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I don't think anything has been done and since I never read the original court ruling in Japanese there may be a stipulation that has a deadline. So they can still use the current districts for this election, but maybe before the next one they can't. Noda wants to get an agreement on the TPP before leaving office but I don't think its coming. The US and Obama realize that Noda and the DPJ's status is very unstable and they've basically taken a "wait and see stance" on letting Japan into talks. The biggest players are the agriculture lobbyists who are vehemently against the TPP for obvious reasons (There's like 400% tariff on imported rice). The US players that are against it are actually the automotive industry. They want artificial bars removed which stop the US car companies from getting a foothold in Japan; before they remove tariffs on Japanese light trucks (think Kei cars) which have a 20% tariff on them as I recall. I'm doubtful that Japan will get in on the TPP; doubly so if the LDP comes to power. Removal on tariffs for the agricultural sector would tank the incredibly fragile market.
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Nov 25, 2012 15:29
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Kenishi posted:The biggest players are the agriculture lobbyists who are vehemently against the TPP for obvious reasons (There's like 400% tariff on imported rice). The US players that are against it are actually the automotive industry. They want artificial bars removed which stop the US car companies from getting a foothold in Japan; before they remove tariffs on Japanese light trucks (think Kei cars) which have a 20% tariff on them as I recall. I thought it was something really amazing like 666% or 777%? Again, I wonder how they reconcile the ideas of "We Japanese prefer Japanese rice because it's the only sort that suits our palate, therefore we will only eat Japanese rice" and "We need to protect our domestic rice industry from the foreign juggernaut by preventing imports".
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Nov 26, 2012 02:42
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Weatherman posted:I thought it was something really amazing like 666% or 777%? I haven't heard any Japanese people really articulate both view points at the same time. There's also not as much reconciled there as it first seems. The argument I've heard from Japanese people is that Japanese rice is higher quality, but they worry people may end up deciding with their wallet in the end. They usually say that they themselves will continue to buy Japanese rice, but that they worry others will give into the cheap prices. There's also more to the issue than protectionist policies to benefit farmers. Japan, as an island nation, is more concerned with self-sufficiency and sustainability than most other countries. The thing a lot of people who are critical of TPP are concerned about is not the first impact on Japanese farmers, but the effects down the road of Japan becoming over-reliant on cheap imports of staple foods. They don't want staples to be up to the whim of foreign markets and currency fluctuations. Had Japan become dependent on cheap overseas rice prior to 2008 things could have gotten real bad when the rice shortage happened across the rest of Asia. There are reasons beyond jingoism to advocate for the protection of the domestic rice market.
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Nov 26, 2012 03:02
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Well, Japan simply doesn't have enough arable land to provide enough food to sustain its current population with the majority of that land being used for wet rice cultivation. Actual food self-sufficiency would require major changes in the use of arable land and diet. You have 140M people give or take in the roughly the same land area as California with significantly less arable land, so using the majority of it for a nutrient-poor staple like polished white rice is a non-starter if self-sufficiency is your goal.
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Nov 26, 2012 03:14
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Kenishi posted:The biggest players are the agriculture lobbyists who are vehemently against the TPP for obvious reasons (There's like 400% tariff on imported rice). The US players that are against it are actually the automotive industry. They want artificial bars removed which stop the US car companies from getting a foothold in Japan; before they remove tariffs on Japanese light trucks (think Kei cars) which have a 20% tariff on them as I recall. I don't think the tariff is what is holding kei cars back: the speed limits are too high in America and they would perform very poorly in crash-tests (especially considering the size of other vehicles on the road).
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Nov 26, 2012 04:04
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Kei cars are a city/urban vehicle, not a highway vehicle. That said, I think the kei trucks would be the most profitable of the two since they are generally what I imagine a truck would be. I've always felt US trucks were too over the top and beyond the point of utility. Kei vehicles would never pass crash tests though.
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Nov 26, 2012 05:26
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So it looks like Japan is gradually ramping up their regional foreign military exchanges. Considering the geographical make up of East Asia, pumping more funds into training Coast Guards is a good security issue to work on. Pretty interesting news if Japan actually goes ahead with selling naval equipment (Cutters or even the diesel subs) to Vietnam. Granted it has been quite a few decades since they made their last point, but if there is any SEA military to keep anti-Chinese it would be the Vietnamese. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/world/asia/japan-expands-its-regional-military-role.html?pagewanted=1&hp
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Nov 27, 2012 07:58
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Ahhh, what would a week be without Ishihara popping up with some more fiery rhetoric? http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/ishihara-calls-for-nuclear-armed-japan Irishdrunk posted:So it looks like Japan is gradually ramping up their regional foreign military exchanges. Considering the geographical make up of East Asia, pumping more funds into training Coast Guards is a good security issue to work on. Pretty interesting news if Japan actually goes ahead with selling naval equipment (Cutters or even the diesel subs) to Vietnam. Granted it has been quite a few decades since they made their last point, but if there is any SEA military to keep anti-Chinese it would be the Vietnamese. You think? I would argue that the Vietnamese are pretty pissed already at China for the Paracels; while it's good to have the Vietnamese on your side, I'd think making sure Indonesia was on board would be the number one priority in SE Asia...
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Nov 27, 2012 08:37
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Just braved a light blizzard to see Hashimoto give a campaign speech for the JRP He's still a bit off of the deep end on some topics, but at least he seems serious about representing change. Shame he had to align with Ishihara
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Nov 27, 2012 12:53
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Frankly, they sound like a bunch of wing nuts to me. Putting Ishihara in the forefront sends a very clear message. Sure they'd change stuff, but they'd almost all be changes for the worse, especially for non-Japanese residents.
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Nov 28, 2012 10:16
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CronoGamer posted:Has there been any more development on this? With elections coming up in like ~3 weeks, how will that work? Will they just use the old districts/system until a new electoral process is worked out, and basically say "lol gently caress you" to the Supreme Court? Noda and the LDP agreed to actually reduce the number of seats by 5 in order to comply with the ruling, so it's not like the government is going "lol f u" or anything. But reducing those seats and changing around the election mechanics does take time so it won't be ready in time for the 12/16 election. They'll use the old system and then work the new one out later.
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Nov 28, 2012 10:21
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So I was reading the prefectural newspaper today and they had an article where they went and asked different industries what their feelings on the TPP was. The one that had me the most confused was the health industry. They said:quote:TPP加われば、保険適用の診断と適用外の自由医療を受けられ、日本が世界に誇られる国民皆保険を守ろう。
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Dec 4, 2012 08:01
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It's more like, "If we do join the TPP, let's protect our excellent national health insurance that allows us to freely receive treatment both for conditions that are diagnosed as covered by insurance and those that aren't." I don't have any contacts in the healthcare industry, but from what I know about the TPP, it doesn't sound like it would have much of an impact on the health insurance system, since it mainly focuses on intellectual property rights.
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Dec 4, 2012 11:33
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Protocol 5 posted:I don't have any contacts in the healthcare industry, but from what I know about the TPP, it doesn't sound like it would have much of an impact on the health insurance system, since it mainly focuses on intellectual property rights.
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Dec 4, 2012 13:35
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Nope, I was talking specifically about how it would affect healthcare in Japan. It wouldn't have any effect on healthcare or health insurance providers except within the realm of patented drugs, etc, and Japan doesn't have public health problems anywhere near the scale of, say, HIV infection rates in Thailand. The IP protection provisions are one of the major sources of resistance within less affluent countries considering membership, mainly because they are worried about pharmaceutical companies throwing their weight around and the way they have in Africa. There's also some potential for increased restrictions on free speech, but that's not really germane to healthcare.
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Dec 4, 2012 15:56
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Kenishi posted:Huh? IP rights? Are you sure you you're not mixing something else up? The TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) is a free trade agreement that sets out to remove trade tariffs between countries that join. I haven't heard anything really concerning IP rights in the talks. The USTR has put HUGE emphasis on the IP portions of the TPP. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Strategic_Economic_Partnership#Intellectual_property_provisions
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Dec 4, 2012 16:09
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Kenishi posted:Huh? IP rights? Are you sure you you're not mixing something else up? The TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) is a free trade agreement that sets out to remove trade tariffs between countries that join. I haven't heard anything really concerning IP rights in the talks. Are you sure, though? Because every time "free trade agreement" gets suggested to Australia by the US, it's mostly "you freely remove all your tariffs and implement all our anal-raping intellectual property laws, and we'll continue to trade with you". "Free trade" agreement is an absolute misnomer, and I'm quite confident the US is jamming the same sort of thing in the TPP as well.
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Dec 5, 2012 02:26
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The Wiki seems to suggest that originally it was conceived by New Zealand and Singapore and later added the US. But the IP stuff definitely appears to have been rammed through by the US according to the wiki. Some of this stuff is pretty ridiculous.
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Dec 5, 2012 05:23
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I guess the Tokyo governor's race still has mandatory TV time for all candidates, and still has candidates like this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnxqMZkuAQs Mac Akasaka of the Smile Party requests your vote! edit: actually I can't tell if he wants your vote or not, he just wants you to smile and take your attitude from NEGATIVE to POSITIVE! Samurai Sanders fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Dec 7, 2012 |
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Dec 7, 2012 19:30
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I think its just a way for him to get on TV and get attention. There's no way he is seriously pursuing votes. On a different note. In my prefecture one of the district's LDP runner is coming down on the side of wanting to reform Article 9 which. This has me wondering if the LDP is aiming for Article 9 reform as a party or if its just the usually internal faction stuff. I hear they (and by they, I mean Abe) caused a bit of a ruckus by stating they wanted to increase the reactor count in Japan. Many weren't too happy about that, but according to the polls in my prefecture the LDP is winning by a pretty decent margin in every district.
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Dec 7, 2012 21:24
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Kenishi posted:I hear they (and by they, I mean Abe) caused a bit of a ruckus by stating they wanted to increase the reactor count in Japan. Many weren't too happy about that By reactor count, do you mean nuke power plants? 'cause if so, I sure as hell hope they do. The sooner people get over this bullshit knee-jerk reaction to Fukushima, the better.
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Dec 8, 2012 00:49
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Samurai Sanders posted:I guess the Tokyo governor's race still has mandatory TV time for all candidates, and still has candidates like this... Well this is about what I'd expect from a graduate of my university...
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Dec 8, 2012 05:27
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Posted on a friend's Facebook:quote:Japan is having an election on the 16th. Here's the rundown on what's happening: 
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Dec 14, 2012 14:13
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Look at the bright side, at least this friend of yours probably won't vote in this election, or is there someone worse running? Also, this is incredibly funny, because my Japanese professor, when we were discussing about Japanese politics, told me that the left in Japan doesn't, or at least there's no leftist party being relevant enough to make a difference or shake the stagnating nursing home known as Japanese Diet. I Love Annie May fucked around with this message at 15:30 on Dec 14, 2012 |
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Dec 14, 2012 15:27
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I Love Annie May posted:the stagnating nursing home known as Japanese Diet.
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Dec 14, 2012 15:55
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I Love Annie May posted:Look at the bright side, at least this friend of yours probably won't vote in this election, or is there someone worse running? Yep, the two main parties have always been pretty similar in their views, and now they've both drifted a bit right. Like you say there's not really a relevant leftist party in Japan.
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Dec 14, 2012 15:55
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The left parties in Japan aren't so bad (They more or less articulate what the demands of the popular movements are today), but they are considered basically irrelevant. I suppose if they were to merge they might have slightly more clout, but I can't really see that happening (even though their platforms are very similar).
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Dec 14, 2012 15:58
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Pollyanna posted:Posted on a friend's Facebook: Haha, holy poo poo. Is your friend some kind of Right-Wing joke or something? I can't stop laughing at "Evil Cultural Socialists"! Ahaha, socialists in Japan...
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Dec 14, 2012 18:26
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Deceitful Penguin posted:Haha, holy poo poo. Is your friend some kind of Right-Wing joke or something? If it wasn't for the unhealthy love affair with north Korea some of their leadership has, I 'd probably throw my hat in with the SDP. But Jesus Christ if they don't go out of their way to drive away potential allies. edit: vvvvvvvvvvvvvv oh gently caress me, thanks for noticing, I hope that wasn't some sort of Freudian slip. Though the JCP is not entirely disagreeable in many of their socialist non-revolutionary policies, I really don't fancy any more copies of the Spartacist newsletter. DeepSpaceBeans fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Dec 16, 2012 |
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Dec 15, 2012 22:46
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DeepSpaceBeans posted:If it wasn't for the unhealthy love affair with north Korea some of their leadership has, I 'd probably throw my hat in with the communists. But Jesus Christ if they don't go out of their way to drive away potential allies. I think you have the Social Democrats (社民党) in mind?
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Dec 16, 2012 05:19
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Results are in, LDP/Komeito took 326 of the 480 seats, giving them the outright majority with no other coalition needed. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss! (unless the TV is lying to me and it's pure speculation)
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Dec 16, 2012 12:04
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That's still speculation, but they'll easily cruise past 240 according to all the actually solid returns I'm seeing on TV/online. LDP/Komeito is anywhere between 230-260 right now depending on where you look.
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Dec 16, 2012 13:16
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Its difficult to apply a traditional left-right identity on Japanese political parties. The LDP for example are very pro-stimulus and Keynesian-style economics is traditionally associated with the left in the West. Both main parties are becoming more hawkish in terms of their approaches to regional politics, but to be honest considering what's been happening in Korea and China, not to do so would be out of step with the rest of the country.
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Dec 16, 2012 13:18
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Back to the LDP and Abe again eh... It's like I never left.
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Dec 16, 2012 18:51
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Looks like LDP/Komeito are officially over the 320-seat mark, according to the Asahi. Shinzo Abe with a parliamentary super-majority, 5 years after he was turfed out with approval ratings of sub 20%. This loving electoral system.
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Dec 16, 2012 19:46
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Apraxin posted:Looks like LDP/Komeito are officially over the 320-seat mark, according to the Asahi. Shinzo Abe with a parliamentary super-majority, 5 years after he was turfed out with approval ratings of sub 20%. This loving electoral system. Is this just a reflection of the fact that they basically have to vote for either the LDP or DPJ, or does he have actual support?
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Dec 16, 2012 22:43
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By the way, does anyone know why Komeito is called NEW Komeito in English, but just in English? Looking at the Wikipedia page, it was indeed reformed once, but they didn't change the Japanese name really, just their own English name for the party. Hell, the Japanese version of the page says "公明党 New Komeito" right on it. edit: wait I'm confused, according to this, Naoto Kan lost his seat but then...didn't? Frankly I don't understand why, that proportional representation part of their election system is something I haven't fully grasped. Samurai Sanders fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Dec 16, 2012 |
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Dec 16, 2012 22:45
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Any word on when they're going to stop covering the countryside in concrete? That might save a few bucks.
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Dec 16, 2012 22:50
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Teddles posted:Any word on when they're going to stop covering the countryside in concrete? That might save a few bucks. Now that the LDP's back in, they're going to put the accelerator of the concrete-pouring machine to the floor, so no time soon, I expect.
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Dec 16, 2012 23:08
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Weatherman posted:Now that the LDP's back in, they're going to put the accelerator of the concrete-pouring machine to the floor, so no time soon, I expect. I thought as much 
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Dec 16, 2012 23:34
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