politics

Altered documents turn up heat on Abe

49 Comments
By Linda Sieg

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49 Comments
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why make your protest signs in English? We can't vote.

17 ( +24 / -7 )

Please oh please I hope Taro Aso is forced to resign! And then Abe soon after him. People must keep up the pressure on the both of them, as well as the opposition parties. I remember reading here some people criticizing the opposition for continuing to talk about this scandal that it would do nothing for them, but they knew there was more to it, and it might mean the end of the Abe nightmare.

5 ( +18 / -13 )

English is becoming the international language of choice for protesters... just look at their signs. You print in your own language and also in English. Who knows... a 100 years from now it might be Chinese.

-2 ( +10 / -12 )

The whole World is watching.

1 ( +13 / -12 )

The whole World is watching

actually I doubt that because most people around the world do not even know who the Japanese PM is. That being said, doing your protest signs in a foreign language is pretty silly and pointless IMO

3 ( +18 / -15 )

People are thinking who will be a good leader of Japan after Abe. Candidates are Ishiba, Kishida, Kono... I would prefer Kono.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Aso goes so does Abe. Then their replacements will turn off the QE printing presses. Lots of upset brown bagging companies to follow after that. TEPCO assets sold off to pay to families, then shutdown and replaced by a holding company to oversea national nuclear shutdown.

All the good things

-4 ( +10 / -14 )

oversee

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

Abe did nothing successfully in his 5 years, except this one, huge discount for someone he knows well, with his wife Akie's name explicitly mentioned, and removed as well when submitted to the parliament. If Abe weren't PM, nothing like this would have happened. Tell me this is a clean govt, tell me this is allowed by laws, tell me that Abe did nothing wrong, then I will change my name.

-1 ( +13 / -14 )

Love the pictures ! I hope we effectively say bye bye soon !

6 ( +14 / -8 )

Abe wants to be on charge for the Olympics, so badly. He will not resign, he will blame everyone else.

Shinjiro Koizumi,

LPD wants to perpetuate itself, the same families have had the power in Japan for the last 100 years! It amazes me that no Japanese cares about this. They even sympathetically agree to have the son of the previous leader following his steps.

7 ( +15 / -8 )

The whole World is watching.

it is not. No more than if the PM of Finland gave a great land deal to a school in his country, we would not know his name or care about it

2 ( +15 / -13 )

Not very much changes for the ordinary Japanese and the enormous financial power held by those gotten wealthy on the backs of the Japanese worker is well hidden....

2 ( +11 / -9 )

hit the road jack and dont you come back no more no more no more no more.

3 ( +13 / -10 )

"This is good land so please proceed."

Akie couldn’t say this without authority from her husband.

-10 ( +5 / -15 )

Can this really be the end for Abe? Is he going to worm out of this one like his grandfather wormed out of his war crimes? Let's hope so. There is MUCH, MUCH more behind this than a simple land deal. It's a mess of worms and there has already been one suicide. Let's get rid of Abe, Aso, the Japanese Cheney, the LDP, Nippon Kaigi, Komeito and have a government that actually represents not the old boy network, but the people.

0 ( +13 / -13 )

Aso should go I think, but nothing here implicates Abe so his position is safe

-2 ( +12 / -14 )

dangobong - actually this is being reported in mainstream media in many countries.

It may well not be earth-shattering news in those places, but it is being reported. A quick check will tell you that.

Hence the "impact" signs in English are surely planned to reach a wider audience.

9 ( +13 / -4 )

No more than if the PM of Finland gave a great land deal to a school in his country, we would not know his name or care about it

Due to the catastrophic problems that Japanese nationalism caused the last time around, I think it's safe to assume that (while, perhaps not the whole world...) some important people around the world, plus many more, are most definitely watching as Nippon Kaigi tries to regenerate the 'old ways'.

If you are Japanese and a true patriot, you should be strongly against the LDP being able to continue as government in the future, and rallying to expose their moral and legal corruption now. If no one is listening, or unable to care, internally - then write it up in English and show people outside what is happening in Japan.

I commend the few (!!) that have taken to the streets over this.

0 ( +11 / -11 )

dcog9065Today  09:01 am JST

Aso should go I think, but nothing here implicates Abe... so his position is safe

Oh, was it Aso's wife that was mentioned in the documents that the ministry lied about disposing of and then produced with her and others' names removed?

...so his position is safe

In some fantasy universe, maybe. In the real world Abe's position is not safe as long as suspicions about his involvement continue to erode confidence in the government and the LDP. Anyone who's not desperate to defend him no matter what the circumstances might be able to see that.

0 ( +12 / -12 )

I want Abe to go, but I don't see how this will lead to his resignation. It's not big enough

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Abe and Aso will ride this storm I presume. Find a scapegoat, go through the theatrics of regret , the three Ds etc. Deny, deflect and distract. Watch out for some hard core politicking. In a few weeks, like everything, it’ll be deliberately forgotten.

1 ( +8 / -7 )

No way Abe is resigning from something like this

6 ( +10 / -4 )

Ah, Abe and Aso, the dynamic duo! Of course there is going to be a lot of pressure for them both to resign, but a quick trip down memory lane in Japanese politics shows there is always a scapegoat for the untouchables. However, regardless of the scandals, Abe and Aso (finance minister) have both failed miserably on every platform of their campaign promises. They have not delivered anything new in seven years of office. This alone should be enough to have them removed from office.

-4 ( +9 / -13 )

Many Japanese people still think there're no others (top leaders) to replace Abe+Aso. Well, nobody wants to replace all of what they did.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Akie is directly linked to the case, she should play no role at all, legally speaking. Abe's family is involved, Abe's govt is involved, Abe's deputy is involved, Abe's minister is involved, tell me somehow Abe is not involved magically. One man was dead already, do we need more dead people to prove the case ?

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

@Simon Foston: Nah there is nothing here, surely even you can see that. He won't resign from this I bet you. If you're upset and bitter about it, get out and vote him out instead of virtue signaling from bed

2 ( +12 / -10 )

Can this really be the end for Abe? Is he going to worm out of this one like his grandfather wormed out of his war crimes?

Knowing you, you probably want Takeshi Onaga to be the next PM. Am I right or am I right?

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Move Along folks nothing to see

6 ( +11 / -5 )

If Akie wasn't involved, Abe might survive by simply dropping Aso. But Akie is a big headache. Her link with Abe isn't deniable. It is unimaginable that she didn't tell Abe about it, especially when it became public. It is even more unimaginable that Abe didn't ask her about it when he prepared answers to the parliament. It just doesn't add up.

-4 ( +8 / -12 )

He committed fraud, is anybody surprised? His buddy whom he appointed chief of police will make sure this is brushed under the rug too.

Shame on the public for not ousting this criminal. He should be in jail for the rest of his life. Dirty as they come.

-3 ( +10 / -13 )

When did Abe know that Akie's name was removed ? Did he inform the parliament immediately ? What is the reason for Akie's name to be removed ? This Akie wants answers.

-5 ( +8 / -13 )

Our dear supreme leader PM Abe is a staunch promoter of rule based world, from Pacific Ocean to Indian Ocean, from North America to Africa. Now let us see how he would apply rules to himself.

-3 ( +10 / -13 )

Akie * the rules are for other people silly.

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

Yeah right, the opposition can whinge all it wants, but there is almost no chance Abe will have to resign from this. Move on

5 ( +13 / -8 )

Not sure it is a good idea to write protest signs in English in Japan - it gives the rightwing/LDP/Nationalist types an easy deflection "out" as they can just say, "See, it's only foreigners, paid agents of foreigners, and unpatriotic Japanese who are protesting, so no biggie..."

6 ( +11 / -5 )

Abe wants to be on charge for the Olympics, so badly. He will not resign, he will blame everyone else. hell wait till it blows over again wait for support rate to climb , call an election at the right time and probably win it again. Hes done a pretty good job with the economy that no other PM before him has managed, there inst any suitable replacement that wont resign at the fist sign of trouble. If Trump can continue to be POTUS with all the scandals that have plagued him I dont see why Abe should resign either, let the voting public decide if they want him gone or not. No need to make it easy for the opposition.

6 ( +12 / -6 )

What kind of rhetorical appeal can a protest sign written in English have for the average Taro taxpayer? Very little, I'd wager. The only people these will appeal to are their friends in the echo chamber, English language nerds and gaijin (who cannot vote anyway). Oh, and What happened to those pithy kanji slogans of old?

7 ( +12 / -5 )

Sayonara Abe!

-5 ( +7 / -12 )

Watch a few minutes of adverts on TV and you'll see how much English slogans are a part of Japanese life. How about a bit of respect for the 1,000 or so protesters who were out on a chilly night making themselves heard in a society that discourages protest, instead of nitpicking about their bilingual signs?

-4 ( +8 / -12 )

Compared to Trump's almost innumerable scandals, lies, and frauds, this minor issue with Abe is basically nothing. If Trump can survive his issues, then Abe resigning is not even up for discussion

5 ( +12 / -7 )

Japan is still a 100 million people nation. Abe can be replaced and should be replaced. How sad that a so called democratic country fooled her citizens that Abe is the only one who can rule the nation. How wrong it is. At least there are more than 50 million Japanese who are better alternative to Abe. But they are never given chances. Japan, in reality, is controlled by a few.

-6 ( +7 / -13 )

actually I doubt that because most people around the world do not even know who the Japanese PM is.

This story made the front page of a couple of the UK broadsheets.

Abe said he would resign, so he must honour his word. The last thing Japan needs at the moment is another lame duck PM, struggling to hold on to power fro personal reasons. He shuld be thinking of the country, not himself. Aso should go too, he is untimately responsible for wrong doing or malpractice in his department.

Charges should be laid on Abe's wife and anyone involved in the deal or the cover up. Drain the swamp.

-5 ( +7 / -12 )

Made me smile.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

He did publicly state he would resign. His PR companies must be trying to delete all the videos and statements, or at least change them to “I might, or maybe, or now is too soon, or after the investigation, or...”

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

dcog9065Today 10:06 am JST

@Simon Foston: Nah there is nothing here

You appear to be the only person posting here that thinks so.

-6 ( +5 / -11 )

actually I doubt that because most people around the world do not even know who the Japanese PM is.

Discussed this piece of text with my 5 yr old neighbour girl. What is the message, girl?

She answered that there's some truth in that because out of 7 billion peeps only the people interested in global politics would know him. What more does the message say?

The writer 'doubts' so not so sure about what he says, right neighbour? Writer is like boy in my class, insecure no? Yes, girl, sounds like it :)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It doesn't look very much, but that's because you can only see a small part of what goes on. There is a lot still to come out.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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