The Japan Considered Podcast Archive
July 2006

Weekly programs of analysis and commentary on Japan’s domestic politics and foreign relations. Role of the prime minister and cabinet, changes in Japan's domestic political environment, connecting voters and candidates, constitutional revision, and Japan’s relations with other Asian nations. These broadcasts are created by Japan Considered Project creator/maintainer, Robert Angel, and include short interviews with other specialists on Japanese politics and international relations

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If none of that makes sense, then on the Japan Considered Podcast page [click here] you can read the show notes for each weekly program, and download the audio file to your computer by clicking on the link. The audio files are in compact MP3 format, but still range in size from 8 to 25 meg, so they'll take a while to download.

Beginning with the first show of 2006, I have included a transcript of the whole program for those of you who would rather read than listen.

Thanks for listening, and send comments and suggestions to me via e-mail at RobertCAngel@gmail.com.

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Show Notes

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Friday, July 28, 2006; Volume 02, Number 28

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Friday, July 21, 2006. Volume 02, Number 27.

Click here for the audio file for this program.

Click here for a transcript of this program.

Thanks for tuning in. Today we're back on track with our regular Friday program. Lots happening in Japan, both on the domestic political front and the international front. But since we've spent so much time recently on international affairs, this week I've focused on domestic political developments.

Specifically we'll consider recent developments in the LDP presidential race, and efforts to succeed Junichiro Koizumi as LDP president and Japan's prime minister. Reports of Yasuo Fukuda's announcement that he will not contest the election have made significant changes in the situation.

Then we'll consider recent developments in the major opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, or DPJ, or Minshuto, as it's known in Japanese. Focus here is on Party leader Ichiro Ozawa and his efforts to keep the disparate members and groups that constitute the DPJ moving in roughly the same direction, with the hope of challenging the LDP for leadership of Japan.

And this week we close with a clip of bluegrass from the incomparable John Duffy.

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July 17, 2006. Volume 02, Number 26.

Click here for the audio file for this program.

Click here for a transcript of this program.

Thanks for dropping by again this week. Sorry for the delay again with this program. I've got to develop a more efficient system for putting these together. Hopefully we'll return to Friday publication this week. Hopefully .....

This week we cover two items I hope will be of interest. The first is the Shiga gubernatorial election mentioned but not discussed last week. I describe how Japan's "Lady of the Lake," Professor Yuriko Kada, won that one and what it tells us about the future of Japan's electoral politics.

The second topic concerns the "Preemptive Attack Attack" Japan has experienced in the wake of North Korea's missile initiative. Quite a story of the relationship between domestic politics and foreign relations.

Continue to send your comments and suggestions to me at RobertCAngel@gmail.com. And visit the Japan Considered website at www.JapanConsidered.com.

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July 07, 2006. Volume 02, Number 25.

Click here for the audio file for this program.

Click here for a transcript of this program.

Thanks for tuning in again this week. Lots to cover. I had hoped to include comments on DPJ Leader Ichiro Ozawa's visit to Mainland China, and on the significance of the recent Shiga Prefecture gubernatorial election. But that will have to wait until next week. The North Korean missile crisis took all of our time for this program.

Useful material here this week, however. Including a long Skype phone interview with Dr. Michael Green, currently Japan Chair and Senior Adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., and an associate professor at Georgetown University. Prior to that he spent five years in the White House, serving from April 2001 to January 2004 as Director of Asian Affairs for both Japan and Korea. And from January 2004 to December 2005 as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and the NSC’s Senior Director for Asian Affairs. So he knows the subject well.

Also a brief e-mailed comment from Dr. Robert Orr, president of Boeing Japan, and one of the best informed observers of Japan's politics and international relations going. See his Japan Considered interview by clicking here.

So, give a listen, or a read, and visit the Japan Considered website at www.JapanConsidered.org for more background material on these and other subjects.