We know that you probably have lost all interest in last season, but we thought we’d punctuate that one before bringing you our annual Season Preview broadcast. So let’s all take a moment to reminisce a bit. It was another year of surprises from NPB with a strong finish from a team that we predicted to be a mid-table team before the season began.

In this edition of NPB Spotlight we are proud to introduce Dave Watkins who will be joining Christopher Pellegrini from now on.

For additional information related to the 2009 baseball season, check out Tsubamegun.

As always, thank you very much for listening.

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In this edition of Seijigiri, co-hosts Garrrett DeOrio and Ken Worsley begin by discussing the problems revealed by former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa recent resignation. After appearing drunk and incomprehensible at the G7 meetings in Rome last weekend, media pressure mounted on Nakagawa and he was forced to resign earlier this week.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party continues to be dogged by public relations issues, and seems unable to conduct itself in a manner that would lead to the building of public trust. This portion of the show includes several audio samples, and the source videos are available below. Garrett chides Ken for referring to the incident as “Nakagawa-gate,” and Ken decides that it should be referred to as 中川門 (Nakagawa-mon) from now on.

The last ten minutes of the show focus on pressure being put on Prime Minister Taro Aso from former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. After Aso stated that he wasn’t a true believer in postal privatization, Koizumi hit back, saying he wondered if Mr Aso knew why the LDP had so many seats in the Diet, and that he would abstain from voting to fifty-nine* through the economic stimulus package that Aso is counting on getting passed.

As always, thank you for listening! Videos follow the break:

(Read on …)

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Amid speculation of his having been drunk at a G7 press conference in Rome and the resulting DPJ move for a censure motion, Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa announced today that he would resign after the fiscal 2009 budget bills were passed, causing further damage to the already poor image of Prime Minister Aso’s Cabinet.

While Nakagawa had claimed he’d merely consumed too much cold medicine on the flight over, the defense met with little but incredulity and even ridicule from press outlets and other observers around the world. (Read on …)

In this edition of BizCast Japan, co-hosts Albrecht Stahmer and Ken Worsley begin by taking a look at two of Japan’s hardest-hit export industries: automotives and electronics. With Japan’s automakers looking as if they are going to lose about 415 billion yen in fiscal 2008 and electronic firms looking at a staggering 1.95 trillion yen loss, this part of the discussion focuses on Toyota and Sony, but reaches out to comment on the state of affairs at other firms in their respective sectors.

The second half of the program examines businesses that have been doing well despite (or perhaps due to) the recession. Rakuten, Usen, Internet banks and brokerages, Uniqlo, Nintendo, Tsutaya, purveyors of second hand items and pawn shops. The final firm discussed is Tokyo Disneyland, which has reported all-time high visitors over the April-September period. However, both hosts express their belief that these figures are due to 2008 being Tokyo Disneyland’s 25th anniversary, and actually find Disney’s reported numbers to be lower than expected.

As always, thanks for listening.

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Joe the Plumber is not the only famous person to have recently visited the Gaza Strip. Just today, former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike posted a video called “Pumps on the Ground” concerning her recent visit not only to Gaza, but also to Kabul.

According to the video, this was Koike’s fifth visit to Gaza. There is also some comment on environmental destruction and a panoramic shot of dead cows.