"Lagging rivals, Japan beefs up textbooks" by Associated Press | September 6, 2010
TOKYO — Japan’s near-the-top rank on international standardized tests has fallen, stunning this nation where education has long been a source of pride.
The textbook debate mirrors one in the United States....
For Japan, the debate reflects a deeper anxiety as the country struggles to find direction in a world where its influence has waned.
They can't lash out and invade people like us?
Its once-powerful — and now stagnant — economy has been overtaken by China’s, and political leaders are grappling with how to deal with a bulging national deficit and an aging, shrinking population.
Related: What's the Beef With the Japanese?
Yeah, putting those old folks back to work should help.
Also see: China's Economic Indicators
Signs that Japan’s academic prowess is sliding have added to the consternation.
As in the United States.
Furthermore, the number of Japanese students studying abroad has fallen....
But the MSM told me that was a good thing.
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So what do they have to say about the economy?
"Analysts dismiss Japan’s stimulus plan as too timid" by Hiroko Tabuchi, International Herald Tribune | August 31, 2010
Japan promised a host of measures yesterday in a bid to revive its faltering economy and temper a punishingly strong yen: Prime Minister Naoto Kan proposed new stimulus steps, while the central bank, under strong government pressure, loosened its already easy monetary policy.
But analysts called the measures too timid in the face of the problems facing the country’s export-oriented economy. A yen that has paradoxically surged to 15-year highs against the dollar despite weaknesses in the Japanese economy, coupled with the damaging phenomenon of falling prices known as deflation, continue to weigh on any hopes of a strong recovery, they said.
That must mean YOUR DOLLAR SUCKS, America!
No wonder PRICES KEEP RISING even though DEMAND is WAY DOWN HERE!
“There seems to be a sense of fatalism,’’ said Richard Jerram, an economist in Tokyo for the investment bank Macquarie. “The B.O.J. continues to play the same old game of making incremental but ultimately meaningless policy changes in response to political pressure,’’ he said, referring to the Bank of Japan.
Oh, we have the same here in AmeriKa!
“The government talks of the need for fiscal reconstruction but then tries to construct an economic stimulus package with tiny fiscal measures and minor, uncoordinated structural reforms,’’ he said.
We have stopped listening to them.
The global economic crisis led Japan to its worst recession in decades, and the country’s recovery since then has looked increasingly shaky. Figures released this month showed that the Japanese economy grew just 0.1 percent in the April-June quarter. The jump in the yen has hampered Japanese exporters, who are responsible for much of the country’s growth, by making their products less competitive in world markets....
Apart from easing the yen’s rise, these measures are intended to help the economy by increasing the supply of money in the financial system and encouraging banks to bolster lending.
That WILL help the YEN GO DOWN! Fed did it to our dollar with its stimuloot.
Banks didn't lend, though; they pocketed it.
But years of economic stagnation in Japan have sapped demand for fresh loans from companies and consumers, despite rock-bottom interest rates, fueling deflation, a general decline in prices that eats into profit and wages.
You seem to be SOMEWHERE in the MIDDLE THERE, AmeriKa!!
The bank also indicated that it had downgraded its assessment of the economy, citing volatile foreign exchange markets and uncertainty over the economic health of major trading partners like the United States....
Yeah, things are NOT LOOKING GOOD for your economy at all, AmriKa; however, it is in slow motion!
You won't even notice until it is YOU out on the STREETS!
TOKYO — Prime Minister Naoto Kan of Japan, on the job for just 85 days, could soon be knocked from power by his chief rival, Ichiro Ozawa, who is seeking to regain political prestige that Kan had helped to undermine.
Kan and Ozawa kicked off their campaigns for the presidency of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, releasing separate policy statements this week....
Because the Democratic Party of Japan controls the powerful lower house, its president becomes prime minister. If Ozawa wins, he will become Japan’s third leader within a year. His possible comeback runs counter to public opinion, with polls favoring Kan 4 to 1.
Related: Japan's New Man
Bought it.
Also see: Japanese Battle Axe
Ozawa faces possible indictment in connection with a fund-raising scandal and was deposed three months ago as the party’s number two. But observers say it is possible that he will win the vote — testimony to his skills as a back-room dealer who trades favors for loyalty.
Just what democracies love!
“He is the least popular politician in Japan, bar none,’’ said Jeff Kingston, a Japan specialist at Temple University in Tokyo.
Then he is not winning!
The Kan-Ozawa contest serves as a reminder of Japan’s search for a decisive leader....
It's a WaPo PoS.
In August 2009, the Democratic Party of Japan steamrolled the Liberal Democratic Party, ending a half-century of almost unbroken one-party rule and delivering hope for a government characterized by transparency, not corruption.
Yes, I remember asking who lost Japan at the time.
The party’s first prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, held the job for nine months, undone in part by his unrealized promise to relocate a US Marine air station off Okinawa. When Hatoyama resigned June 2, Ozawa — Hatoyama’s closest adviser — stepped down as secretary general.
See: Okinawa's Unwanted House Guest
Also see: Empire More Important Than Earthquakes
The showdown between Kan, 63, and Ozawa, 68, further underscores the policy divide within the Democratic Party of Japan. Kan has developed a pragmatic approach toward the United States, backing off from Hatoyama’s assertion that Japan needs greater independence from Washington.
Looks like empire overrides a lot of things -- even Japanese public opinion.
Ozawa is pushing for policies that more resemble Hatoyama’s. He said he would seek fresh talks with Washington to reopen debate about whether the Futenma air station belongs on Okinawa.
Now I'm positive he will be trounced in the vote.
He also pledged to intervene in the surge of the yen, proposing a $23.7 billion stimulus package — nearly twice the size of a package proposed this week by Kan — to energize the Japanese economy.
That's politics!
What do the bankers say?
US officials in Tokyo suggest that Ozawa will find little appetite, especially within Asia, for readdressing the location of Futenma. North Korea’s torpedoing of a South Korean warship in March has heightened security concerns about Pyongyang.
See: Korean False Flag All About Okinawa
And CUI BONO?
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