"Vote on Japanese leader offers choice of style and substance; Prime minister’s challenger vows bigger spending" by John Brinsley, Bloomberg News | September 14, 2010
TOKYO — The Democratic Party of Japan swept to power last year promising to end a political system built on patronage and public works splurging that fed the world’s largest debt. Today, the party will decide whether to replace Prime Minister Naoto Kan with a man who embodies both.
Ichiro Ozawa, dubbed the “Shadow Shogun’’ for a 40-year career spanning five political parties, will challenge Kan, 63, in a ballot of DPJ members. Ozawa heads the party’s largest faction and engineered the 2009 landslide that almost tripled its seats in parliament, giving it an overall majority in the chamber that elects Japan’s prime minister.
The possibility of an Ozawa victory drove bond yields higher this month after he pledged to more than double Kan’s stimulus package, even at the cost of issuing more debt. His leadership challenge, launched after Kan refused to make what he called back-room deals, has fractured the party, detracting from efforts to end deflation and bolster the economy.
See: Globe Gives Japan a Good Schooling
“Ozawa’s an anachronistic politician,’’ said Noriko Hama, an economics professor at Doshisha University’s Business School in Kyoto. “He relies on doing things behind closed doors and twisting arms. He seems to be fighting yesterday’s wars with yesterday’s words.’’
And the most unpopular politician in Japan -- which makes you wonder why my agenda-pushing AmeriKan newspaper is giving me such one-sided view.
Ozawa, 68, has proposed $23.8 billion in stimulus, raising concern he would add to a debt burden already approaching 200 percent of gross domestic product.
That is not a good ratio.
Ozawa’s platform includes helping prefectures build expressways funded by zero-coupon bonds and doubling a monthly child allowance for families to $310.
He has said his government would be prepared to sell yen to stem its advance.
He also pledged to renegotiate an accord with the United States to keep a Marine base in Okinawa despite local opposition. Doing so would reopen a dispute that damaged ties with the White House and led to the June resignation of Yukio Hatoyama as the DPJ’s first prime minister, and the appointment of Kan.
He's OUR GUY!!
Apparently the U.S. can not accept democracy anywhere in the world, even from an ally.
Kan’s three-month tenure has been dominated by debate over how to safeguard a fragile export-led economic recovery threatened by falling stocks and the yen’s surge to a 15-year high....
That sounds like you, America, although your dollar is in the dumps.
The public favors Kan over Ozawa by 66 percent to 18 percent, a Yomiuri poll showed Sept. 6.
Then why the campaign flier for this f***, Globe?
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The Globe follow-up?
A photograph you never saw in the web version:
"SURVIVES CHALLENGE -- Prime Minister Naoto Kan (right) was reelected president of Japan's ruling Democratic Party yesterday, staving off a challenge from Ichiro Ozawa (left). Kan emerged from yesterday's elections with 721 votes to Ozawa's 491, a margin larger than morning polls and predictions had indicated. Kan says he will stick with a current bilateral agreement on the relocation of a controversial US Marine base on Okinawa (Boston Globe September 15 2010)."
And what's up with the yen?
"Japan intervenes to weaken the yen; Move intended to give nation’s exporters a boost" by Tomoko A. Hosaka, Associated Press | September 16, 2010
TOKYO — Japan made a surprise foray into currency markets yesterday to reverse the yen’s ascent, which has been bad for companies like Toyota and Sony that are critical to the country’s economy.
Relieved investors sent Japanese stock prices up 2.3 percent after news of the Bank of Japan’s market intervention came out. Shares of Japanese exporters jumped and the yen fell 3 percent or more against major currencies including the dollar, euro, and British pound. It was the yen’s biggest one-day move against the dollar since the fall of 2008, at the height of the financial crisis.
Japanese officials would not provide a figure for how much yen the central bank sold in the market, and analysts cautioned that the long-term impact would depend on whether, and how, US and European central banks respond.
The dollar purchases by Japan’s central bank caught markets off guard because traders had believed that Prime Minister Naoto Kan was unlikely to orchestrate such an intervention.
So it really doesn't matter who you elect, does it?
All government policies are driven by banks, not voters.
But Tokyo has been under intense pressure from manufacturers whose exports have become less competitive around the globe as a result of the strong yen....
Of course, at home a strong yen is good since it means Japanese purchasing power is greater for the Japanese consumer.
On the flip side:
Normally investors seeking stable investments in currency markets turn to the US dollar, but the dollar has been slumping against other currencies in recent weeks as US interest rates have fallen, making the dollar a less attractive investment versus other currencies.
That is why PRICES KEEP RISING even during the recession, Americans.
Your DOLLAR is WORTH LESS because the Fed flooded the economy with them to "save" it.
Of course, the corporate media views that as a good thing since all economies are designed for export now. To hell with taking care of the people.
That has led risk-averse investors to shift money into the yen and the Swiss franc, both of which are also seen as safe places to park money.
AmeriKa is no longer safe? Too much of a debt load?
A strong yen hurts Japanese exporters’ foreign income and makes their products less competitive in overseas markets....
But it does allow the Japanese consumer to buy more.
But there was widespread skepticism that Tokyo can keep the yen on a tight leash without coordinated action by major central banks around the world.
“The effect from Japan’s solo intervention won’t last very long. We have to see how the US and European monetary authorities would react,’’ said Yuji Kameoka, chief forex strategist at Daiwa Institute.
Now you know who is running the show.
For example, if the US Federal Reserve sought to bolster the US economy by ramping up purchases of Treasurys to drive down interest rates, that would potentially weaken the dollar against other currencies, including the yen.
Yeah, that was how the Fed "saved" us before -- even though we now find ourselves right back where we were.
“This could be a very tough time for Japanese authorities if the Fed really implements a massive quantitative easing,’’ said Tomoko Fujii, a senior currency strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
The yen’s rise has also underscored tensions with China.Related: China Challenges U.S. Superpower Status
Some officials including the finance minister say China’s purchases of Japanese government bonds might be helping to drive the yen higher even as Beijing keeps its currency tightly controlled to protect the country’s exporters.
Yeah, what a pain in the butt that China actually protects its national interest.
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So how can we ease the tensions?
"Japan frees 14 Chinese crew members" by Associated Press | September 14, 2010
TOKYO — Japan freed 14 crew members of a Chinese fishing ship yesterday, nearly a week after their vessel and two Japanese patrol boats collided near disputed southern islets. But China lashed out at Tokyo’s decision to keep the captain in custody.
Such collisions or close calls in disputed waters have frequently touched off nationalistic protests among the broader population and complicate efforts to improve ties between China and Japan — wary neighbors that are the world’s second- and third-largest economies and major trading partners.
Anyone ever hear of an accident?
Beijing has said the confrontation could damage its relations with Japan.
Well, confrontation never helps!
The dispute has prompted anti-Japanese activists in China and Taiwan, which also claims the islands in question, to sail to the area on their own protest missions — although both governments have sought to rein them in....
So who would want or benefit from stirring things up?
Good thing the U.S. fleet is always there to.... hey, cui bono?
I'm always glad when Chinese people are happy.
Also see: Japanese Deaf to Dolphin Song
I guess the MSM lost its hearing, too.
