What Will the Shift in Power Mean for Japan?

“Extra! Extra! Government shift in power!” People swarmed around the train station, practically fighting for copies of the newspaper extra edition. The August 30 House of Representatives election marked the first shift of power in Japan in 16 years as the reins of government passed to the Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan). It was another moment in which a people seeking “Change” chose to support a complete remodeling of their government.

During the forty-odd years that led up the last power shift, in 1993, Japan was able to achieve high economic growth based on so-called alignments of mutual economic interest, but with the economic downturn that followed the bursting of the bubble, people became frustrated with government corruption and ended up bringing a reform-based alliance of opposition parties to power. But that coalition government made up of eight different parties succumbed to internal dissension within a year. The LDP revived itself instantly with the next election, and continued on the path of “protect vested interests, reject change.”

When Koizumi came to power in 2001, he managed to force the conservative factions in the LDP into submission and hammer through reform measures. But no sooner did Koizumi step down in 2006 than the conservative factions that had been lying dormant resuscitate themselves and government for the vested interests began to raise its head again. However, the internal LDP power structure that had been dismantled by Koizumi never returned to its original position. LDP members were like sheep without a shepherd, and their position of political power just melted away. Instead Minshuto made its carefully thought-out bailout policies the key issue of the election. The LPD went down without a fight.

So what will this shift in power mean for Japan? Instead of making the overall economic pie bigger, Minshuto policy would redistribute larger slices of the pie to the vested interests of the organizations that are its main constituency, namely agricultural coops, medical associations, and labor unions, as well as to the economically disadvantaged population. These policies are ironically close to what the LDP did from 1955 through 1993. In that sense, although the media called Minshuto the “Revolution Party,” the reality is actually the opposite.

Aren’t the Japanese people a little too carried away right now with the idea of redistributing wealth? Even though the overall amount of wealth has declined? Is this the way to survive and thrive in a world where state capitalism is at the forefront? At least I would hope we are not choosing a path that will make all our people poorer, instead of joining in the global competition.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
PHP Research Institute
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

Next Issue Is about "State Capitalism"

Next issue is "Will State Capitalism Bring Peace, Happiness, and Prosperity to Humanity?"

Experts who comments on the issue are as of today:

• Mr. Vladimir Dovgan (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Edelstar Limited)
• Dr. Jayati Ghosh (Professor of Economics at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University)
• Dr. Aldo Musacchio (Associate Professor in the Business, Government, and International Economy Unit, Harvard Business School)
• Dr. Jeffrey D. Straussman　(Dean of Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York)
• Mr. Masaharu Takenaka (Professor, Faculty of Economics, Ryukoku University)
• Mr. Toru Watanabe (Executive Director, Shin-Nihon Public Affairs)

The issue and comments will be posted on September 7, next Monday Japan time.

[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
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Hatoyama's Opinion of NYT Comes Originally from "VOICE", Our Monthly Journal

Mr. Yukio Hatoyama, President of the Democratic Party of Japan wrote his opinion on the New York Time, August 27. The title is “A New Path for Japan”.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/opinion/27iht-edhatoyama.html

According to NYT, A longer version of this article appears in the September issue of the monthly Japanese journal Voice.

Voice is the monthly magazine that we, PHP Institute publishes. Yes, we do.

On the top page of the PHP Global e-Forum, you will find a banner of VOICE+ on the right side.

If you click it, you will be able to read the original article: Sofu Ichiro ni Mananda “Yuuai” to Iu Tatakai no Hatajirushi.

That is “Fraternity”, A Fighting Motto that I Learned from the Grandfather, Ichiro in English.

Read more http://voiceplus-php.jp/archive/detail.jsp?id=197


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
PHP Research Institute
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You've Just Got to Laugh

The September issue of Japan CLOSE-UP has been published.

Japan CLOSE-UP is an English-language monthly magazine bringing you the latest news on Japanese business, products, culture, society, trends, and people.

One of featured articles on the issue is "You've Just Got to Laugh."

Not long ago you'd have had a tough time convincing anyone outside Japan that "funny" had any relevance to the Japanese mindset. The tendency for the legions of white-collar representatives of Japan Inc. working abroad to wear a collective poker face didn't help. Countless YouTube videos of seriously wacky local TV shows have proven, however, that Japanese are just as nutty as the rest of us.

From storytelling to standup to mimicry to wordplay and the kind of loopy physical comedy that would do Monty Python proud, plenty of funny stuff has been going on in Japan for centuries. And the current owarai (laugh) boom is proving to be the biggest yet.


Read more http://www.export-japan.com/jcu/sample/index.php


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
PHP Research Institute
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Mr. Newt Gingrich Is Here in Tokyo

Today, on the way to the office, I read an article: “Newt’s Conversion. The former U.S. Speaker finds a new home in the Catholic Church on TIME (VOL. I74, No.7) on a train.

After I had arrived at the office, I accessed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. I happened to notice that there was a press release: a group of the former U.S. Speaker, Mr. Gingrich visited MOF.

Oh, Mr. Newt Gingrich is here in Tokyo? I thought.

According to the press release, the group of the former Speaker visited MOF on August 18 (Tuesday) , and they had a talk with Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka (a career bureaucrat, not politician) . They exchanged frankly opinions about Japan-US relationships and the situation of the Asian-Pacific region.

Just a brief statement.

I am very curious what brought Mr. Gingrich here.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
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Former State Minister Won't Seek Re-election

Campaigning for the August 30 Lower House election has started today.

According to opinions surveys conducted by newspaper publishing companies and news agencies, the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is likely to come to power. So, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) seems to be anxious about losing power.

The Lower House consists of 300 seats from single-seat constituencies and 180 seats through the proportional representation system. Single-seat candidates can show on their party’s lists for the proportional representation system, too.

That means although they do not win in the single-seat constituencies, they get elected as proportional representation candidates. This time, more LDP candidates tend to take double candidacy in the election.

Ms. Kuniko Inoguchi decided not to run in the election yesterday. She won her Lower House seat in 2005. She was at the top of the LDP’s list on the Tokyo proportional representation proportion of the ballot. Then Prime Minster Koizumi had called on her to run, and appointed her state minister in charge of gender equality. This time, Ms. Inoguchi was at the 24th-ranking of the list. She was asking the LDP headquarters to put her name at a higher rank of the list.

She must regret. But, Dr. Inoguchi was a prominent professor specializing international relations, and former Permanent Representative and Ambassador of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament.

My observation is that she matches handling foreign issues rather than domestic. I hope she will come back to the academic world or work at an international organization soon.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
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Next Issue Is About "US Dollar"

Next issue is "Is There a Way to Sustain Stable Growth of the World Economy Even If the US Dollar Loses its Position as the Key Currency?"

Experts who comments on the issue are as of today:

• Dr. Mark Blyth (Professor of International Political Economy in the Department of Political Science at Brown University)
• Mr. Bill Emmott (Independent Writer, Former Editor Economist)
• Mr. Guy de Jonquières (Writer, Senior Fellow of the European Centre for International Political Economy)
• Dr. Daniel I. Okimoto (Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Senior Fellow of the Institute for International Studies, and Director Emeritus and Co-Founder of the Asia/Pacific Research Center at Stanford University)
• Professor Yukimitsu Sanada (Professor of Faculty of Business at Aichi Shukutoku University)
• Dr. Sayuri Shirai (Professor of Economics, Keio University)
• Dr. Mingqi Xu (Deputy Director of the Institute of World Economy and Director of European Studies Centre at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences)

The issue and comments will be posted on August 10, next Monday Japan time.

[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]

http://www.globaleforum.com/en/