shinsaku.ai comments

AkieToday wrote: Glad to see that Abe finally realized his mistakes and changed his anti-China policy.

Abe did not make any mistakes. Abe is merely capitalizing on China's panic as Trump applies pressure on it. Japanese are still open-eyed at the CCP's danger. That hasn't changed.

The Sino-Japan relationship has "returned to a normal development track," Li said.

Thank you, Mr. Trump.

China has to be consistently countered to stop it from further misbehaving.

Japan should just sit tight and let the DPRK and the US play their games, which are apt to fail, leaving Moon with egg on his face. Maximum pressure will be again required of the US and Japan after all this.

It is criminal negligence on the part of ROK leadership. For decades they have been fed propaganda to paint Japan or the US or the Chaebols as their real enemies. Your real enemy is the DPRK artilleries holding Seoul hostage. Past and present ROK leadership should be hanged for this security negligence.

Hard to believe this is the most earthquake-vulnerable skyscraper in the whole of Tokyo.

Rather, I strongly suspect that this famous building was just chosen deliberately to highlight the issue of earthquake preparedness.

Ice Cream Air

Sue and fine

Such a minor issue to be changing governments for in this critical time of North Korea, China and structural economic changes. The documents have to prove without a doubt that Abe or Akie benefited from the situation. None of those in waiting could have handled Trump nor Xi jinping better than abe has done. Priorities, people.

China’s style is to threaten and to bluster so that China’s enemies will just let themselves be rolled over.

I think Blake has a point but he should have raised this months ago when Serena first came back to the WTA tour.

Saying it just now, and mentioning Naomi Osaka in the same context, sounds more like fear that Naomi Osaka will knock out Serena.....

Of course if Serena knocks out Naomi instead, I have a feeling Blake will just be silent ....

I cannot conceive of a few days course’s curriculum being any better than a collection of carefully curated youtube videos ...

MSDF can consider Yonaguni. That way it’ also backstops the defense of Taiwan.

Makes you wonder about the veracity of reports that Trump just hates South Korea viscerally. With “allies” like these who needs enemies? Moon government should be sanctioned for coddling the North Korean mastermind of the deaths in the Cheonan corvette sinking and the shelling of Yeonpyeong island.

A2AD for he goose is A2AD for the gander.

Abe has already skillfully innoculated himself from these types of attacks by setting up the economic dialogue under Vice PM Aso and VP Pence. Just let it blow over.

@smithinjapan: I actually think Koike can beat the LDP in either timeframes: whether in a few weeks or in a year.

The only probably difference, from Abe/LDP's point of view, is that the LDP has less chances of beating Koike a year from now, which, I think, is one of strongest considerations that tipped Abe's hand to call for a snap election sooner rather than later.

@nakanoguy01: Unlike Hashimoto, Koike had always been a national figure (cool biz etc), and most people didn't even know that for the longest time she merely represented Ikebukuro, a rather minor constituency.

Koike is smart and she knows that picking and choosing individual politicians like Hosono is OK, whereas wholesale merging with the DP sinking ship is a NO NO.

The biggest question here is whether Komeito will support Abe/LDP nationally, or swing their national support to Koike. I'm sure Komeito is up nights gaming this. My bet is that Komeito will back Koike, mainly because the LDP is strong enough not to need Komeito, whereas Komeito's presence in the Koike camp will be highly appreciated.

In districts where Komeito decides to put up a fight, they are so disciplined not even the LDP machinery can beat them.

@Aly RustomToday. I actually think it's the other way around: Koike wasn't banking on Abe calling a snap election so early, before next year's general election.

To recall, just a few weeks ago (Tokyo metropolitan elections) Abe was the wounded animal and people were already calling his political demise, with Koike's Tomin First Party becoming the main beneficiary of Abe's debacle.

I would have thought that the venue of their next contest would be chosen by the victorious Koike, not the defeated Abe. But Abe seems to have turned his ship around, first by appointing Noda/Kono, and then by deftly (to date) handling Trump and North Korea.

If the general election were held next year, the full odds were that Koike could organize nationally and could mount a a very decent challenge to the LDP. But Abe setting a snap election in a few weeks time will force Koike to rush her preparations, which is a bit difficult since after the metropolitan election she said she'd concentrate on Tokyo issues (Olympics, Tsukiji).

Koike can still do it, but I fear that Wakasa/Hosono's joint platform of a change to a unicameral parliament is not compelling enough to unite anti-LDP forces. This snap election seems like it will become a referendum on Koike.

Ohhhh ..... sexy sarariman ....

No one complaining?

What does feeling "unwell" entail exactly?

"the [Chinese] people themselves do not hate Japan and vice versa"

I'm not sure about the "vice versa" part. I tried to look for data on Japanese outbound tourists inbound to China. It doesn't seem like China is anywhere near the top of Japanese' list when travelling abroad nowadays.

https://www.tourism.jp/en/tourism-database/stats/outbound/#region-courtry

I think the better explanation is that Chinese citizens know their government and media are propagandistic and so they take what officials say with a grain of salt, while Japanese citizens know their media is free and credible and so they believe the negative things they read and as a result stay away from China.

Why is Japan even interested in developing the Northern Territories? It's a thankless job that Putin just wants to manipulate for diplomatic game.

Class versus lack of class.

Impolitic, to say the least

Because China owns Cambodia, China can hobble the rest of ASEAN.

Japan should assist ASEAN capitlas/major cities that want to build subways.

To the extent that any TPP member's (i.e. Vietnam) export products are substitutable with Beijing's exports, then lower tariffs on the TPP member means that TPP member grabs a bigger piece of that pie from Beijing.

How is this even news?