Japan (catch all)

[Danny]

I have long begged that Southeast Asia begin to prepare to defend themselves. A map of deployments (for the U.K., U.S.) shows the heavy concentration still in Germany (U.K.), Japan, SK, and while not in Taiwan, they are under our umbrella of defense.

All the while, we are suffering under a war that is underfunded and undermanned in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is way past time to rethink our strategic priorities and take the hard actions.

Abe has the right idea. Thanks for the link Dave.

[tequila]

Governing Party in Japan Suffers Election Defeat - NYTIMES, 30 July.

Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat Sunday in the election for the upper house of Parliament, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed that he would not step down.

The main opposition Democratic Party seized control of the upper house by a landslide, capturing seats not only in cities but also in rural districts that had long been strongholds of the Liberal Democratic Party. The rout was widespread, with household names in the governing party falling one after another before opposition newcomers. It could also stall Tokyo’s moves toward a more assertive foreign policy and active military.

In a devastating rebuke to Mr. Abe, angry voters punished him for his mishandling of bread-and-butter issues and for a series of scandals in a government seemingly in disarray. Past prime ministers have resigned in the face of similar losses, but Mr. Abe, even before all the votes were counted, tried to head off inevitable questions about his leadership ...

[Jedburgh]

Military Review, Jan-Feb 11: Muddled Dawn: The Implications of the New Administration in Japan

Nine months after the DPJ’s landslide, the party’s first prime minister, Hatoyama Yukio, resigned, largely over a contretemps surrounding the Futenma issue. Japan ushered in its fifth prime minister in less than four years. Soon the ink was spilled again, this time declaring Japan ungovernable. Has there indeed been a new dawn for the Rising Sun? Should Americans be worried, as some pundits seem to be, about the alliance, or more recently, Japan’s reliability? Probably the questions most Americans would ask are: Why should we care? Why do we still have troops in peaceful Japan more than 60 years after World War II? Why is Japan important, and why is it unique?