed in the overseas media comes up. A recent article published by Time magazine described Japan’s gas tax as part of a trend towards “environmental consciousness.” Our hosts explain why this is simply not true, beginning with the fact that funds raised from the gas tax over the past 34 years have been used exclusively to smother the nation with roads and concrete - the by-products of LDP pork-barrel spending.

The use of funds from the gas tax for projects other than road construction is set to be debated, and possibly voted on, in May. Could this represent an end to the Tanaka-era use of public funds to pave the country? Will we see a new system emerge in which rural areas will not be able to rely on the massive public works projects that bought their votes for the LDP?

After these questions are considered, our hosts close the program by discussing the recent Olympic torch relay in Nagano and how the media has portrayed that event.

As always, thank you for listening.

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Hydrogen sulfide is the new method these days for many Japanese wishing to end their own lives. A rash of deaths attributed to the gas has been reported over the past few weeks across Japan, and it seems like the problems have only just begun. For a more in-depth analysis of suicide in Japan, click here.
Hydrogen sulfide is normally a naturally occurring gas whose presence is commonly associated with the smell of rotten eggs. Exposure to the gas can cause minor health irritations when inhaled at low doses. Eye and throat irritation, and nausea are common symptoms. At higher levels of exposure humans lose their sense of smell and the strength of the odor disappears. It is believed that exposure to air with hydrogen sulfide concentrations above 800 ppm will be fatal for most people after five to ten minutes of breathing the gas. Anything above 1,000 ppm will cause a human being to lose respiratory functioning after only a single breath. (Read on …)

In this edition of TPR News: Fukuda talks tough, but his approval ratings keep falling; Korea’s Lee visits Tokyo; tax hike; Americans buy udon because Fukudome is batting .317; more on Steel Partners; a temple is defaced in Nagano after declining to host the Olympic torch; and more.

Politics

“Please tell me who in your party I can speak to, who can be trusted.”

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda appeared to catch DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa off-guard and surprised some political observers by expressing his frustration in a more assertive way than usual during their televised debate on Wednesday, April 9th.

While such debates are often formal and lacking in substance and Fukuda has been criticized for preferring old school back room horse trading to publicly hashing out disagreements and selling his policies to the public, the beginnings of change on both fronts crept up during the leaders’ first debate in three months.

After securing the DPJ’s agreement on the approval of Deputy Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, who became acting Governor immediately upon assuming the post, as Governor of the Bank of Japan, the LDP nominated Hiroshi Watanabe to fill Shirakawa’s newly vacated Deputy Governoship. The DPJ, as expected, fell in behind Ozawa and rejected Watanabe on the grounds that he had been a senior bureaucrat at the Ministry of Finance - the same reason given for rejecting three previous nominees for Governor or Deputy Governor.

Some observers viewed Fukuda’s unusually aggressive comments, attacking Ozawa’s leadership and the DPJ’s tactics of stalling in the Diet and complaining to the press, as signalling a change in tactics. While the opposition camp has publicly criticized Fukuda, his LDP, and their tactics, Fukuda has stuck to attempting to work out deals behind closed doors, the same unappealing practice televised debates between the Prime Minister and opposition leader were supposed to reduce when they were begun a few years ago. (Read on …)

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Hiroshi Nozaki had to have known that he would be the prime suspect. He needed to get out of the apartment fast. But even though it was already dark outside, his roommates wouldn’t get back from work for several hours, so he had time to tidy up a bit.

“Body parts are heavy when they are still half-filled with blood,” he thought.

Draining them would make things easier; he loaded up the laundry machine and let it do some of the dirty work for him. He was tired, after all. The last time he cut up a body was years ago, and he was out of practice.

“And what am I going to do with this blood-drenched futon?”

Somewhere in between the pulsing lights of the bridge, and the hard strikes on the windows from the wind coming off the bay, Nozaki found himself staring at one of his other roommates–the cousin of the woman crumpled in the laundry machine. She had made an early trip home from work to figure out why Honiefaith was late and not answering her phone.

The flesh Nozaki held in his hand confirmed the worst, and she raced out of the apartment to seek help. When the police arrived, Nozaki was gone. (Read on …)

In this edition of Seijigiri, co-hosts Garrett DeOrio and Ken Worsley begin by (very) briefly noting that Japan’s sanctions against North Korea have been extended for six more months, before moving to discuss upcoming diplomatic events.

With Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda heading to Russia in early May, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura is currently in Russia making preparations for that meeting. Once Komura returns from Russia, he will be visited by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who will head to Japan in order to plan for President Hu Jintao’s visit to Japan from May 6. The discussion focuses on what might be on the agendas as well as what, if any, breakthroughs might be made in terms of Japan-China relations.

After that, the discussion focuses on domestic political issues. Now that a Governor has been found for the Bank of Japan, our hosts look at how the process played out and why Fukuda continues to see his approval ratings slide. Why has the LDP been unable to work with the DPJ, when its stubborn insistence on pushing its own agenda seems to be costing it points with the public?

Finally, the question of replacing Fukuda is raised. A recent interview in the Nikkei with former Prime Minister Yashuhiro Nakasone hints that Fukuda does not have much time left. Our hosts speculate on whether Fukuda will last long enough to host the G-8 summit in July, or whether the LDP would be better off with a fresh face attending the meetings.

Once again, thank you for listening.

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The number of inmates on death row in Japan decreased by four yesterday as the Tokyo and Osaka detention centers hanged two inmates each.

The four men were Kunio Hatoyama’s 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th executions since he assumed the post of Justice Minister last year. Hatoyama entered the post with a statement of support for the practice of capital punishment, and apart from a brief sojourn to suggest that his signature was not necessary for the hanging of a felon, he has been busy authorizing at least a few state-sanctioned deaths every couple of months.

On Friday, (Read on …)

In this edition of TPR News: Fukuda’s approval ratings are down; the gas tax expires; BOJ to get a head; administrative reform weak; trouble with Australia; the best companies in Japan - in general and for women; Nintendo on top again; US Sailor charged with murder; Yasukuni hits theaters, or does it?; and liquor at your door.

Politics

Things are still looking grim for Prime Minister Fukuda and his Cabinet. According to a survey by the right-leaning Sankei Shimbun, the Prime Minister’s approval rating has fallen to 23.8% as his disapproval rating has risen to 59%. This doesn’t necessarily mean the opposition Democratic Party is looking any better, though. As the fight over the renewal of the temporary gasoline tax grinds on, 63.9% of respondents approved of Fukuda’s proposal to place gas tax revenue in general funds, thus nullifying one of the DPJ’s most convincing reasons for opposition to the extension of the three-decade old “temporary” levy - the breaking up of the Tanakaist dorozoku, or “road tribe”, that has long used gas tax-funded patronage to keep power and influence.
As expected, the DPJ held off from voting on budget-related bills and the gas tax expired on March 31st, causing gasoline prices to drop by about 24 yen. While the DPJ leadership sees this as a victory, others in the party worry that such stances are giving them the appearance of being a “party of defiance,” especially as the Prime Minister had acceded to one of their main demands and a plank in the party’s platform - adding gas tax money to general revenue.

As the expiration became a sure thing, Fukuda said, “The regions will end up with a revenue shortage and industry will stagnate. I wonder if the DPJ will really do this and ignore the regions. There’s still room to discuss this matter.”

Appearing to be holding out despite getting what they wanted, the DPJ have altered their goal to the permanent abolition of the levy, with Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama saying, “Many citizens are hoping for the abolition of the provisional tax rate. We’ve fought unyieldingly on this issue and are finally seeing the fruits of our efforts materialize.” (Read on …)

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In this edition of the Debito.org Podcast, Arudou Debito has recorded his entire speech (a little more than an hour and a half), along with Q&A, given at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan on March 18, 2008. This is the standard speech he gave during his recent three-week-long nationwide tour to promote HANDBOOK FOR NEWCOMERS, MIGRANTS, AND IMMIGRANTS TO JAPAN, so if you missed the tour, here’s your chance to see what he was on about. It’s not all about the book; he also talks about Japan’s lack of an immigration policy and issues of multiculturalization and Japan’s future. If you’d also like to see the powerpoint presentation he used that evening, download it at http://www.debito.org/HANDBOOKmarch08.ppt (note that the order of the slides is different).

Here is the speech write-up, as per the FCCJ archives: (Read on …)

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We’re a little disappointed that both hanami and baseball season have arrived at the same time this spring, but we’ve been doing our best to take in as much of both as humanly possible. To help you catch up on the latter while you may be busier doing the former, we offer you a quick-and-dirty preview of what might be expected from this year’s NPB season.

Team news for all 12 clubs in the Central and Pacific leagues is presented in the accompanying podcast. Changes, both good and bad, and some expectations for the coming months are discussed in this edition of TPR Spotlight on NPB.

League standings after games played April 4th, 2008: (Read on …)

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Lee Masters is in Genji Misako’s debt. Nara, as Misako says, is home to priceless art treasures of all types and they are being stolen by the American-born naturalized “Jap citizen” Nathan Sharp, the youngest colonel ever in the US Air Force. Art treasures aren’t the only thing being stolen, though. Japan is also involved in developing lasers for industrial and possibly military use and plans are being leaked to “Red China.” Who’s behind it all?

As Masters and Johnny try to sort it all out, listeners get to hear one of the most tortured uses of honor and face as plot devices of all time. At the same time, though, there are myriad opportunities to read too much into the story, which is always good fun. (Read on …)

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