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The return of Abe

thomas

Unswerving cyclist
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14 Mar 2002
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And here we go again, back to base one. Let's see if he can last for more than nine months this time.

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Exit polls: LDP wins clear majority with 275-300 seats

The LDP will stick with its long-time partnership with the Komeito, a Buddhist-backed party, to form a coalition government, said Yoshihide Suga, deputy secretary general of the party. Together, they will probably control about 320 seats, NHK projected - a two-thirds majority that would make it easier for the government to pass legislation.

What a disaster. Just how short can Japan's short-term memory be?

To revive Japan's stagnant economy, Abe will likely push for increased public works spending and lobby for stronger moves by the central bank to break Japan out of its deflationary trap.

More tunnels, dams, and concrete-reinforced riverbeds please!

Voters also appeared to back the LDP's vows to build a stronger, more assertive country to answer increasing pressure from China and threats of North Korean rocket launches. Abe has repeatedly said he will protect Japan's "territory and beautiful seas" amid a territorial dispute with China over some uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

Back to the "beautification" of Japan...

He has said he regrets not visiting Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines Japan's war dead, including Class-A war criminals, during his term as prime minister. China and South Korea oppose such visits, saying they reflect Japan's reluctance to fully atone for its wartime atrocities.

... and back into splendid isolation.

What a sad day. Not unexpected though.
 
I am in awe that the win was by such a majority, especially with Abe at the helm. Indeed, memories are short. Or are ballot boxes stuffed? Its hard to tell.


I don't think Abe needs to stop his Yasukuni visits as much as I think he needs to propose legislation to either clean the place up or make some other place the official war dead memorial. Some place that actually features war dead rather than pay respects to scumbags executed after the war would be nice.

Japan does not need to apologize for the war and the atrocities. They need to apologize for utterly failing to admit the wrongs of the past clearly and vocally. Yet you have people like Abe and Ishihara who seem to yearn for the war years and think there will be a different outcome with a second chance. Not bloody likely.

Its because of people like Abe that WWII can never really end. Its till being fought today in people's hearts thanks to jerks like Abe.
 
I think that to some japanese right wingers, the struggle actually started at the time of the Meiji restoration and to this day continues. The pacific war was part of this process but it didn't end it. At the heart of it lies the conviction that Japan should never become a truly globalized nation bowing to others. It is similar to european nationalism but with the difference that Japan historically views itself as being forced into the world order dictated by the british, french and americans. For a japanese nationalist, the current economic system would for example be a means for survival, every action is seen as a strategic move with Japan's independence in mind, while for an american or european the economic system and the liberal democracy is an end in itself.

I see nothing wrong in putting ones own people, culture and nation before the interests of the "international community".

In fact, Germany is doing much the same thing. Although they have publically apologized for the war many times and are outwards playing with the "international community" they are preparing for financial meltdown by building their gold reserves, being self sufficient in agriculture, some see the current shift in the power balance of Europe, with Britain sinking in the ocean, France crumbling etc as their big "revenge". They don't need to revive their dark past to achieve it, they just need to not forget they are germans first hand and international citizens secondly.

Look at Britain. It is what Japan does NOT want to become. Around ten percent of Britain's physical land is owned by foreigners such as oligarks, sheiks etc. They are not self sufficient in terms of food. They are not ethnically homogenous and with nothing but the financing market binding the different cultures together as a nation. The nation is basically just a dismembered corpse on the mortem table of the international market, covered up behind a backdrop of nice words and a constitution.
A possible scenario for a nation like Britain in 50 years time would be most of the population being unemployed, daily racial riots, starvation etc with most of the wealthy british population already migrating to Australia, Canada etc...

Also, the Opium war(s), which Britain doesn't even acknowledge by its real name, was probably the single most dirty act of imperialist aggression ever made and to this day Britain has not apologized to China and has not returned the ancient relics stolen when they raped the population and plundered the imperial palace. How can a nation such as Britain demand that Japan makes apologies when japanese imperialism was a direct counteraction to british and american imperialism?

It's time for the western world order to end. I'd rather see a more ethnopluralist world and a strong independent Japan will certainly be a good friend for many nations with a similar attitude.
 
Half-Fast Mike said:
We apologise for the interruption of LDP corruption over the last few years by DPJ corruption. Normal nepotistic back-scratching back-stabbing petty wholesale corruption service has been resumed. Thank you for not voting - we knew we could count on you to not count.

So true. :)
 
I actually think Abe is good for Japan. He is a great leader and has some clear plans about how to move ahead!
 
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