Prime Minister of Japan's Schedule May 20-27

May 20, 2013 (Mon)

AM
09:22 Office
10:32 Ministerial Council on Monthly Economic Report and Other Relative Issues
10:52 Economic Revitalization Minister Amari; Mr. Matsumoto, Administrative Vice Minister of Cabinet Office; and others
11:08 Administrative Vice Foreign Minister Kawai; Deputy Foreign Minister Saiki; and Mr. Ishikawa, Director South Asia Department
11:35 Mr. Satoshi Ishikawa, President of Kyodo News

PM
12:55 Parliament
12:56 Upper House Audit Committee
05:03 LDP Executives meeting
05:31 Office
05:52 Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy
06:56 Deputy PM and Finance Minister Aso
07:09 Akasaka Shimada Osteopathic Clinic; back treatment
08:20 Imperial Hotel; attend the meeting with Western Japan Economic Federation, including Mr. Shousuke Mori, Chair of Kansai Power Company; Mr. Amari and Senior Vice Minister of Cabinet Office Nishimura attend
10:00 Home in Tomigaya

May 21, 2013 (Tue)

AM
07:55 Office
08:02 Ministerial Meeting
08:19 Headquarters on Creating Dynamism through Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Industries and Local Communities
08:37 Information Security Policy Council
09:34 Non-certified Childcare Facilities in Yokohama City
09:35 Ms. Fumiko Hayashi, Mayor of Yokohama City; Exchange opinions with childcare workers
10:24 Certified Childcare Facility in Yokohama
10:27 Mayor Hayashi; and Mr. Makoto Torii, President of Soutetsu Holdings, Owner of the facility
10:52 Press interview
11:39 Office

PM
12:01 Residence
12:02 Lunch with LDP first term members; Mr. Suga; Mr. Katou, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Kimura, Advisor for PM
12:43 Mr. Kouichi Hagyuda, LDP Lower House member
12:50 Office
01:00 Mr. Suga; and Mr. Iijima, Cabinet Office councilor (the official who went to North Korea)
02:33 Mr. Kitamura, Director, Cabinet Intelligence; and Mr. Shimohira, Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center Director
02:43 Mr. Shimohira leaves
02:54 Mr. Kitamura leaves
02:58 Mr. Yoneda, Director-General of the National Police Agency
03:40 Mr. Yonemura, Cabinet Crisis Management Director
04:21 Defense Minister Onodera; Mr. Tokuchi, Defense Policy Bureau Director General; Mr. Kouno, Maritime SDF Chief of Staff; and Mr. Kataoka, Air SDF Chief of Staff
05:02 Administrative Vice Foreign Minister Kawai
05:47 Ambassador Shin Kak-Soo of South Korea
06:01 Justice Minister Tanigaki
06:21 Submission of Proposal by the Public-Private Council for the Promotion of TICAD V
06:29 Ms. Inada, Minister for Administrative Reform
06:48 Deputy Foreign Minister Saiki
06:50 Mr. Sugiyama, Director General of MoFA Asia Oceania Affairs Bureau
07:25 Both leave
07:30 Residence
07:31 Dinner with Mr. Aso
09:23 Home in Tomigaya

May 22, 2013 (Wed)

AM
09:31 Office
09:53 Parliament
10:00 Upper House Plenary Session
10:26 Hibiya Public Hall; Regular General Meeting of the National Association of Chairpersons of City Councils
10:50 Office
11:16 Japan-Singapore Summit Meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

PM
12:00 Luncheon hosted by Prime Minister
12:56 See off Prime Minister Lee
12:59 Mr. Furuya, Minister in charge of the Abduction Issue
01:27 Education Minister Shimomura; Deputy Education Minister Yamanaka
01:40 Mr. Yamanaka leaves
01:51 Mr. Shimomura leaves
01:52 Mr. Nemonto, Minister for Reconstruction
03:03 Education Rebuilding Implementation Council
03:56 Mr. Kitamura, Director, Cabinet Intelligence
04:51 Foreign Minister Kishida
05:24 Deputy Foreign Minister Saiki and others
05:30 Courtesy Call from the Winners of the Future Shinkansen Contest
05:42 Mr. Yoshio Mochizuki, LDP Administrative Reform Promotion Director
06:03 Industrial Competitiveness Council
07:08 Residence; Dinner with Tsutomu Yamazaki, LDP Upper House Budget Committee member; and Mr. Masaaki Taniai, New Komei Party Upper House member; Mr. Sekou attends
09:07 Home in Tomigaya

May 23, 2013 (Thu)

AM
08:38 Office
08:39 Mr. Koumura, LDP Vice President
09:11 Mr. Sekou, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
09:32 Request from the Headquarters for the Revitalization of Education of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan
09:54 Parliament
10:00 Upper House Cabinet Committee
11:08 Office
11:34 Japan-Thailand Summit Meeting with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra

PM
12:11 Luncheon hosted by Prime Minister
01:04 See off Prime Minister Yingluck
01:52 Filipino Foreign Minister Del Rosario
02:20 Gathering of Persons with Disabilities with the Prime Minister
03:05 Press interview
03:09 Mr. Ichiro Aisawa, President of Japan-Africa Federation Friendship Diet Member’s Caucus
03:29 Deputy Foreign Minister Saiki; and Deputy Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister Sasaki
04:24 Mr. Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary
05:00 Mr. Kurt Campbell, former Assistant Secretary of State; and Mr. David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group
05:42 Tokyo Kaikan hall Rose Room, Celebration of the Japan Pharmaceutical Wholesalers Association
05:55 Office
06:33 Imperial Hotel, Chidori no Ma Room, Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Thiện Nhân of Vietnam
06:44 Meeting Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister H.E. Keat Chhon of Cambodia
06:55 Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H.E. Dr. Thongloun Sisoulith
07:10 Reception Hall Kujaku no Ma Room; Banquet of the 19th International Conference on the Future of Asia
08:09 Conversation with Seikei Gakuen Alumni including Mr. Ryouzou Kato, Commissioner of Nippon Professional Baseball and Mr. Atsuyuki Sassa, former Cabinet Office National Security Chief
09:59 Home in Tomigaya

May 24, 2013 (Fri)

AM
08:04 Office
08:10 Strategic Headquarters for the Promotion of an Advanced Information and Telecommunications Network Society
08:28 Ministerial meeting
08:40 Ms. Mori, Minister in charge of Declining Birthrate
08:43 Mr .Sekou
09:53 Parliament
10:01 Upper House Plenary Session
11:54 Leave in the middle of the session
11:57 Office
11:58 Courtesy Call from the Iris Princesses and Others; Mr. Fukushirou Nukaga, former

Finance Minister, attends

PM
12:11 Mr. Ishiba, LDP Secretary General
12:30 Ruling Party Leaders meeting with Mr. Yamaguchi, President of New Komei Party; Mr. Ishiba; Mr. Inouye, New Komei’s Secretary General; Mr. Oota, Komei member, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transportation; and Mr. Suga
12:48 Mr. Oota leaves
01:23 All leave
01:24 Ms. Takaichi, LDP Policy Research Council Chief
02:02 Press Interview
02:24 Haneda Airport
02:49 Leave the airport for Myanmar with Mrs. Abe

Asia in this week's Washington

MANAGING TENSIONS IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA. 6/5-6, 8:00am-12:30pm. Sponsor: CSIS, Southeast Asia Program. Speakers: Dr. Patrick M. Cronin, Senior Advisor and Director, Asia-Pacific Security Program, Center for New American Security; Alexander Metelitsa, Economist, Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy; Joseph Y. Yun, Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, US Department of State; Ernest Z. Bower, Senior Advisor and Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies, CSIS; Dr. Wu Shicun, President, National Institute for South China Sea Studies; Dr. Tran Truong Thuy, Director, South China Sea Studies Program, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam; Dr. Renato C. De Castro, Professor, De La Salle University; Dr. Yann-Huei Song, Research Fellow, Institute of European American Studies; Murray Hiebert, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies, CSIS; Gregory B. Poling, Research Associate, Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies, CSIS; Dr. Zhang Xinjun, Associate Professor of Public International Law, Tsinghua University Law School; Henry S. Bensurto, Jr., Secretary General, Commission on Maritime and Ocean Affairs Secretariat, Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippines; Dr. Peter Dutton, Professor and Director, China Maritime Studies Institute, US Naval War College; Dr. Nguyen Dang Thang, Vietnam Lawyer’s Association; Bonnie S. Glaser, Senior Adviser for Asia, Freeman Chair in China Studies, CSIS; Leonardo Bernard, Research Fellow, Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore; Christian Le Miere, Senior Research Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security, Defense and Military Analysis Program, International Institute for Strategic Studies.

CHINA AND THE MIDDLE EAST. 6/6, 9:00am-2:00pm. Sponsor: U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Witnesses: Dawn Murphy, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Princeton-Harvard China in the World Program; Yitzhak Shichor, Professor Emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Haifa; Erica Downs, Fellow, John L. Thornton China Center, Brookings; Bryant Edwards, Partner, Latham and Watkins LLP (Hong Kong); Jon Alterman, Director, Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Joel Wuthnow, Research Analyst, China Studies at CNA; Andrew Erickson, Associate Professor and founding member, U.S. Naval War College's China Maritime Studies Institute.

FOSTERING U.S.-KOREA-JAPAN PARTNERSHIP FOR THE FUTURE. 6/6, 3:00-8:00pm, reception. Sponsor: International Student Conferences (ISC). Speakers: Ambassador Thomas Hubbard, former US ambassador to South Korea; Ambassador Kathleen Stephens, former US ambassador to South Korea; Glen S. Fukushima, former head of Airbus Japan, and Tami Overby, US Chamber of Commerce, Asia Department; Representatives from U.S. Department of State, Japan and Korea Embassies.

LOOKING EAST: INDIA, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE EVOLVING SECURITY ARCHITECTURE IN EAST ASIA. 6/7, 9:30-11:00am. Sponsor: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Speakers: Hemant Krishan Singh, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi; Frederic Grare, Senior Associate, Director, CEIP South Asia Program. 

INDIAN DEMOCRACY’S MID-LIFE CRISES. 6/7, 10:00-11:30am, Washington, DC. Sponsor: Center for Global Development. Speakers: Ramachandra Guha, Historian, Author; Arvind Subramanian, Senior Fellow and Director, Understanding India Initiative, Center for Global Development. 

Prime Minister of Japan's Schedule May 6-19

May 6, 2013 (Mon)

AM
07:11 Fujisakura Country Club; Golfing with Mrs. Abe; Mr. Kouichi Hagyuda, LDP Lower House member; Mr. Honda, Councilor of Cabinet Secretariat; and secretaries

PM
03:49 JR Ootski Station
04:07 Leave the station
05:16 Arrive at JR Shinjuku Station
05:34 Dinner with Mrs. Yoko Abe, Mother; and Mrs. Abe
08:20 Home in Tomigaya
09:02 Deputy Prime Minister Aso
10:46 Mr. Aso leaves

May 7, 2013 (Tue)

AM
08:54 Office
08:56 Former Prime Minister Yoshirou Mori
09:33 Ministerial Meeting
09:58 Imperial Palace; report of return

10:14 Office
10:54 Defense Minister Onodera; Mr. Kuroe, MoD Operation and Planning Bureau Director General; Mr. Iwasaki, SDF Director Joint Chiefs
11:34 Education Minister Shimomura; Deputy Education Minister Yamanaka; Mr. Nunomura, MEXT Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau Director General
11:43 Economic Revitalization Minister Amari
11:44 Mr. Matsumoto, Administrative Vice Minister of Cabinet Office, joins
11:47 Mr. Matsumoto leaves
11:53 Mr. Amari leaves
11:55 Mayor Kazuo Morishita of Ogasawara, Tokyo Prefecture

PM
12:04 Government・Ruling Party Liaison Meeting
12:55 Parliament
01:00 Upper House Budget Committee
05:15 Office
05:23 Courtesy Call from Minister of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic Mr. Laurent Fabius
05:47 Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy
06:45 Mr. Yachi, Councilor of Cabinet Office
06:54 Mrs. Junko Kawaguchi, Upper House Environment Committee Chair
07:13 Hotel New Ootani, Attend LDP Nikai Faction Party
07:33 Dinner with Yutaka Nishizawa, President of Jiji Press; and Mr. Shirou Tasaki, Jiji’s editorial writer, at Japanese restaurant Wadakura
09:36 Home in Tomigaya

May 8, 2013 (Wed)

AM
07:43 Office
08:52 Parliament
09:12 Governor Haruhiko Kurada of the Bank of Japan
09:39 Upper House Budget Committee

PM
12:01 Office
12:54 Parliament
12:57 Mr. Masuzoe, President of New Party Reform (Kaikaku)
01:12 Upper House Budget Committee
04:39 Dentist
04:56 Office
05:01 Mr. Kitamura, Director, Cabinet Intelligence
05:08 Foreign Minister Kishida
05:24 Education Rebuilding Implementation Council
06:16 Education Minister Shimomura
06:37 Residence; Dinner with Mr. Shigeo Nagashima, former Manager of Yomiuri Giants; Mr. Hideki Matsui, former baseball player for the New York Yankees; and Mr. Tsuneo Watanabe, Chair of Yomiuri Group; and Mr. Yoshio Okubo, President of Nippon TV; Mr. Suga attends
08:42 home in Tomigaya

May 9, 2013 (Thu)

AM
09:16 office
09:17 Mr. Sugiyama, MoFA Asia Oceaninan Bureau Director General
10:11 Imperial Palace;
11:15 Office
11:48 Economic Revitalization Minister Amari; METI Minister Motegi; Mr. Ishiguro, METI Industrial Policy Bureau Director General; and Mr.Sugawara, Manufacturing Industry Bureau Director General

PM
01:20 Imperial Palace
01:52 Office
02:34 Mr. Kitamura
03:14 Interview with the Huffington Post Japanese Version, Arianna Huffington, Japan Editor-in-Chief Shigeki Matsuura and International Editor Nicholas Sabloff
03:38 Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery Minister Hayashi; and Mr. Minagawa, Administrative Vice Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishry
04:09 Defense Minister Onodera; and Mr. Tokuchi, MoD Policy Bureau Director General
04:33 Mr. McNerney, CEO of Boeing
05:12 Administrative Vice Foreign Minister Kawai; Deputy Foreign Minister Saiki; and Mr. Kouzuki, MoFA European Affairs Bureau Director General
05:35 Advisory Council on the Establishment of a National Security Council
06:35 Residence; Dinner with Mr. Kouichi Sugiyama, Composer; Ms. Michiko Hasegawa, Professor Emeritus of Saitama University; and others
08:01 Mr. Oota, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and transportation; and Mr. Arai, New Party Reform Secretary General at a Japanese Bar Restaurant Yottegansho
09:19 Home in Tomigaya

May 10, 2013 (Fri)

AM
08:07 Office
08:09 Mr. Shindo, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications
09:53 Parliament
10:01 Upper House Plenary Session
11:15 Office
11:47 Mr. Yasushi Akashi, Chair of “Beijing-Tokyo Forum"

PM
12:11 Mr. Ichirou Aisawa, Chair of LDP Election System Reform; Mr. Takuya Hirai, Net Media Director; and Mr. Shigeki Satou, Acting Policy Research Council Chair
12:52 Parliament
12:54 Mr. Tamura, Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare
01:02 Lower House Plenary Session
03:26 Office
03:45 Deputy Foreign Minister Saiki
04:52 Fuji TV
05:00 Appear on News Program
06:19 Office
06:22 Defense Minister Onodera; Mr. Tokuchi, MoD Policy Bureau Director General; and Mr. Ihara, MoFA North American Bureau Director General
07:06 Residence; Dinner with Mr. Minomonta, TV Show Host; and Mr. Toshihiro Nikai, Acting LDP General Affairs Chair
08:40 Mr. Mino Leaves
08:49 Mr. Nikai leaves
09:05 Home in Tomigaya

May 11, 2013 (Sat)

AM
10:35 Exercise in Nagomi Spa and Fitness at Grand Hyatt Tokyo in Roppongi

PM
01:25 Lunch with Mr. Taniguchi, Cabinet Office Councilor; and secretaries at French Kitchen
02:13 Watch Movie “Lincoln” with his secretaries in Roppongi Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills
05:09 Interview with Foreign Affairs
06:23 Join concert of Mr. Kousetsu Minami in Hibiya Outdoor Music Hall; Sing some songs
06:46 Dinner with his classmates at Seikei University
10:30 Home in Tomigaya

May 12, 2013 (Sun)
Visit Miyagi Prefecture, earthquake affected areas, SDF base to ride on a fighter get

Introducing the Indo-Pacific

Over the past few months, the phrase "Indo-Pacific" has begun to overtake "Asia-Pacific" in referring to Asia. As the article from APP's Australia National University's members show, the origin of the phrase is Australian.

Australia’s New Region: the Indo-Pacific

By Melissa Conley-Tyler and Samantha Shearman, Australian Institute of International Affairs
Article reprinted from ANU's East Asia Forum: 21 May 2013

With the release of the Defence White Paper 2013 on 3 May, Australia officially has a new region, the ‘Indo-Pacific’: a strategic arc ‘connecting the Indian and Pacific Oceans through Southeast Asia’.

Given the long history of linking Australian foreign policy to the ‘Asia-Pacific’, this is a significant change in terminology. How did we get to this point and what are the implications?

The ‘Indo-Pacific’ is not a new term in Australian debates. According to the Lowy Institute’s Rory Medcalf, the ‘Indo-Pacific’ was used in the 1950s to discuss decolonisation in the 1960s at two seminars held by the Australian Institute of International Affairs and the ANU, and again in the 1970s [1]. Yet for around 30 years the term was not prominent until its re-emergence in 2005 in a paper by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies’ Michael Richardson who saw the inclusion of India, Australia and New Zealand in the East Asia Summit (EAS) as symbolising a more unified ‘Indo-Pacific’ region.

The term ‘Indo-Pacific’ subsequently started to appear in Australian foreign policy discourse, including speeches by Minister for Defence Stephen Smith [2] and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Secretary Peter Varghese [3]. But it remains contested, and there was significant debate around the wisdom of adopting the concept.

Proponents of the term have argued that it realistically describes the region in which Australia is situated. Rory Medcalf views the Indo-Pacific as ‘a valid and objective description of the greater regional system in which Australia now finds itself’. In his book There Goes the Neighbourhood: Australia and the rise of Asia, Michael Wesley writes that the concept emerged due to the reality of growing economic and strategic links through Asia: what he terms the ‘Indo-Pacific power highway’.

At the same time, there has been criticism of adopting the Indo-Pacific concept too readily. For example, Nick Bisley and Andrew Phillips have expressed concerns about what the term means and whose interests it serves; it should not be code for ‘dialling up Australia’s alliance commitments to 11’ [4].

The debate between these two camps was fairly even until May 2013 as the Indo-Pacific was not yet embedded into foreign policy. The 2012 White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century mentioned the concept only twice. This was a long way from giving the concept official endorsement.

This situation changed with the Defence White Paper 2013 [5]. Presenting the Indo-Pacific as a ‘logical extension’ of what the 2009 Defence White Paper called the ‘wider Asia-Pacific region’, the 2013 White Paper adopts the concept and ‘adjusts Australia’s priority strategic focus to the arc extending from India though Southeast Asia to Northeast Asia, including the sea lines of communication on which the region depends’. The White Paper sets ‘a Stable Indo-Pacific’ as one of Australia’s four key strategic interests, making the capacity to ‘contribute to military contingencies in the Indo-Pacific’ one of the Australian Defence Force’s four principal tasks. It is hard to imagine a fuller incorporation of the concept into a government policy document.

There are a number of implications of adopting an Indo-Pacific worldview.

First, Australia will need to assess the implications of the Indo-Pacific concept for its key relationships with the United States and China; in particular, whether adopting the Indo-Pacific concept may be perceived to tie Australia closer to the United States and alienate China. Early indications of China’s response to the 2013 White Paper were positive — it seems the term ‘Indo-Pacific’ is less of a concern to China than the characterisation of China as a potential threat [6].

Second, Australia must consider how to build relationships with Indo-Pacific powers as it adopts the Indo-Pacific concept into its foreign policy. Australia will need to engage strongly with many other regional players, for example India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and key African countries, as well as China and the United States. This could include security dialogues and operational cooperation.

Third, Australia will need to invest time and effort in building Indo-Pacific institutions. These institutions include the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) and the EAS. Given that Australia is set to take over the chair of IOR-ARC in late 2013, it is well-positioned to promote greater facilitation of regional cooperation. The EAS also includes the major Indo-Pacific powers, providing a space for cooperation and discussion of regional issues. The EAS has been reported to be a key part of Australia’s foreign policy as part of a ‘six + two + N’ formula for setting priorities [7]. This suggests that Australia’s multilateral focus is increasingly turning towards Indo-Pacific institutions.

The adoption of the Indo-Pacific concept in the Defence White Paper 2013 may have surprised some observers. Many other Indo-Pacific powers are in a similar position to Australia; this means that Australian debates receive attention for indications of how others will respond to similar forces. As something of a bellwether state, Australia’s new conception of its region as the Indo-Pacific will not go unnoticed.

Mike Mochizuki in Australia

On the Rocks

Japan-China Tensions 
and the East China Sea

with

Professor Mike Mochizuki

George Washington University

31 May 2013

4:30-5:30pm

Japan Institute

Australian National University

Lecture theatre 2, Hedley Bull Centre (Bldg #130)

corner of Liversidge Street and Garran Road, ANU

Why are Japan and China now locked in an intractable conflict regarding the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands? Professor Mike Mochizuki will examine the historical, economic, military, territorial and international legal dimensions of this dispute. After considering power transition and nationalism as possible explanations, he will explain the recent deterioration of Japan-China relations by analysing the interactive dynamics between the two countries and the role of domestic politics. Finally, he will consider possible ways to mitigate the conflict.

Professor Mochizuki holds the Japan-U.S. Relations Chair in Memory of Gaston Sigur at the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. Dr. Mochizuki was director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies from 2001 to 2005. He co-directs the "Memory and Reconciliation in the Asia-Pacific" research and policy project of the Sigur Center. Previously, he was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He was also Co-Director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Policy at RAND and has taught at the University of Southern California and Yale University. He is a board member of Asia Policy Point.

You can preview this talk by listening to an interview Professor Mochizuki gave to  Radio Australia on May 27, 2013.

Prime Minister of Japan's Schedule April 29 - May 5

April 29, 2013 (Mon)
Visit Russian Federation

April 30, 2013 (Tue)
Complete visit to Russia and travel to Saudi Arabia

May 1, 2013 (Wed)
Visit the United Arab Emirates

May 2, 2013 (Thu)
Continue visit in the United Arab Emirates

May 3, 2013 (Fri)
Visit the Republic of Turkey

May 4, 2013 (Sat)

PM
01:46 Arrive at Haneda Airport following Russia-Middle East tour
02:05 Leave Haneda Airport
02:29 Home in Tomigaya
05:05 Leave private residence
06:19 Dinner at Tetsuan restaurant in Fuji Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture
07:59 Leave restaurant
08:00 Shopping at Drag Sames pharmacy, Kawaguchiko Branch
08:08 Leave store
08:17 Arrive at villa in Narusawa village, Yamanashi Prefecture

May 5, 2013 (Sun)

AM
10:25 Leave villa in Narusawa village
10:53 Arrive at JR Otsuki station
11:10 Leave station

PM
12:11 Arrive at Shinjuku station
12:14 Leave station
12:31 Meal with secretaries at Kourakuen Hanten restaurant
01:04 Leave restaurant
01:09 Arrive at Tokyo Dome
01:36 Present National Honor Award to Shigeo Nagashima and Hideki Matsui.
01:59 Photo shoot of ceremonial first pitch
02:17 Media interview
02:20 Mr. Nagashima; Mr. Matsui; Mr. Tsuneo Watanabe, Chair of Yomiuri Shimbun Group; Mr. Yoshio Ookubo, President of Nippon TV; Mr. Yoshihide Suga
03:00 Watch Tokyo Giants vs. Hiroshima Toyo Carp baseball game
03:44 Press conference and interview
03:55 Leave Tokyo Dome
05:21 Arrive at villa
05:22 LDP Lower House member Kouichi Hagyuuda joins
05:30 Mr. Etsurou Honda, Special Advisor to the Cabinet, joins
08:53 Mr. Honda departs

Mayor Hashimoto defends himself

On two consecutive days (May 27 & 28) the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan hosted two press conferences about the controversial remarks of Nippon Ishin No Kai (Japan Restoration Party) Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto. This report from the Shingetsu News Agency shows key highlights.

You can find videos of the entire Hashimoto press conference HERE. Note, it is difficult to figure out the order of the video segments. This ONE is the first segment of the press conference.

Mayor Hashimoto felt that his initial remarks were distorted and that the Comfort Women system was: 1) a government system, 2) a violation of human rights, but the women were not abducted by government forces.

Although there were rumors that Hashimoto would link his remarks to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's very similar views on the Comfort Women, he did not.

Shingo Nishimura, a Japan Restoration Party lawmaker who was forced to resign from the LDP in 1999 for calling for Japan's consideration of nuclear weapons, suggested on May 17 that many ethnic Koreans are engaged in prostitution in Japan. He said "Tell the South Koreans in downtown Osaka streets, 'You're comfort women, right?'". The comment had him expelled from his new party the following day.

Concerning China in Washington this Week

National Security Advisor Tom Donilon meets with Chinese officials in Beijing early this week in preparation for a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Obama on June 7-8 in Rancho Mirage, California.

Below are a number of programs held in Washington this week that touch on issues affecting China:

UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY COLLOQUIUM. 5/29-31. Program designed to help Chinese graduate students better understand the complex forces that shape American foreign policy. Sponsor: National Committee on United States-China Relations. Speakers include: The Honorable Elaine L. Chao, 24th U.S. Secretary of Labor, 2001-2009, The Honorable Cui Tiankai (崔天凯), Chinese Ambassador to the United States; Kin Moy, Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Erin Ennis, Vice President, The US-China Business Council; James Goldgeier, Dean of American University's School of International Service; Kin Moy, Deputy Assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs at the U.S. Department of State; Will Wechsler, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for special operations and combating terrorism at the U.S. Department of Defense.


CHINESE COMPANIES IN LATIN AMERICA. 5/29, 8:00-9:00am. Sponsor; CSIS, Americas Program. Speakers: R. Evan Ellis, Associate Professor, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, National Defense University; Carl Meacham, Director, Americas Program, CSIS. .

CHINA'S ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL OUTLOOK UNDER XI JINPING AND LI KEQIANG. 5/30, 9:00-10:30am. Sponsor: Wilson Center. Speakers: Junhua Wu, Public Policy Scholar, Wilson Center, Chairwoman, Chief Economist, Japan Research Institute (Shanghai) Consulting Co. Ltd., Council Member, Japan Research Institute Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group; Kiyoyuki Seguchi, Research Director, Canon Institute for Global Studies. .

THE STATE OF THE MARINE CORPS. 5/29, 10:00-11:30am. Sponsor: Brookings. Speakers: Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos; Michael O'Hanlon, Senior Fellow, Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, Brookings.

U.S.-EU TRADE RELATIONS WITH CHINA: DIFFERENT CHALLENGES, COMMON ANSWERS? 5/29, Noon-1:30pm. Sponsor: American Institute for Contemporary German Studies. Speaker: Tilman Krueger, Research Associate, University of Bremen.

Click to ORDER

THE LAST DAYS OF KIM JONG-IL: THE NORTH KOREAN THREAT IN A CHANGING ERA. 5/29, 2:00-3:00pm. Sponsor: Heritage. Speakers: Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr., Associate Professor of Political Science, Angelo State University, Author; Bruce Klingner, Senior Research Fellow, Northeast Asia, Asian Studies Center, Heritage.

VARIETIES OF DEMOCRACY: GLOBAL STANDARDS, LOCAL KNOWLEDGE. 5/30, 4:00pm. Sponsor: Carnegie, Democracy and Rule of Law Program. Speakers: Michael Coppedge, Professor of Political Science, Yale University; Massimo Tommasoli, Permanent Observer to the UN, International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance); Richard Young, Director, Fundacion para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Dialogo Exterior (FRIDE); Steffan Lindberg, Research Director, World Values Survey Project in Sweden.

Click to ORDER

TRANSNATIONAL THREATS IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD. 5/30, 5:00-6:00pm. Sponsor: Stimson Center. Speaker: Christian Caryl, Author, Strange Rebels, Senior Fellow, Legatum Institute; Brian Finlay, Managing Director, Stimson's Managing Across Boundaries Initiative.

MYANMAR: WHAT’S NEXT? 5/30, 11:00am-12:30pm. Sponsor: Carnegie Endowment. Speakers: Tom Malinowski, Washington Director, Human Rights Watch; Lex Rieffel, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings; David Steinberg, Professor, Georgetown University; Vikram Nehru, Senior Associate, Asia Program, Bakrie Chair in Southeast Asian Studies, Carnegie.

FREE TRADE ZONES (FTZ): A COMPARATIVE LOOK AT FTZS AMONGST THE BRICS & OTHER KEY US TRADING PARTNERS. 5/30, 12:30-2:00pm. Sponsor: World Trade Organization Committee of the Association of Women in International Trade. Speakers: Clay Perry, Sr. Vice President - Global Markets, Integration Point; Amie Ahanchian, Managing Director, KPMG LLP.

INDONESIA’S ECONOMIC ROLE: RECALIBRATING GLOBAL TRADE. 5/31, 5:30pm, Gala Dinner. Sponsor: US-Indonesia Society. Keynote Speaker: Gita Wirjawan, Minister of Trade, Indonesia. 

Prime Minister Abe deus ex machina

Prime Minister Abe rode a lot of machinery in May.

Prime Minister of Japan's Schedule April 15-28

April 15, 2013 (Mon)

AM
08:25 Office
08:33 Education Rebuilding Implementation Council
10:42 Courtesy Call from the Secretary of State of the United States, Mr. John F. Kerry; Foreign Minister Kishida, and US Ambassador for Japan Roos attend
11:38 Mr. Kishida and Mr. Roos leave
11:45 Meeting ends
11:49 Mr. Kishida; Administrative Vice Foreign Minister Kawai; Deputy Foreign Minister Saiki; Mr. Sugiyama, MoFA Asia Pacific Affairs Bureau Director General; and Mr. Kozuki, European Affairs Bureau Director General

PM
12:09 Administrative Vice Finance Minister Manago; Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Furusawa; and Mr. Yamazaki, MoF International Affairs Bureau Director General
01:48 Interview with Yomiuri Shimbun
02:46 Mr. Furuya, Minister in charge of the Abduction Issue
02:56 Mr. Mitani, Deputy Director, Headquarters for the Abduction Issue
03:04 Mr. Furuya and Mr. Mitani leave
03:05 Mr. Kitamura, Director, Cabinet Intelligence; and Mr. Shimohira, Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center Director
03:09 Mr. Shimohira leaves
03:25 Mr. Kitamura leaves
03:26 Economic Revitalization Minister Amari
03:44 Mr. Matsumoto, Administrative Vice Minister of Cabinet Office; and Mr. Matsuyama, Deputy Minister of Cabinet Office
03:57 Courtesy Call from the Participants of the New Economy Summit 2013
04:22 Mr. Hiramatsu, MoFA Comprehensive Foreign Policy Bureau Director General
04:35 Deputy Foreign Minister Saiki; and Mr. Sugiyama
05:00 LDP Headquarters
05:03 LDP Executives Meeting
05:37 Photo shoot with LDP candidates for Tokyo Municipal Assembly election
05:50 Office
06:15 Courtesy Call from the NATO Secretary General, Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Japan-NATO Joint Political Declaration Signing Ceremony and Press Announcement
07:17 Welcome Party of the New Economy Summit 2013
08:01 Arab Day Reception at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Tokyo
08:37 Home in Tomigaya.

April 16, 2013 (Tue)

AM
07:23 Office
07:24 Mr. Katou, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
08:28 Parliament
08:32 Ministerial Meeting
08:41 Mr. Aso, Deputy PM and Minister of Finance
08:45 Mr. Motegi, METI Minister, joins
08:47 Both leaves
08:57 Lower House Budget Committee

PM
12:05 Office
12:54 Parliament
12:59 Lower House Budget Committee
12:05 Mr. Oota, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transportation
05:41 Lower House Pleanary Session
07:50 Mr. Ibuki and Mr. Akamatsu, Lower House Chair and Vice Chair; Visit ruling and opposition party factions except DPJ, Mr. Suga accompanies
08:04 Residence; Press interview
08:05 Dinner with Mr. Seiichi Eto , PM Advisor; Mr. Kouichi Hagyuda, LDP Lower House member; and Ms. Tamayo Marukawa, LDP Upper House member
09:51 Home in Tomigaya

April 17, 2013 (Wed)

PM
09:28 Office
09:31 Mr. Katou, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
10:58 LDP Headquarters
11:00 Mr. Hiroshi Sakurai, President, Asahi Shuzo (Sake Manufacturer) from Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture
11:16 Video Message Recording for Upper House election
11:45 Governor Yoshihiro Murai of Miyagi Prefecture; Mr. Akiba, Vice Reconstruction Minister, attends

PM
12:03 Office
12:04 Lunch with Ms. Mori, Minister in charge of Aging Issue; and Ms. Inada, Minister for Administrative Reform
02:54 Parliament
03:00 Committee on Fundamental National Policies Joint Meeting of Both Houses at the Diet (Party Leaders' Debate)
03:54 Office
03:55 Video message recording for the oldest man in the world, Mr. Jiroemon Kimura (116 yo)
04:01 Administrative Vice METI Minister Adachi; Deputy METI Minister Sasaki; and others
04:36 MoFA’s Sugiyama and Ihara
05:18 Council for Science and Technology Policy
05:22 Mr. Tokuchi, MoD Policy Bureau Director General; and Mr. Manabe, Deputy Director General
05:35 Mr. Masahiro Imamura, LDP Director for Federalism System Promotion; Mr. Isozaki, Advisor, attends
06:04 Industrial Competitiveness Council
07:43 LDP Headquarters: LDP Legal Profession members meeting
07:55 ANA Intercontinental Hotel Tokyo; Dinner with precinct supporters
10:32 Home in Tomigaya

April 18, 2013 (Thu)

AM
07:43 Nippon TV
08:00 Appear on a news program
08:58 Office
08:59 Mr. Furuya, Minister in charge of Disaster Prevention
09:47 Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy
10:23 MoFA’s Kawai, Saiki, and Kouzuki
11:45 Mr. Seishiro Eto, President of non-partisan caucus for “promotion of building hospital vessels”

PM 
12:00 Mr. Kamoshita, LDP Diet Affairs Council Chief
01:40 Akasaka Palace; Attend Spring Garden Party
03:50 Office
04:09 Mr. Koji Omi, Former Finance Minister
04:33 Ms. Inada, Minister for Administrative Reform
05:18 Mr. Takahashi, Cabinet Office International Peach and Cooperation Headquarters Secretary General; and Mr. Kuroe MoD Operation and Planning Bureau Director General
05:28 Mr. HIramatsu, MoFA Comprehensive Foreign Policy Bureau Director General
05:43 Mr. Katou, Mr. Sekou, and Mr. Sugita, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries
06:15 Courtesy Call from Chairperson of the National League for Democracy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi
06:59 LDP Oshima Faction’s party; Prince Hotel Tokyo, Shiba Kouen
07:18 Office
09:14 Home in Tomigaya

April 19, 2013 (Fri)

AM
08:09 Office
08:17 Ministerial Meeting
09:14 MoFA’s Kawai, Saiki, and MIyakawa, Director General of Middle East African Affairs Bureau
10:19 Iraqi Ambassador Lukman Faily to Japan
10:23 Former PM Mori
10:59 Mr. Kitamura, Director, Cabinet Intelligence

PM
12:03 Mr. Hiromasa Yonekura, President of Keidanren; Mr. Yasuchika Hasegawa, Chairperson of Keizai Doyukai; and Mr. Tadashi Okamura, Chairperson of Japan Chamber of Commerce
01:38 Meeting for an Exchange of Views with the Business Community , Mr. Yonemura, Cabinet Crisis Management Director; and Mr. Yajima, Health Bureau Director General, Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare
01:50 Mr. Yajima leaves
01:51 Mr. Kitamura, Director, Cabinet Intelligence and Mr. Kitamura, Japan Coast Guard Director, Join
02:02 All leave
03:17 Japan Press Center Building
03:29 Press Conference; Delivers a Speech at the Japan National Press Club
04:44 Office
04:46 MoFA’s Saiki and Kouzuki
05:00 Mr. Yachi, Cabinet Office Councilor
05:09 Mr. Matsumoto, Administrative Vice Minister of Cabinet Office; and Mr. Matsuyama, Deputy Minister of Cabinet Office
06:04 Advisory Committee on Cultural Exchanges in Asia
06:51 Courtesy Call from the Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Kairat Mami
07:26 ANA Intercontinental Hotel Tokyo; Reception of his supporter organization
08:38 Home in Tomigaya

April 20, 2013 (Sat)

AM
08:14 Shinjuku Gyoen Park
08:15 Mr. Nishimura, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Commissioner and other Metropolitan Police leaders; photo taking with local supporters
09:01 The Prime Minister Hosts a Cherry Blossom Viewing Party
10:38 Home in Tomigaya

PM
12:09 Office
12:13 Special Tour of the Prime Minister's Office and Official Residence by Junior High School Students from Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture
12:23 Lunch with Mr. Suga, Mr. Amari, Mr. Sasaki, Chief Domestic Coordinator, Governmental Headquarters for the TPP
02:02 Haneda Airport
02:38 Leave the airport on ANA Flight 695
04:00 Arrive at Ube Airport, Yamaguchi Prefecture
04:05 Mr. Kawamura, LDP Election Affairs Committee Chair; and Mr. Kishi, LDP Foreign Affairs leader
05:02 Party reception hosted by LDP Yamaguchi Prefectural federation
06:56 Upper House Yamaguchi by-election candidates meeting
09:09 Dinner with local young supporters in Shimonoseki City
10:11 Home in Shimonoseki

April 21, 2013 (Sun)

AM
09:43 Shimonoseki City Office; cast a vote for Upper House Yamaguchi by-election
09:53 Kaikyo Yume Tower (Channel Dream Tower); Lion’s Club annual assembly
10:07 Shopping mall, Sea Mall Shimonoseki; street speech
11:56 Ube city shopping mall, Fuji Grand Ube, street speech

PM
01:19 Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi Chamber of Commerce, Street speech; walk shopping arcade with LDP candidates for the by-election
03:20 JR Tokuyama station, street speech
04:54 Iwakuni City, Yume Town Minami Iwakuni, street speech
05:27 Iwakuni Airport
05:29 Mr. Kawamura; and Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery Minister Hayashi
06:04 Leave the airport on ANA Flight 638
07:14 Arrive at Haneda Airport
07:56 Home in Tomigaya

April 22, 2013 (Mon)

AM
07:43 Office
07:44 Mr. Sekou, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
08:55 Parliament
09:00 Upper House Budget Committee
11:58 Office

PM
12:53 Parliament
01:00 Upper House Budget Committee
05:02 LDP Executives meeting
05:28 Office
05:33 Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy
06:38 Foreign Minister Abdullah of UAE; Mr. Sekou, and Mr. Miyakawa, MoFA Middle East African Affairs Bureau Director General, attend
07:06 Interview with Michail Gusman of ITAR-TASS; MoFA’s Mr. Kozuki and Mr. Yokoi, Press Secretary, attend
07:47 Residence, Dinner with Mr. Shoji Nishida, LDP Upper House member; Mr. Susumu Nishibe, Critic; and Mr. Kousuke Nishimura, critic
09:02 MoFA’s Mr. Kawai, Mr. Saiki, Mr. Kouzuki, and Mr. Ishii, International Law Bureau Director General
09:55 Home in Tomigaya

Tobias Harris is Back!

Tobias Harris whose detailed blog posts on Japanese politics at Observing Japan that helped explain LDP and DPJ antics is back! And we are indeed better for it.

He had stopped blogging in 2011. Rumor had it that certain Washington think tankers objected to the respect this young Japan hand received from the media and others.

His observations contradicted much of what these well-paid men and their spokesmodels said about Japan. And he did it with a grace and charm not learned through formal PR lessons or government service.

Harris reenters the fray with an op ed in the Asian Wall Street Journal on May 16th, "Shinzo Abe's Constitution Quest: Instead of focusing on economics, the Japanese leader risks it all to change the rules of governance." 

This Grasshopper joins uber-blogger and The Master of Japanese politics, Michael Cucek over at Shisaku in bringing some light and storm to the understanding of today's Japan.

We look forward to The Grasshopper joining The Master in telling us about grasshoppers at our feet.

~This reference comes from the original TV series (1972–1975) Kung Fu where Shaolin Master Po tells his young student

Master Po: Close your eyes. What do you hear?
Young Caine: I hear the water, I hear the birds.
Po: Do you hear your own heartbeat?
Caine: No.
Po: Do you hear the grasshopper which is at your feet?
Caine: Old man, how is it that you hear these things?
Po: Young man, how is it that you do not?