Category: Japan

A MAGA like movement is growing in Japan which became more evident after their recent upper house election that saw the ruling LDP lose majorities in both houses for the first time since 1955:

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba walks after addressing the media at the vote counting center in the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday. AFP-Yonhap

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s ruling coalition failed Monday to secure a majority in the 248-seat upper house in a crucial parliamentary election, NHK public television said.

Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito needed to win 50 seats on top of the 75 seats they already have to retain their majority. With just one more seat to be decided, the coalition had 47 seats.

The loss is another blow to Ishiba’s coalition, making it a minority in both houses following its October defeat in the lower house election, and worsening Japan’s political instability. It was the first time the LDP has lost a majority in both houses of parliament since the party’s foundation in 1955.

Korea Herald

It looks like if Prime Minister Ishiba wants to create a new coalition he is going to have to change government policy to address the concerns of the Sanseito party which saw massive gains in this election:

The emerging populist party Sanseito stands out with the toughest anti-foreigner stance, with its “Japanese First” platform that proposes a new agency to handle policies related to foreigners. The party’s populist platform also includes anti-vaccine, anti-globalism and favors traditional gender roles.

Conservative opposition groups, especially the DPP and Sanseito, gained significant ground at the Liberal Democrats’ expense, while the centrist top opposition CDPJ was sluggish. The DPP quadrupled to 17 seats from four, according to interim results reported by Japanese media. Sanseito surged to 14 from just one.

You can read more at the link, but of course the media is claiming that Sanseito is xenophobic for wanting to limit immigration to protect Japanese culture.

The crux of this issue is that from Japan’s perspective Japanese citizens during the Imperial era were mobilized to work in industries to support Japan’s war effort. At the time, Imperial Japan considered Koreans as Japanese citizens. The ROK wants special mention that Koreans were discriminated against and forced to work at these sites which the Japanese viewpoint disagrees with. Their viewpoint is that Koreans were mobilized to work just like Japanese in support of the empire:

South Korea on Tuesday called on UNESCO’s heritage oversight body to step in if Japan continues to backtrack on its promise to honor wartime forced labor victims from its UNESCO World Heritage-listed industrial sites. 

South Korean Ambassador to UNESCO Bak Sang-mee made the call during a session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) in Paris, about a week after Seoul’s attempt to place the industrial sites on this year’s WHC agenda was blocked by a rare vote among member states, including both South Korea and Japan.

Seoul sought to bring attention to Japan’s lukewarm efforts in implementing WHC recommendations on presenting the full history of the Meiji industrial revolution sites, which were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2015. 

One of the sites is Hashima Island, where many Koreans were taken to toil during World War II, when Korea was under Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule. 

“The case of the site of Japan’s Meiji industrial revolution is notable for the committee’s consistent request through four consecutive decisions for the development of an interpretation strategy that allows for an understanding of the full history of each site,” Bak said. “However, nearly a decade later, its implementation remains insufficient and continues to raise concerns.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Pentagon is putting both the Japanese and the Australians in a difficult spot because it is in both countries interest to keep things ambiguous considering their business ties to China. It is even more complicated for Japan considering their pacifist constitution. However any conflict with China will likely lead to U.S. bases in Japan being attacked that would draw the Japanese into the conflict regardless:

The Pentagon is urging Japan to make clear the role it would play in the event of a U.S.-China conflict over Taiwan, a media report said Saturday, with the U.S. Defense Department’s No. 3 official later appearing to confirm the push.

U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby has been broaching the sensitive issue in meetings with Japanese and Australian officials in recent months, the Financial Times (FT) quoted unidentified sources as saying.

Japan Today

You can read more at the link.