Photo Source: Wall Street Journal.

Wall Street Journal: Noda Favored to Succeed Kan as Japan’s Premier

Yoshihiko Noda is hardly a household name in Japan, but that may be about to change as the lawmaker is increasingly seen as a party front-runner to succeed the prime minister.

*****

ABC News: Reports: Japan PM Pushed to Set [...]

3-D Animation Hatsune Miku. Photo Source: AFP

AFP: Japan 3-D pop avatar a real-world hit

She doesn’t demand six-figure recording contracts, always shows up on time, never throws tantrums and won’t break a sweat during a two-hour live show in a concert hall packed with thousands of adoring followers.

*****

Asahi: EDITORIAL: Kan needs to announce [...]

Photo Source: Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal: Move Over Kate, Princess Masako Is Back

At a school gymnasium now used as a shelter, Princess Masako knelt on the floor and spoke to evacuees there. Media reports said a 67-year-old woman tearfully explained to the royal couple that she fled with little more than the [...]

Photo Source: Asahi Shimbun.

Facing a vote of no-confidence in the Japanese Diet today, which it appeared he was set to lose with a large chunk of his own party joining with the opposition, Prime Minister Kan Naoto has announced that he will resign from his position at a future date. Just when this will [...]

According to a new NTV poll, conducted between the 15th and 17th of April, 17.2% of respondents approved of the Prime Minister Kan’s handling of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Accident. 68.5% answered that they didn’t approve, and a further 14.3% were unsure. Kan has been taking a battering in the media and from the [...]

With the resignation of Hatoyama Yukio last week, Kan Naoto became the fifth man to hold the post of Japanese Prime Minister since September 2006. Since this time, Abe Shinzo (1 year), Fukuda Yasuo (1 year), Aso Taro (1 year), and Hatoyama Yukio (8.5 months) have all failed to govern beyond their first anniversary… Indeed, [...]

Masuzoe Yoichi spoke at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan yesterday, where he again highlighted the LDP’s need for reform. With the DPJ government’s approval ratings falling with every passing month, the LDP should theoretically be well placed to perform well at the Upper House elections scheduled for later this year. But they have [...]

Kyodo news carried out a telephone poll of 1,025 registered voters over the weekend, and found that support for the Hatoyama Cabinet had fallen 10.2% since a similar poll a few weeks after the election. In spite of the fall, support is still relatively high, at 61.8%.

On a party basis, 43.2% of [...]

If the LDP were looking to re-invigorate themselves, and show that they had learned something from the recent thrashing, you wouldn’t know it. The vastly depleted party today chose 64 year old Tanigaki Sadakazu, a 26 year veteran of parliament, as their new leader. Tanigaki was formerly Finance Minister in the Koizumi administration, serving in [...]

I just read an interesting editorial at Japan Today, which apparently first appeard at Metropolis (although I was unable to find that link). The writer, CB Liddell, argued that the emergence of a two party system in Japan would raise new dangers. He claims that:

“As we see in the West, it is likely to lead [...]