homleand comments

Who gets to decide which version of which historical events are legal to support? If I'm not making that decision, then no, it should not be law.

Really, only about 20% of Japanese actually need English for the good of the economy. It's a waste of public money to teach the rest. If they want to learn, private companies do a better job than the government. There's also the issue that teaching everyone English will open them up to other worldviews, which really isn't a good idea.

The most dangerous thing for any economy is rising wages in the lower tax brackets. The money needs to stay at the top, where it will be spent on large ticket items and services. Abe is turning Japan around, and the more successful he is, the more we will hear the media (and amateur commenters) claiming the opposite.

If he didn't push her, he didn't commit a crime.

paulinusa, to some degree you answered your own question. So long as companies can scape back on personnel costs and keep make more profit without giving wage hikes, then they will continue to do so. There is plenty more room for that to happen.

What you have to realise is that this is a game. Government recommendations to raise wages are put out there with a wink and a nod, and a representative is sent to Keidanren to assure them this is all just politics.

Last year's Japan/Korea friendship day, held in the same area, attracted more than 8 times as many people. Only the media seemed missing!

@harvey pekar I understand what you're saying, and to an extent I agree. But Mao is the most marketable of the bunch, with her slightly endearing cross-eyed look giving her the aura that even though she's famous she might be approachable for the average guy (of course she's not, really).. The others.are more media shy and don't really stand out from the crowd. Just be thankful that Miki Ando isn't seeking fame. If she had the right (wrong?) management we'd be seeing her literally everywhere

I think it's important to not jump to to conclusions and link this to a media-manufactured purported "move to the right" by Japan. There could very well be an agenda of trying to make Japan look bad by doing this.

Bertie

I don't think there's any real secrecy around the TPP negotiations. A lot of people are simply not interested in the small details. They know they're in the right hands, the hands they elected, and they rightfully trust them to get the job done on their behalf.

sfk2,

I would argue against any tax raises, ever, across the board. But if there has to be a raise, it should not be in corporate tax. It's not fair to punish success. That only makes it harder for companies to grow and hire more people. The income gained through reductions in corporate tax far outweigh any losses in these tiny increases in personal or consumption tax.

Great news! Disillusioned, this article may not mention it, but that is definitely the plan. If it doesn't work out, Abe can chastise companies and be seen as a champion of the people. But what really needs to happen is further unlocking of shareholder value.

Eiji Takano,

You could substitute "Britain" for "Japan" and "BBC" for "NHK" in your comment and have the same thing. It works for the US, France, China, Russia, Norway - and whatever other country you want! There's no empirical evidence, nothing backing up the claims whatsoever. It sounds like the Alex Jones style conspiracy theories trotted back out for another round: "The media is controlled in Japan! Did you know Bigfoot did 9/11 with help from Soros, so Obama could open Chinese paramilitary abortion camps? And Japan's not really a democracy!" It's all the same.

It seems rather silly that some are tossing around words like "indoctrination" and talking about "right wingers." Have elections suddenly stopped in Japan? Has Democracy been replaced by serfdom? The people elected the LDP knowing Abe would be PM. The people elected the governor of Tokyo who supports Abe. This is democracy in action. Japan needs to stand up for itself and tell its own narrative of the war, of the Truth.

You cannot compare Kamikaze pilots who were trying to defend their own country targeting military ships with jihadists who are targeting innocent civilians.

Yes I can, and yes I will. They are one and the same.

Suzu1, Accenture has the contract in Japan as well.

Wartime issues were settled by international treaty and Japan has apologised numerous times in the past. It is Korea that took the money and misappropriated it. Now that same country wants to keep the issue alive. It is deceitful and misleading, and amounts to little more than the scoring of domestic political points.

“I tried to resume working some time ago but was told by a Tokyo city official that it would deprive young people of jobs,” the discontented pensioner told AFP.

Why would you listen to them? Do what's best for you.

The FBI having a record is for my own safety? How do you reckon that one?

cleo, this reslly should be self-evident. It makes it easier to identify and catch criminals and it makes it harder for them to enter the country you are in.

cleo, yes, but that's for our own safety.

wtfjapan, yes, this is why we do the information sharing. But we shouldn't really say that out loud.

StormR, you didn't agree to a lot of things that have happened, but they happened anyway. This has nothing to do with a police state, it's about keeping us safe.

I will continue to donate as much money as possible to politicians who run against anyone who opposes these plans.

"despite his alignment with the government on the need to restart Japan’s idled nuclear reactors."

I would say not despite, but because of. The electorate are no fools; they know the plants need to be running and more need to be built, to keep the economy booming and to keep the job marketing going. They also know the plants need to be outside Tokyo, in rural areas, for safety reasons. And, a leader aligned with the LDP is a must, as the LDP will be in power for the foreseeable future. The LDP basically is the government of Japan, and it's in the best interest of the people of Tokyo to get on board with the winning team.

browny1, Abe brought up the war analogy because he is a man of peace and vision, and he wants to avoid war for Japan in the future. He is warning us not to repeat the mistakes of the past. In terms of wisdom, I would rank him up there with Santayana when it comes to this issue.

I also think it's important that we understand the interpreter's political motivation for inserting this unspoken and unimplied statement into the interpretation. Whose payroll is the interpreter on? Hopefully the media can star getting some answers, including getting the interpreter to face the public to explain his or her motivation for making these false statements.

Men need to stick to their principles, vote for Masuzoe, and lie about it to their wives, lovers, secretaries, help and girlfriends.

Japan has freedom of speech.

AKBFan, I keep a place there for entertaining, but Oakwoods is the way to go for living.

I guess we can thank the North Koreans for one thing. For now on, when you hear someone claiming Abe is ramping up Japan for war, you can just point out that they agree with the North Korean position.

This is great news. We need more open, competitive markets and less government regulation. Too much regulation leads to situations like we have in Fukushima. Put the customer first!

I support this 100%. Public servants should not have tattoos in Japan.

Japan needs to make it VERY clear to the Americans that this will not be tolerated.

I'm 100% in support of Momii, and I wish instead of apologising he would have continued telling the truth. As Japan grows economically due to Abe's stunning policies, it will need to instil a new national pride in its youth. Because the existential threats to Japan are real, I don't believe dissent should be tolerated. We need to stick together, be of one mind, and stay focused on the external threats to our very way of life.Thus shall we build a beautiful nation, Japan.

I had been opposed to the plan, but now that I see misguided people like Oliver Stone and Michael Moore on that side, I will do all I can to support it.

It's Halal precisely because it's not inhumane. At least the Muslim community has shown they are open minded enough to certify this meat. It seems odd to me that so many people who claim to be tolerant are unwilling to accept that the Japanese have their own culture and their own food. During my time in Japan I've eaten copious amounts of whale and it is delicious!

Sorry Cleo, but the law is the law, and what's caught must be eaten under the international agreements.