The Trans-Pacific Partnership: A Japanese Perspective
Author: Kayo Matsumoto
Categories: Sasakawa USA Forum
Sasakawa USA Forum Issue No. 5
The “Abenomics Acceleration Diet” opened in September with passage of the TPP as one of their goals. Will TPP be ratified in this Diet session? It is difficult to predict, but the Abe administration has made TPP and passage of its implementing bills a high priority. The Diet debate will surely be heated, and among the contentious issues will not only be TPP’s impact on Japan and its agriculture industry but also the status of ratification in the United States.
Tags: Abenomics, Barack Obama, Business, Diet, donald trump, economic cooperation, Economy, hillary clinton, Japan, kayo Matsumoto, Obama, policy, ratification, sasakawa usa forum, Shinzo Abe, TPP, trade, trade agreement, trade policy, Trans-Pacific Partnership, United States
JPP: Government quality-of-life survey shows Japanese citizens largely satisfied, except, perhaps, about incomes
Author: Tobias Harris
Categories: Japan Political Pulse
Japan’s cabinet secretariat conducts an annual large-scale survey to assess what individuals think of their quality of life. The survey provides a useful snapshot of the context in which the government conducts economic policymaking. It asks citizens to identify the extent to which they are content with pocketbook issues — their incomes and savings — and more abstract concepts like leisure time and opportunities for self-improvement.
Tags: Abenomics, aging, consumer goods, demographics, demographoc divide, economic stimulus, economics, fiscal sustainability, food, health care, housing, income, Japan, japan political pulse, jpp, labor issues, labor market, manufacturing, pensions, poll, property, public survey, quality of life, retail, retirement, salary, satisfaction, savings, service, social security, Survey, tobias harris, transportation
Chairman’s Message: After Upper House elections, Abe administration should prioritize economy, TPP, China relations
Author: Admiral Dennis Blair
Categories: Chairman's Message
During his three-and-a-half years in office, Prime Minister Abe has often spent down his political capital on difficult initiatives that he believes are the right thing to do. Many of them have been important for the U.S.-Japan relationship, and there is no shortage of difficult immediate issues that will require expenditure of political capital for Japan and the United States.
Tags: Abe, Abenomics, admiral dennis blair, chairman's message, China, Collective Self-Defense, Dennis Blair, east china sea, election, japan political pulse, JSDF, Komeito, LDP, Liberal Democratic Party, prime minister shinzo abe, Shinzo Abe, South China Sea, state secrets protection law, TPP, trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership, un permanent court of arbitration, us-japan defense guidelines, us-japan relations
JPP: Abe’s support still rests on lack of alternatives; public remains ambivalent about policies
Author: Tobias Harris
Categories: Japan Political Pulse
Japan’s House of Councillors elections are over, resulting in an impressive victory for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)-Komeito coalition, which now has 147 seats in the 242-seat HOC. However, despite headlines that proclaimed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government won a landslide victory on July 10, opinion polls conducted after the elections suggest that the vote did not fundamentally alter public opinion regarding the Abe administration and its policies.
Tags: Abe, Abenomics, coalition, constitutional revision, election, elections, house of councillors, japan political pulse, japan. economy, jpp, Komeito, LDP, Liberal Democratic Party, opinion poll, poll, public opinion, Shinzo Abe
JPP: Opposition parties aim for independent voters as campaign season officially begins
Author: Tobias Harris
Categories: Japan Political Pulse
The last round of polling before the campaign for Japan’s July 10 House of Councillors (HOC) elections officially began today shows that the Abe administration and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) continue to hold a commanding lead that could position them for a significant, if not overwhelming victory. But a number of independents are still undecided, and dissatisfaction with the Abe administration’s economic policies continues to run high, suggesting that there is room for the Democratic Party (DP) to gain at the government’s expense.
Tags: Abe, Abenomics, aggregation, approval rating, Asahi Shimbun, coalintion, democratic party, disapproval rating, dp, government, house of councillors, japan political pulse, japanese communist party, jcp, jiji press, jpp, Komeito, LDP, Liberal Democratic Party, NHK, opinion, opinion poll, people's life party, plp, Politics, poll, polls, sdp, Shinzo Abe, social democratic party, tobias harris, Yomiuri Shimbun