Prime Minister of Japan's Schedule December 26 & 27

December 27, 2011

AM
07:07 The office of PM
07:15 Headquarters on the Abduction Issue
07:31 National Security Council meeting
07:56 Ministerial meeting
08:19 The Central Disaster Prevention Council
09:12 Three DPJ/Government Executive Meeting
10:24 Mr. Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary
10:32 Press interview
10:56 Haneda Airport
11:23 Leave Haneda Airport for India on government plane

PM (Local time, December 27, 2011)
Arrive at Palam Air Force Base, Delhi, India; Meet with people involved in India- Japan Global Partnership Summit (IJGPS) 2011 at Taji Palace Hotel; Meet with local Japanese residents at the residence of Japanese Ambassador to India.

December 26, 2011

AM
At the Great Hall of the People, meeting with Mr. Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, and Mr. Hu Jintao, President of China.
Leave Beijing Capital International Airport on a government plane.

PM
02:28 Arrive at Haneda Airport
03:06 Imperial Palace, report of return
03:22 The office of PM
04:11 Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters
05:12 Local Sovereignty Strategy Council
06:05 Receive the Interim Report of the Investigation Committee on the Accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power stations of TEPCO
06:17 Mr. Hironobu Takesaki, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Japan
06:23 Mr. Katsu, Administrative Vice-Minister of Finance; Mr. Furuya, Director-General of the Tax Bureau, Ministry of Finance
06:49 Mr. Itoh, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management
07:10 Mr. Fujii, Head of DPJ Tax Research Commission
07:20 Mr. Shinichiro Furumoto, Secretary-General of DPJ Tax Research Commission
07:39 Both leave
07:55 The residence of PM

A New Japan for a New Era

 
A New Japan for a New Era

Cosponsored by
Sasakawa Peace Foundation
The Project 2049 Institute
American Enterprise Institute


Wednesday, January 4, 2012
2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Location
American Enterprise Institute
1150 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC

Speakers

The U.S. – Japan Alliance in the Asia Pacific and Beyond
The Honorable Taro Kono, Member the National Diet of Japan

Vision for Japan – An Agenda for Japan’s Economic and Political Future

The Honorable Mieko Nakabayashi, Member of the National Diet of Japan (Invited)

Panel Discussion

Tetsuo Kotani, Special Research Fellow, The Okazaki Institute
Sugio Takahashi, Senior Fellow, National Institute for Defense Studies; Strategic Planning Office, Defense Policy Division, Ministry of Defense
Michael Auslin, Director of Japan Studies, AEI
Mike Mazza, Program Manager for Executive Program on National Security Policy and Strategy, AEI
Claude Barfield, Resident Scholar and Director of Trade and Science and Technology Studies, AEI
Moderator
Randy Schriver, President, Project 2049 Institute

Prime Minister of Japan's Schedule December 19-25

December 25, 2011

AM
10:29 Press interview in front of the residence of PM
10:55 Haneda Airport
11:17 Leave Haneda for Japan-China summit in Beijing, China, on a government plane

PM (Local time, December 25, 2011)
Arrive at Beijing Capital International Aiport; Observe National Agriculture Exhibition in Beijing city; Conversation with local Japanese residents at the residence of Japanese ambassador for China; Welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People; Meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao of PRC; Signing ceremony; Dinner party hosted by Premier Wen; Press interview at Chang Fu Gong Center Hotel; Conversation with the accompanying press; Stay in the hotel

December 24, 2011

AM
08:02 The office of PM
08:25 National Security Council meeting
08:51 Ministerial committee on the formulation of the budget
09:01 Extraordinary ministerial meeting
09:21 Okinawa Policy Council
09:50 Mr. Nakagawa, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Mr. Edano, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry; Mr. Hosono, Minister of Environment; Mr. Tatsuo Hirano, Minister for Reconstruction in the Response to the East Japan Earthquake; Mr. Saito, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Suematsu, Special Advisor to PM; Mr. Matsushita, Senior Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry; Mr. Sugawara, Director-General of Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
10:14 Mr. Nakagawa, Mr. Edano, Mr. Hirano, Mr. Matsushita and Mr. Sugawara leave
10:17 Everyone leaves
10:36 Mr. Yamaguchi, Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs; Mr. Tsutsui, Senior Vice Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Mr. Saito, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Nagashima, Special Advisor to PM
11:19 Everyone leaves
11:40 Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM

PM
12:18 Press interview
12:21 The residence of PM
01:55 Mr. Yoshihiro Kawakami, DPJ Upper House member
02:13 Mr. Kawakami leaves
03:03 Mr. Koshiishi, DPJ Secretary General; Mr. Okada, Former DPJ Secretary General; Mr. Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary
04:00 Everyone leaves

December 23, 2011
 
AM
10:27 Haircut at Ginza Matsunaga, Tokyo
11:39 The residence of PM

PM
12:35 Imperial Palace, Birthday ceremony for Emperor with Mrs. Noda
01:35 The residence of PM
02:33 Ruling party leaders talks with Mr. Kamei, Leader of the People’s New Party (Kokumin Shinto); Mr. Koshiishi, DPJ Secretary General; Mr. Shimoji, Secretary-General of the People’s New Party; Mr. Tanaka, Leader of New Party Nippon (Shinto Nippon)
03:29 Three DPJ/Government Executive Meeting
04:51 Study session with all Ministers
07:24 Study session adjourned

December 22, 2011

AM
08:54 The office of PM
09:02 Mr. Masahiko Kondo, Musician; Ms. Tetsuko Kuroyamagi, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and others
09:17 Mr. Gemba, Minister of Foreign Affairs
09:22 Mr. Sasae, Administrative Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, joins
09:39 Mr. Gemba leaves
10:05 Mr. Sasae leaves
10:06 Mr. Tatsuo Hirano, Minister for Reconstruction in the Response to the East Japan Earthquake
10:51 Interview from Indian Express
11:13 Mr. Nagahama, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Nagashima, Special Advisor to PM; Mr. Bessho, Foreign Ministry councilor in charge of political affairs; Mr. Okada, Vice-Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

PM
12:29 Deliver address at the meeting of the Nippon Keidanren Board of Directors, Keidanren Hall, Otemachi, Tokyo
12:54 The office of PM
02:04 Mr. Uematsu, Head of Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office
02:31 Awards ceremony for long-serving employees of the cabinet and cabinet office
03:01 Ministerial meeting
03:17 Issue an appointment letter for Mr. Yamamoto, Director-General of Cabinet Legislation Bureau
03:22 Government and ruling parties council on the formulation of the budget
03:30 Mr. Azumi, Minister of Finance; Mr. Katsu, Administrative Vice-Minister of Finance; Mr. Manago, Director General of the Budget Bureau, Ministry of Finance
04:04 Mr. Ogushi, Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office
04:24 Mr. Kawabata, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications; Mr. Goto, Senior Vice Minister of Cabinet Office; Mr. Fukuda, Parliamentary Secretary of Internal Affairs and Communications
04:46 Mr. Goto and Mr. Fukuda leave
04:59 Mr. Kawabata leaves
05:02 The Council on National Strategy and Policy
06:03 Mr. Itoh, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management; Mr. Uematsu, Head of Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office
06:20 Mr. Nagashima, Special Advisor to PM
06:33 Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM
07:11 Mr. Tezuka leaves
07:44 The residence of PM

December 21, 2011

AM
09:31 The office of PM
10:53 Mr. Mitani, Deputy to the Minister in charge of Abduction Issue
11:19 Mr. Akira Uchiyama, DPJ Lower House member
11:34 Mr. Taketoshi, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary

PM
12:59 Parliament
01:02 Greetings at DPJ Diet members meeting
01:17 The office of PM
01:22 Mr. Fujii, DPJ Head of Tax Research Commission; Mr. Shinichiro Furumoto, Secretary-General of DPJ Tax Research Commission
01:51 Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM
02:21 Ministerial Council on Monthly Economic Report and Other Relative Issues
02:50 Mr. Sugiyama, Director-General of Asia and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Ministry for Foreign Affairs
03:50 Mr. Furukawa, Minister of State for National Policy
04:14 Mr. Tsutsui, Senior Vice Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
05:02 Mr. Nagahama, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Nagashima, Special Advisor to PM; Mr. Bessho, Foreign Ministry councilor in charge of political affairs
05:40 Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM
06:27 The residence of PM

December 20, 2011

AM
08:45 The office of PM
08:55 National Security Council meeting at the office of PM
09:38 Mr. Nagashima, Special Advisor to PM
10:02 Ministerial Meeting
10:30 Phone conversation with President Obama of the Untied States
10:45 Mr. Kawabata, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications
10:52 Presentation ceremony of the Prime Minister’s award to the winner of the Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize
11:02 Meeting with the representatives of municipalities affected by typhoon Talas in Wakayama Prefecture and others; Mr. Saito, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary; and Mr. Honda, Special Advisor to PM, are also present
11:19 Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM
11:43 Luncheon at the Imperial Palace,

PM
01:40 The office of PM
02:01 Radio recording for government publicity
02:45 Meeting of the Forum for Consultations between the National and Regional Governments
03:14 Mr. Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
03:32 Mr. Hisashi Owada, President of the International Court of Justice
04:04 Mr. Furukawa, Minister of State for National Policy; Mr. Ishida, Senior Vice Minister of Cabinet Office
04:43 Mr. Azumi, Minister of Finance; Mr. Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Katsu, Administrative Vice-Minister of Finance; Mr. Furuya, Director-General of the Tax Bureau, Ministry of Finance
05:31 Mr. Nakae, Administrative Vice Minister of Defense; Mr. Matsumoto, Director General, Bureau of Operational Policy; General Oriki, Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Japan Self-Defense Forces; Mr. Nagashima, Special Advisor to PM
07:05 The Residence of PM
07:06 Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM
07:10 Mr. Tezuka leaves

December 19, 2011

AM
07:55 Breakfast with Professor Takashi Onishi, the University of Tokyo, and Mr. Toshio Nagahisa, Executive Director of PHP Institute at The Capitol Hotel Tokyu, Nagatacho, Tokyo.
07:57 Mr. Furukawa, Minister of State for National Policy
09:33 The Office of PM
10:15 Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM
10:32 Interview from Chiba Nippo (Chiba Daily Newspaper)

PM
12:00 Leaves the office of PM to deliver a stump speech in Shmbashi, Tokyo, but turned back on the way.
12:09 The office of PM
12:30 Mr. Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM
12:46 Mr. Nagashima, Special Advisor to PM
01:00 National Security Council meeting at the office of PM
01:12 Mr. Yamaoka, Chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission
01:16 Mr. Nagashima, Special Advisor to PM
02:40 Mr. Itoh, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management; Mr. Uematsu, Head of Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office
02:50 Phone conversation with President Lee Myung Bak of South Korea
03:18 Three DPJ/Government Executive Meeting
04:58 Mr. Nakae, Administrative Vice Minister of Defense; Mr. Nishi, Director-General of the Bureau of Defense Policy, Ministry of Defense; Mr. Yamauchi, Director General of the Bureau of Local Cooperation, Ministry of Defense
05:00 Mr. Nagashima, Special Advisor to PM, joins
06:00 Mr. Itoh, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management; Mr. Uematsu, Head of Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office
06:25 Press interview
06:30 The residence of PM

Happy Holidays & Annual Appeal

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China's responsibilities

German China Trade Ship ca. 1870

GLOBAL ECONOMIC OUTLOOK: CHINA, THE EURO CRISIS, AND THE UNITED STATES. 12/21, 9:45-11:45am, Breakfast, Washington, DC. Sponsor: Carnegie (CEIP). Speaker: Pieter Bottelier, Nonresident Scholar, CEIP; Uri Dadush, Senior Associate and Director, CEIP; Yukon Huang, Senior Associate, CEIP; Hans Timmer, Director, Development Prospects Group, World Bank.

2011 REPORT TO CONGRESS ON CHINA’S WTO COMPLIANCE, USTR, 12/12/11.
Despite this progress, the overall picture currently presented by China’s WTO membership remains complex, given a troubling trend in China toward intensified state intervention in the Chinese economy over the last five years. Increasingly, trade frictions with China can be traced to China’s pursuit of industrial policies that rely on trade-distorting government actions to promote or protect China’s state-owned enterprises and domestic industries. In fact, in recent years, China seems to be embracing state capitalism more strongly, rather than continuing to move toward the economic reform goals that originally drove its pursuit of WTO membership.
Summary

Testimony Before The Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Assistant United States Trade Representative for China Affairs Claire Reade, December 13, 2011.

Ten Years in the WTO: Has China Kept Its Promises Hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, December 13, 2011.

Dear Leader's passing

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reportedly died on December 17th. His death was announced on Monday morning (Asian time) November 19. South Korea President Lee Myun-bak was in Japan and it just so happens to also be his birthday.

Washington's think tankers have also sprung into actions with comments, essays, and programs. However, the only certainty is uncertainty. Japan's Foreign Ministry, however, seems to have a handle on "it." As do the reporters at The Onion.

APP members have been among the first to comment with Kim Jong-un’s Shaky Hold on Power in North Korea by Richard Bush at Brookings and Morning Bell: The Death of Kim Jong-il by Bruce Klingner at Heritage.

North Korea Economy Watch blog is your best source for aggregating all the information and analysis of Kim's death. 

The Wall Street Journal put together an excellent list of The Best of Kim Jong-Il on the Web. Not to be missed is the ad parody of Kim on eHarmony.

Best analysis: Kim Jong Il’s Death Suggests Continuity Plus Opportunity to Engage By Peter Hayes, Scott Bruce, and David von Hippel, Natulius Institute, 12/19/11.

Ironically, Kim Jong Il’s death may make Korea the land of the morning calm for at least a year, during which political transitions will also occur in China, South Korea, Japan, Russia, and the United States... Unless Kim Jong Un throws the nuclear strategy out the window and starts again, the outlines of the engagement agenda are already clear—send the North Koreans energy and food aid to meet both short-term humanitarian and medium/long-term development needs, help them build a safe small light water reactor, and bring them into an international enrichment consortium that would lead them to reveal the sum total of their enrichment program.

We will try to list here the various Washington programs on the Dear Leader's death as they come in. Please return for updates:

NORTH KOREA IN TRANSITION: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. 12/2, 6:30-8:00pm, Washington, DC. Sponsor: US-Korea Institute, SAIS, Johns Hopkins. Speakers: Thomas Hubbard, chairman of the Korea Society and former U.S. ambassador to South Korea; Jae Ku, director of the U.S.-Korea Institute (USKI) at SAIS; and Jonathan Pollack, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Thornton Center.


THE KOREAN PENINSULA AFTER KIM JONG-IL: UNCERTAINTIES, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES. 12/20, Noon-2:00pm, Lunch, Washington, DC. Sponsors: Korea Economic Institute, CSIS, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Speakers: Ambassador Jack Pritchard, President, Korea Economic Institute; Dr. Victor Cha, Korea Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Scott Snyder, Senior Fellow for Korea Studies and Director of the Program on U.S.-Korea Policy, Council on Foreign Relations. LIVE STREAM


A VIEW FROM INSIDE NORTH KOREA POWER. 12/20, Noon-1:00pm, Lunch, Washington, DC. Sponsor: Center for National Policy. Speaker: Jeff Baron, Retired Foreign Service Officer who has traveled many times to North Korea.

He will be missed.

Prime Minister of Japan's Schedule December 16-18

December 18, 2011 

AM
08:30 Leave Grand Prince Hotel Kyoto
08:47 The Kyoto State Guesthouse
09:11 Summit Meeting with President Lee Myung-bak MOFA DETAIL
10:10 Strolls in the courtyard with President Lee
10:40 Interview with media
11:08 Ryoan-ji temple, Ukyo-ward, Kyoto
11:22 Strolls Ryoan-ji with President Lee

PM
12:21 Lunch with Mr. Saito, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM; and Mr. Nagashima, Special Advisor to PM, at a Japanese restaurant “Kyoyamatoya” in New Miyako Hotel, Minami-ward, Kyoto
01:44 Jr. Kyoto Station
02:03 Leave Kyoto Station on Nozomi #232
04:23 Arrives at JR Tokyo Station
02:39 The residence of PM

December 17, 2011

AM
The residence of PM

PM
12:11 The Capitol Hotel Tokyu, Nagatacho, Tokyo. Lunch with Mr. Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary, at a Japanese restaurant “Suiren”
01:19 JR Tokyo Station
01:30 Depart Tokyo Station on Nozomi #39, accompanied by Mr. Saito, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM
03:51 Arrive at JR. Kyoto Station
04:35 Grand Prince Hotel Kyoto, Sakyo-ward, Kyoto
06:08 The Kyoto State Guesthouse
06:10 Mr. Genba, Minister of Foreign Affairs
06:28 Greets President Lee Myung-bak of the Republic of Korea (South Korea)
06:30 Summit Meeting
06:50 Dinner party hosted by Prime Minister
09:09 Stays at Grand Prince Hotel Kyoto

December 16, 2011

AM
09:31 The office of PM
09:41 Ministerial Committee on the Formulation of the Budget
10:01 Ministerial meeting
10:30 Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM
10:43 Mr. Saito, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, joins
11:10 Both leave

PM
12:34 Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Iikura Guest House, Azabudai, Tokyo
12:35 Mr. Shigeo Iizuka, President of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea; Mr. Shigeru Yokota and Mrs. Sakie Yokota, parents of Megumi Yokota, an abduction victim.
12:44 Gave remarks at the reception for a screening of “Abduction- Megumi Yokota Story”.
01:26 The office of PM
02:26 Mr. Taketoshi, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
02:38 Mr. Sugiyama, Director-General of Asia and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Ministry for Foreign Affairs
02:55 Mr. Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Saito, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM; Mr. Bessho, Foreign Ministry councilor in charge of political affairs; Mr. Sugiyama, Director-General of Asia and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Ministry for Foreign Affairs
03:10 Mr. Yagi, Director-General of Economic Affairs Bureau, joins
03:23 Everyone leaves
03:32 Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters
04:00 Mr. Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary; Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM
04:30 Mr. Fujimura leaves
04:45 Mr. Tezuka leaves
06:00 Press conference
06:48 Dinner with Mr. Tsuneo Watanabe, President of Yomiuri Shimbun, and Mr. Yoshibumi Wakamiya, Chief Editor of Asahi Shimbun, members of “Shichishakai” (association of seven media companies) at a restaurant, Top of the Square, Otemachi, Tokyo.
08:02 The residence of PM
08:03 Mr. Fujii, DPJ Head of Tax Research Commission; Mr. Kansei Nakano, DPJ Deputy Head of Tax Research Commission; Mr. Ritsuo Hosokawa, Head of Research Council on Integrate Reform of the Social Security and Taxation Systems
08:20 Mr. Banri Kaieda, chief vice president of DPJ Tax research Commission, joins
10:30 Everyone leaves

Noda Slip-Sliding Away

Every prime minister–LDP or DPJ–who has come into office after Junichiro Koizumi ended his more than five year tenure on a high note in 2006 has inevitably faced a monthly slide in the opinion polls. This decline in popularity continues until, as Yukio Hatoyama in mid-2010 found himself, support drops into the single-digits. The result is that the PM soon resigns. Will Prime Minister Yasuhiko Noda, facing a similar erosion of public confidence, soon suffer the same fate?

Noda enjoyed a heady 65% support rate in Yomiuri’s opinion poll when he was picked to replace Naoto Kan as prime minister last August 31. Other polls were similar. But since then, his Cabinet’s popularity in the monthly tallies has continued to slip, and now, with the latest Asahi poll taken on December 10-11, it has dropped to a mere 31%, entering a historical danger zone for Japanese prime ministers. The non-support rate at 43% is now far greater than the support rate, with other commercial polls having similar results.

Of course, each prime minister has stumbled and fallen on his own accord. But part of the reason for the public’s tendency to quickly want to dispose of its leaders is a generic dislike of politics in Japan, as revealed in a recent Yomiuri poll (Yomiuri, 11/25/2011, p.9). The face-to-face opinion survey showed strong public dissatisfaction with the current state of impasse in Japanese politics and a general sense of powerlessness to do anything about it. Both the ruling and the opposition parties have earned public scorn and distrust, the poll shows. Asked to evaluate recent Japanese politics, 76% of the public said it was getting wors. Even among DPJ supporters, 54% said it was getting worse. Among independent voters, who can make or break parties during elections, 83% sensed a worsening of politics.

Respondents, when asked to pick multiple reasons for their unhappiness with politics, most frequently cited “A failure to see things through the people’s eyes” (45%), followed by “Decision making is too slow” (43%), “Not setting a future course for Japan” (33%), and “Spending time in political disputes” (30%). Evaluating the current lawmakers, 50% cited their “lack of decision-making capability,” “lack of leadership” (41%), and “lack of a sense of mission” (30%).

Prime Minister Noda started strong, but has made some major mistakes .First, was his way of choosing his own cabinet. One of his biggest mistakes last fall was to give priority to balancing various groups in the party in post appointments instead of to an individual’s qualifications. He seemed more intent on keeping party bosses happy, but ended up with a lineup of mostly amateurs, some of whom proceeded to get into trouble. First to go was his METI Minister for offensive statements about earthquake victims in northeast Japan.

And now, Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa has come under fire for expressing ignorance about the 1995 Okinawa rape incident that led to the decision to relocate Futenma Air Station. His attitude has infuriated Okinawans, the opposition camp passed a censure motion against him in the Upper House. But Noda has decided to keep him on in the cabinet, as well as another cabinet member, National Public Safety Commission Chairman Kenji Yamaoka, who is linked to a controversial business scheme. Noda reportedly is unwilling or unable to fire them because both are cohorts of the still powerful former party president Ichiro Ozawa, whom Noda is loathe to upset.

The rupture with Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima has further complicated the process of relocating Futenma. In addition, Noda’s ability to pass any legislation in the Diet is now compromised. The LDP-led opposition camp wants to force him during the upcoming regular Diet session that starts in January to dissolve the Diet for a snap election that it believes it can win, returning a LDP coalition to power. This scenario is more wishful thinking than real as no election can be called until there is a redistricting to address the unconstitutional voter disparity problems identified by Japan's Supreme Court.

Visiting LDP party head, Nobuteru Ishihara boldly told a Washington audience on December 12 before rushing off to meet Administration officials that “The LDP is also pressuring the DPJ to hold a general election, as any consumption tax increase is a clear violation of the party’s campaign promises, and a change in its publicly-declared policies. For these reasons, the political world will reach its first critical stage in March, at the end of the Japanese fiscal year.”

He noted that “the most recent opinion poll shows that 64% of the public believes that if the DPJ now turns its back on its campaign promise and submits a bill in the Diet to increase the consumption tax, then it should first call for a new general election and present a revised campaign pledge that includes a consumption tax increase.”

Noda may try to block that by reshuffling his cabinet prior to the Diet opening, removing the offensive two ministers. But his support rate is likely to continue to slip-slide away. The pending issues – TPP, Futenma, tax reform, and pension reform – are all controversial. The spring Diet session could see a replay of scenarios that it has seemingly orchestrated since 2006.

William Brooks
APP Senior Fellow
December 12, 2011

Cracks in the Alliance

On November 22nd, APP Senior Fellow Dr. William Brooks was in Tokyo and gave a presentation reviewing the history of Japan's negotiations with the United States over a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station. He spoke at Temple University's influential Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies run by APP member Dr. Robert Dujarric.

You can view the presentation slides HERE and view the presentation below.

Prime Minister of Japan's Schedule December 14-15

December 15, 2011

AM
08:52 The office of PM
09:11 Ministerial Meeting on the Overseas Deployment of Integrated Infrastructure Systems
09:24 Council for Science and Technology Policy
10:02 Mr. Furukawa, Minister of State for National Policy; Mr. Ogushi, Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office
10:26 Mr. Hosono, Minister of State for the Nuclear Power Policy and Administration; Mr. Fukano, Director-General of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency; Mr. Sugawara, Director-General of Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Mr. Sagisaka, Director-General of the Environment Management Bureau, Ministry of Environment.
10:56 Photo and Video Shooting for DPJ publicity

PM
01:30 Hotel Le Port Koujimachi, Hiraka-cho, Tokyo. Gave remarks at the Symposium of Advanced Accelerator Association Promoting Science and Technology.
01:52 The office of PM
02:01 Mr. Uematsu, Head of Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office
02:25 Mr. Nagashima, Special Advisor to PM
03:36 Mr. Azumi, Minister of Finance; Mr. Katsu, Administrative Vice-Minister of Finance; Mr. Manago, Director General of the Budget Bureau, Ministry of Finance
04:38 Everyone leaves
04:47 Meeting of the Forum for Consultations between the National and Regional Governments
05:00 Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM
05:16 Mr. Norihiro Okuda, Ambassador of Japan to the Arab Republic of Egypt, and others
05:53 The Council on National Strategy and Policy
07:07 Receives advice from Mr. Masaru Nishio, President of the Local Government System Research Council
07:22 Mr. Furukawa, Minister of State for National Policy
07:29 The residence of PM

December 14, 2011

AM
09:22 The office of PM
09:24 Mr. Edano, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry
09:31 Mr. Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary, and Mr. Saito, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, join
10:00 Phone conversation with Prime Minister Harper of Canada
10:18 Mr. Kawabata, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications; Mr. Fukuda, Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications; Mr. Goto, Senior Vice Minister of Cabinet Office; Mr. Tsugawa, Parliamentary Secretary of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; Mr. Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary.
10:52 Mr. Genba, Minister of Foreign Affairs
11:28 Mr. Maehara, Chairperson of DPJ Policy Research Council
11:57 Mr. Maehara leaves

PM
12:41 Mr. Suematsu, Special Advisor to PM
01:17 Mr. Takahashi, Deputy Director-General, Cabinet Office Secretariat of the International Peace Cooperation Headquarters
01:58 Mr. Sasae, Administrative Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs
02:41 Mr. Tadashi Maeda, Special Advisor to the Cabinet
03:04 Mr. Ishida, Senior Vice Minister of Cabinet Office; Mr. Takashi Onishi, President of Science Council of Japan; Mr. Masuo Aizawa, Executive Member of the Council for Science and Technology Policy.
03:10 Mr. Onishi and Mr. Aizawa leave
03:29 Mr. Ishida leaves
03:30 Mr. Nishi, Director-General of the Bureau of Defense Policy, Ministry of Defense
03:56 Mr. Katagiri, Commissioner-General of National Police Agency
04:21 Mr. Katagiri leaves
05:20 The Lower House 1st Diet Members’ Building
05:22 Made remarks at the DPJ Administrative Reform Research Council General Assembly.
05:31 The office of PM
05:36 Mr. Yamaoka, Minister for the Abduction Issue
06:12 Mr. Tezuka, Special Advisor to PM
07:01 At “Ichiyoshi”, a Japanese restaurant, dinner with Mr. Ritsuo Hosokawa, DPJ Lower House Member; Mr. Yoshiaki Takaki, DPJ Lower House Member; and Mr. Nagahama, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
09:52 The residence of PM

New Delhi’s Controversial Birth

Most in Asia remember December 13th as the beginning of the Nanjing Massacre in 1937 by Imperial Japanese forces. Further west, this date marks the founding of New Delhi in 1911. Former APP research assistant Dinyar Patel who is currently a Fulbright Scholar based in Mumbai while working on his Ph.D. in the Department of History at Harvard University reflected on this anniversary in The New York Times blog, India Ink.

December 12, 2011, 6:23 am

Few cities of recent vintage have a history as complicated and contested as New Delhi, which turned 100 on Monday. Now the seat of the world’s largest democracy, New Delhi began in 1911 as a grand imperial showpiece meant to stand for eternal British rule over the Indian subcontinent. But during its two decades of construction New Delhi became the stage upon which Indians gained increasing political advantage over a crumbling Raj.

New Delhi literally began as an imperial edict. In December 1911, King George V traveled to Delhi in order to be crowned emperor of India at an elaborate durbar, or gathering: he was the first reigning British monarch to step foot on Indian soil. After several days of ceremonies at a temporary city consisting of some 40,000 tents and featuring its own railway system, King George V offered two boons to his subjects: First, he revoked the partition of Bengal, an act that had unleashed violent anti-British agitation. Second, he announced the creation of a new city in the vicinity of Delhi to replace Calcutta as the imperial capital. The city, George hoped, would be a fusion of Indian and European architecture, according to a letter from his viceroy to one of his colleagues.

Herbert Baker and Edwin Lutyens, the two architects appointed to design much of the city, seemed to be curious choices for such a venture. Baker worked in South Africa, where he had become a disciple of the arch-imperialist Cecil Rhodes. Lutyens, who previously had mostly designed English country houses, was known for his occasional prejudiced outbursts against India. In a letter to his wife, for example, Lutyens described Indian architecture as “essentially the building style of children.” Even the Taj Mahal, he complained, was “small but very costly beer.” Both men reveled in their assignment to create a monument to imperialism. “Hurrah for despotism!” Baker wrote to Lutyens. “On the day you sail [to India] you should feel like Alexander when he crossed the Hellespont to conquer Asia.”
Arthur Gill/British Architectural LibraryViceroy’s House in Delhi, in this undated file photo.

In spite of their prejudices, Lutyens and Baker managed to create a remarkable assemblage at New Delhi that melded European and Indian architecture into an innovative whole. Lutyens’ Viceroy’s House had a dome modeled after the Buddhist stupa at Sanchi, commissioned in the third century B.C. by Ashoka. In order to battle Delhi’s blazing summer heat, Lutyens adapted Mughal techniques for indoor cooling by installing rooftop fountains that cascaded into the interior of buildings. Baker laced his classical Secretariat blocks with Mughal-style domes, cupolas and cornices. For other elements of their city plan, they took cues from Washington, Paris and Canberra in addition to Fatehpur Sikri and Jaipur.

New Delhi inspired a lively architectural debate amongst the uppermost echelons of British Indian society. But for Indians themselves, it became the object of resentment. Parts of the new city seemed completely antithetical to the Raj’s promises to Indian nationalists of gradual political reform. Above the entrances to his Secretariats, for example, Baker engraved a rather patronizing phrase: “Liberty will not descend to a people, A people must raise themselves to liberty, It is a blessing that must be earned before it can be enjoyed.” The engraving remains there today. Lutyens’ Viceroy’s House covered a greater area than Versailles and had an army of attendants, including several whose job was to shoo away pigeons. New Delhi emerged as a rigidly ordered and segregated city, with spacious bungalows for British officers in the south and poorly ventilated tenements for Indian peons in the north.

Indians protested the cost and extravagance of the new capital in the legislative assembly, the feeble predecessor to the Indian Parliament. Contrasting New Delhi’s opulence with the grinding poverty of the rest of the country, one legislator in 1921 complained that, “we have no right to feed our aesthetic sentiments at the expense of the poor tax-payers of India. And I cannot find any justification whatsoever why we should think that we should be better housed … when we really know that the country is actually starving and suffering.” In 1927, the chamber erupted in a chorus of “Shame, Shame” when British officials increased the budget for furnishing the Viceroy’s House.

Armed with limited budgetary powers, the assembly began chipping away at New Delhi’s construction budget and helped organize two committees to investigate ways for further reductions. As a result, many elements of New Delhi’s plan, such as extending the city’s processional boulevard, now Rajpath, to the Yamuna River, were discarded and remain unfinished even today. Leading Indian nationalists took a harder line against the city. Jawaharlal Nehru mocked the Viceroy’s House as the “chief temple where the High Priest officiated” and Mahatma Gandhi is rumored to have wanted to turn it into a hospital.

When New Delhi was officially inaugurated in 1931, it was a fundamentally incomplete city, littered with vacant plots and unfinished palaces. Due to the outrage over the cost of construction, British officials kept inaugural ceremonies to a bare minimum, something that was in marked contrast to the 1911 durbar. The power dynamics in the new city were starting to shift. At its center was a new Council House built for India’s expanded legislative assembly. As the Raj was forced to make further political concessions to the nationalists, the Council House, today home to India’s Parliament, became a hub of the city’s political life at the expense of the Viceroy’s House.

Ultimately, New Delhi served as the capital of the Raj for only 16 years before India became independent in 1947. Lutyens’ Viceroy’s House — decorated with stone bells that were meant never to ring and thereby never to herald the end of empire — became Rashtrapati Bhavan, the home of India’s ceremonial president. Colonial-era statues were dumped at the neglected durbar site. Reminders of the Raj still abound at every turn in modern New Delhi, but the Indian republic has managed to put its own stamp on the capital. At the eastern end of Rajpath lies an empty pavilion that once housed the marble statue of George V. It serves as a fitting symbol for an ancient civilization very much still in the process of refashioning itself as a democratic, egalitarian nation-state.