Political Intrigue! Part Ni (Two)!

Yes, that’s right, the Japanese word for “two” is “ni.”  Now you know what those annoying knights were saying in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  Sadly, their next phrase, “Icky, Icky, Icky Icky Kapang Zoop-Boing!” is not Japanese.  Sorry if I crushed a few dreams there.  And if I got that second one wrong and you want to correct me, by all means leave a comment.  Not to mention two entries in two days!  Woah!  All at the expense of my laundry (don’t worry, it’ll be fine).  Moving on…

As you all know (or maybe not, depending on how new you are to this blog), Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned two weeks ago, and promptly entered the hospital to avoid media scrutiny.  My Japanese Foreign Policy professor (who is American, interestingly enough–then again, I don’t want to think about Foreign Policy in Japanese) says this is a regular move for politicians who are about to get roasted by the media.  In fact, the first day of class our room was locked because CJS students are on a slightly different schedule than the rest of Nanzan (it’s now PACKED here every day).  He said “Alright, well we’re in a country without a leader, so for the first few weeks we’ll meet informally under bridges and trees, and hopefully by then we’ll have a new leader and we can have a room.  Or, I can go get the key.”  Yeah, I think Foreign Policy will actually be interesting and fun.

Political Intrigue!

So yesterday (Wednesday) was a big day, and in more ways than one. First off, I finally opened my bank account! I can have money now! Hooray! A picture of the bank book would follow, but A.) It’s not all that exciting to look at and B.) I’d probably have to kill you after you see it (which is VERY hard to do from Japan…). At any rate, Shogo and I were at the bank when the TV suddenly showed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. To give you an idea of what this man’s tenure as PM has been like, consider that the former PM Junichiro Koizumi was 1.) Really popular and 2.) Had some of the best hair ever seen on a Prime Minister:

Bush WISHES he looked that good.

Now consider Abe, who had high hopes for a strong, nationalist Japan with a stronger military. To fill in a bit, the Japanese Constitution has a very controversial article called, quite simply, Article 9. It was written after World War II, and deems Japan a peaceful nation, stating that nuclear weapons will never be used, and there will not be an official army, merely a “Self-Defense Force” to be used in emergency situations. Abe was a bit more hard-line. He wanted to change some of these policies, and may have succeeded had his ministers not been nailed on shady bookkeeping, leading one to commit suicide (the Agriculture Minister, I believe). Needless to say, it’s been a tough term for Abe.

So yesterday, Shinzo Abe, the “first Prime Minister born after World War II” according to the New York Times, resigned.

Despite the fact that he’d said time and time again that he wouldn’t resign under pressure. Some vague health reasons were cited, my host family explained, but his resignation has thrown the whole country for a loop. Many, tired of the countless scandals think it a good thing, but my host family isn’t so sure. He resigned quite suddenly, just before a Parliamentary session that was the first chance for the opposition parties to question Abe (Parliament began a new session Monday) on his policies. Needless to say, he’s taking a lot of heat for that. It would be like Bush resigining before a particularly ominous-looking press conference (since America doesn’t actually have a government body that questions its leader). It’s hasty, it’s a little shady and it’s definitely not going to make any new friends.

Shinzo Abe. If only he had the hair…

Just one Culture Note before I head off to class today. When people sneeze in Japan, it is not customary to say anything. For some reason, I can’t for the life of me get used to that. Who knew that a simple phrase like “Bless You” could be so culturally ingrained?

OK, class time. Day 2! Wish me luck!

Mata, ne!

Jeff