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Shintaro Ishihara a worrying hawkish choice in Japan’s government

In Japan, it’s bring in the old, turf out the new, The Conversation,
Richard Broinowski, 20 Dec 12 “….The new Japanese prime minister,
Shinzo Abe, is, to put it mildly, unimpressive…. The JRP is led by
the former Governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, and his colleague
from Osaka, Toru Hashimoto. Ishihara gained prominence by standing up
to Washington in his book The Japan that can Say No. He wants bigger
military forces and their re-appellation as Army, Navy and Air Force
rather than “self-defence forces”. He wants to revise Article Nine of
the Constitution to allow Japan the capacity to wage war.

The Fukushima disaster, he asserts, was divine punishment for Japanese
indulgence. Japan should continue to pursue nuclear energy and acquire
nuclear weapons. Ishihara’s stable-mate, Hashimoto, is mercurial,
opinionated, and has more grass roots support outside his Osaka
bailiwick that he is often given credit for. He shares many of
Ishihara’s views, especially on foreign affairs, most dangerously on
standing up to a resurgent China.

This all makes Abe’s dealing with China problematic. And, in response
to such anti-China assertiveness by this new breed of Japanese
reactionaries, Beijing has been ramping up its own territorial
assertiveness over what it calls the Daioyu Islands…….
it seems to me that at present the Japanese government is in crisis so
deep that it is no longer morally or intellectually capable of being
able to successfully deal with such issues. Or any others. I
profoundly hope that I am wrong.
http://theconversation.edu.au/in-japan-its-bring-in-the-old-turf-out-the-new-11413?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+21+December+2012&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+21+December+2012+CID_ef2dcf048b795310a32a9a63f1067cdd&utm_source=campaign_

December 22, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized