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© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Abe says Japan is 'best partner' for Asia
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
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smithinjapan
Let me rephrase that for you: "“We do not impose our culture on others, and if you disagree we'll retract your funding and complain ceaselessely ... we think together and move together with the local people, but not with outsiders.”
Abe is desperate now, and the world knows 'Abenomics' is nothing but a word to criticize the failures of his administration for. How many new 'arrows' has he fired from his overloaded (with words) quiver? How many times will he say, "It's coming soon... just wait for it!".
Sorry, but as long as Abe wants a return to past glory, be it business method that worked in the past (before failing), or other elements of history, he's only leading people to failure. Best others don't hop on the sinking ship for his hope they'll help prop it up.
B.l. Sharma
JAPAN is the best the partner not only for Asia but also for the world.
nath
Then why have all the international banks left and gone to HK or Singapore then? High taxes, ridiculous employment rules. Citi, HSBC etc., all gone. Traders have a whacking great big book of new rules to remember and have to pass a strict test to get a license to work in finance. NOBODY sends their bright young stars to Japan anymore.
Look around the floors of Maranouchi .... I do not see much chicken broth for ramen there!
Dong Yu
So Japan is no longer part of Asia? Japan is outside of Asia?
Alex80
Japan is of course part of Asia and it knows it. Is is still investing tons of money in Asia like it did in the past years.
Moonraker
I suppose he imagines that he has a sophisticated rationalization for his assertion that Japan does not impose its culture on other Asian countries - that Malaysian ramen has chicken broth. But it is somehow emblematic of the totally banal rhetoric that issues from those representing Japan to the outside. And possibly betrays how little they really understand or respect their audience.
Goodlucktoyou
A nationalistic American puppet? How about China? Surely they are the best partner???
SenseNotSoCommon
I've heard worse first attempts at improv comedy. Maybe once.
Louis Amsel
"don't go with china, pleaaaase..."
Disillusioned
Oh, dear! It seems Mr. Abe has completely lost the plot now.
Alex80
When he says "Japan"he is saying "the US''. The US are using Japan to challange China. It's easier to let your puppet speaking for you.
BertieWooster
I wonder if Abe knows which continent Japan is on.
It doesn't seem like it.
Alex80
Bertie...politically...Japan is with the US, not with China.
JeffLee
Japan's "assistance" is obligatory anyway, expected from the world's 3 biggest economy.
Savvy Asians know Japan more than anyone else uses this money strategically for its own purposes: as a way of providing its own corporates with profitable work. Japan's wonderful charitable infrastructure projects are invariably done nearly exclusively with Japanese contractors, suppliers and consultants.
sf2k
Lucky Japan is already in Asia then? Don't get it
Odentime
Abe's pitching Japan as the ideal business partner for nearly 3/4 of mankind, and the example (and might I add, the only example) he chose to illustrate Japan's unparalleled feats in supporting the Asian economy is the flavor of ramen noodles other than pork. May the world adore Japan for such piety and benevolence :P
BertieWooster
Alex80,
Geographically Japan is part of Asia:
(Wikipedia)
China is also part of Asia.
The U.S. is part of ANOTHER continent.
smithinjapan
"For example, he said the recipe for Japanese ramen noodle has been modified in Malaysia by using chicken broth and meat, instead of pork, which is prohibited in Islam."
No, he doesn't impose anything on others at all... nope. I think it's cute he think ramen is from Japan, as though it did not originate elsewhere and Japan put its own spin on it. And... nah... Malaysia couldn't possibly be drawing from the original, given it's HUGE Chinese population or anything; they're just using 'Japanese ramen noodles', which he benevolently allows them to do, of course, and flavouring it differently, and he's not even sending the Japanese food police after him to give them a rating or anything and showing it's "not REAL Japanese"!
What a tool.
G.MAL.O.Q
"Then why have all the international banks left and gone to HK or Singapore then? High taxes, ridiculous employment rules. Citi, HSBC etc., all gone. Traders have a whacking great big book of new rules to remember and have to pass a strict test to get a license to work in finance. NOBODY sends their bright young stars to Japan anymore."
Yeah Tokyo really needs the BS finance activities à la London or NY. More derivatives please too…
sandhonour
"We do not impose our culture on others.." - clearly A-bee has been reading from one of those right wing textbooks. It should also be interpreted as "we do not impose our culture but we will impose our will eh the UN?"...this guy is a real embarrassment to Japan.
Alex80
Bertie. I know where Japan is. But politically it is with the US. So, try by yourself to understand the implications.
Wc626
All talk. Yeah, big chunk of Indonesia's population are islamic. How many refugees will "they" be allowing in?
Odentime
The question is, how many would choose to remain after looking at the list of joyo kanji?
veejay
Citi, HSBC etc., all gone. Traders have a whacking great big book of new rules to remember and have to pass a strict test to get a license to work in finance Who cares? Any one who chooses to work in the finance industry deserves their cake. The banking sector here is a closed shop. Has always and will always be so.
jerseyboy
You're kidding, right? That is the best example he could come up with? No wonder Japan is dropping like a rock in terms of global competitiveness. Truly inspirational thinking on display.
Gobshite
Using meat instead of pork? wow, just wow
misunderstood
According to Abe statement he is politicking for Japan to become a part of Asia. I guess in his mind Japan was in a world of its own.
smithinjapan
misunderstood: "I guess in his mind Japan was in a world of its own."
Nah, he's one of those people that looks up to and secretly wishes it were part of the US -- or a Western country like it, until it comes to human rights, anyway (even with said rights being questionable themselves at times in said nations).
In any case, Abe is just pushing this crap because China is set to start making loans and he's pitching Japan, desperately, as the alternative. The best is that he has the gall to tell the world that he guarantees the "Made in Japan" label, when that label fell off because it was cheaply mislabeled on an inferior product by a Japanese company, and with Olympus, Takada, Asahi Kaisei, Toshiba, and heaps of other companies caught in barefaced lies lately and fobbing off poor products.
Alex80
Also American, German, Korean, etc companies are object of scandals. Japan bashing is a trend in this site rather hilarious.
ThePBot
That chicken ramen example he made to try to pander to the local Muslims Malays (Malaysia also has a big non-Muslim population) was freaking hilarious. Also, "Yeah, we won't impose our culture on you but other than that, everything else has to be from Japanese companies".
Cortes Elijah
Again with the noodles Abe!
Pukey2
Botchan:
Of course. You don't burst into American publishers' offices and tell them what they should or shouldn't publish in American books. You don't tell what Koreans can or cannot put up in their own streets. You don't tell what UNESCO and the UN should or shouldn't do.
I'm sure all those workers who come to work on the farms and in the factories are treated like human beings.
Best partner for Asia? Like sabotaging Thai rice, belittling other countries' products and not letting other countries do business comfortably in Japan.
Jeez, this guy's a comedian.
tinawatanabe
Because it was about Japan and it was fabricated stories.
Because it is right in front of Japanese Embassy, which is against international law. You are supposed to protect foreign embassy's dignity.
They are treated in the same way as the Japanese.
You seem to be working comfortably in Japan in fact more comfortable than the majority Japanese. Many Japanese are paid much less than the foreigners in Japan.