Voices
in
Japan

quote of the day

The LDP must change at a time when Japan and the world is changing due to the coronavirus crisis. When looking at who among the candidates will be able to breathe fresh air into the party, the answer is obvious.

14 Comments

Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, announcing that he will back regulatory reform minister Taro Kono in the upcoming leadership election of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

© Jiji Press

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

14 Comments
Login to comment

"If anyone of these 3 current candidates win, Japan and the Japanese people will live a pipe dream."

Yes, good point. Which, truly, is the "Opiate [origin of 'pipe dream'] of the Masses", religion or politics, which, as we see so clearly is also a 'religion' of people who see only what they have been trained to see? And four candidates now that Ms Takaichi has forced the usual suspects to toss in a 'late entry' to try to dilute support for her. Given what the 'men' in power have done to Japan since circa 1868, they may be afraid that if a woman becomes powerful, they may never have power again, a worthy worry. I suppose we'll just have to wait to see what the collective LDP decides but, if personality is any measure of an effective PM, Ms Takaichi outshines all of the others and given her well reported taste for the 'unconventional' in music, personal adornment, transportation, et cetera, she may well surprise us all. One can only hope because Japan is in a rut at this time...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If anyone of these 3 current candidates win, Japan and the Japanese people will live a pipe dream.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Yes, the answer is obvious... NO ONE. Doh! Gaijintraveler I see you beat me to it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Yes, the answer is obvious: none of them.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@GBR48

Sanae Takaichi is a nationalist who looks well capable of wrecking trade and diplomatic links with SK and China and starting regional conflicts. The less politicians do, the less damage they cause. There are times when finding change difficult is bad, and others when it can help. The West and China are both attacking the tech giants to take back control from them. But tech has driven the economy for decades and GAFA has been the primary source of continued US dominance.

So the best of all possible worlds will be brought to us by Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon and Ms Takaichi will destroy that beautiful dream?

These are NOT 'technologies', they are instances of the same technology dominated by conscienceless Corporate and one would hope that America is not reliant for its place in the World on these pathological applications. This 'technology' is not being 'blocked' but simply having some of its unjustified power and freedom to exclude competitors taken from it. We could not have predicted our current world 30 years ago even, and we cannot forecast what will come next but we can be sure that if it competes with these pathological COMMERCIAL (not 'tech') giants it will be suppressed.

As for Japan, the current trend seems to be to follow the lead of 'The West' and China in subduing the arrogance which these entities emit with every news release and outrageous overreach and this is completely independent of anything which Ms Takaichi has endorsed.¹ ² They are, in their own way, monopolies and the one thing we have known about monopolies for at least 120 years is that they do more damage than good. A pertinent example from history might be Ma Bell which, when broken up into the 'Baby Bells' saw a blossoming of innovation in telecommunications in the U.S..

Could the World get by if GAFA, in toto, folded their tents and went quietly into history? Of course, and new and even more innovative solutions would quickly fill the voids left by their demise. Again, GAFA are NOT 'tech', they are just Corporate using tech and, really, for the future, are just historical instances whose names only a few may recognise in 30 years. The World goes on and no Corporation, country, or even Empire is or ever has been essential to that. They, too, shall pass...

¹ Japan to join forces with US, Europe in regulating Big Tech firms

https://www.reuters.com › article › us-japan-economy-ftc

Oct 18, 2020 — Japan is laying the groundwork to regulate platform operators. Among them are big tech giants dubbed "GAFA" - Google, Apple, Amazon AMZN.

² Japan to start antitrust probe on Apple and Google, says report

https://www.business-standard.com › ... › Companies

Jun 14, 2021 — Japan was perceived as laying the groundwork to regulate platform operators. Among them are big tech giants dubbed “GAFA” —Google, Apple, ...

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@gintonic

well said!

Sonae is Abe v. 3

6 ( +6 / -0 )

That the LDP must change has been said here for many decades. The same talk before an election or during a difficult period. And it always stays the same, nothing fundamental changes. At most, the facade will change, but the form will remain the same. And to vote for the CDP here, or even to barely mention the CDP, is taken as an insult and weakness. So many families here vote LDP just because their parents voted LDP and then their parents' parents, their parents' parents. No one is asking questions of the government. No one is asking whether things can be done differently and better. The LDP is simply a guarantee for a lot of people that there will be no change. Because any change here is a kind of breaking out of lethargy and breaking free from the old ways. It simply doesn't matter who is the leader of the LDP or the Prime Minister. Because we know how the government is going to unfold and where it is going to go.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

J-Politics are even worse than the UK.......LDP change leader and then present this internal change to J-voters as "THE CHANGE" needed for the country to recover from the policies of the incumbent government (which is....uhh....the LDP).....the J-voters lap it up like good little automatons and they vote LDP in again!!

Meanwhile the other mob are nowhere to be seen!!

Meet new boss, same as old boss

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Be careful what you wish for. Japan did well through Covid. It's mortality rate actually went down in 2020 and it has had less damaging lockdowns and far fewer deaths than the West. Development doesn't come from politicians - they just break things. Active politicians do more harm than good. Sanae Takaichi is a nationalist who looks well capable of wrecking trade and diplomatic links with SK and China and starting regional conflicts. The less politicians do, the less damage they cause. There are times when finding change difficult is bad, and others when it can help. The West and China are both attacking the tech giants to take back control from them. But tech has driven the economy for decades and GAFA has been the primary source of continued US dominance. The opportunity to replace GAFA is on the cards, and for all the hankos and fax machines, Japan is best placed to do that. It has the large corporations - SoftBank, Sony, LINE, Yahoo - and its politicians do not fear the internet as politicians do in the West, where citizens are more overtly individualistic. The prime candidates for the next iteration of GAFA will be one from three: Japan, South Korea or India. India have too authoritarian a leader and South Korea ban peer-to-peer tech. Japan could be the place where the next generation of internet technologies emerge, if it doesn't follow the Western (and Chinese) paths, taking control of tech and blocking its development.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

The whole of the LDP is stale and fetid. Japan will never develop with them at the helm.

agree! The whole of the LDP is stale and fecal. Japan will never develop with them at the helm.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

The whole of the LDP is stale and fetid. Japan will never develop with them at the helm.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Predictable and not 'news'. And, again, the downfall of Mr Suga is directly related to the failure of Kono to do his job as COVID 'tsar' and to somehow evade responsibility for that massive failure. The most important question is did he undermine his boss on purpose to gain this opportunity to replace him? That is how politicians operate and, whatever else he is, he's a politician first. And, for "fresh air" and "change", there is only one candidate who represents the "change" that both the LDP and, most certainly, Japan needs and that is Sonae and, for "fresh", she will bring a perspective which Japan has not seen in its entire modern history of exclusively male dominated political failure.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites