Word: japanism
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...Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the opposition party that controls the Upper House, finally approved Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's third choice - Masaaki Shirakawa - for governor of the Bank of Japan. Shirakawa, 58, became the deputy bank governor in mid-March and then took over as interim governor after former central bank governor Toshihiko Fukui retired from his five-year term on March 19. The DPJ refused the two previous nominees - Toshiro Muto and Koji Tanami - over concerns that their ties to the Finance Ministry might compromise the bank's independence. The lack of a permanent leader...
...first time in Japan's parliament, two parties share majority rule between the Upper and Lower houses. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), after holding the reins of the Diet for more than five decades, lost the Upper House to the DPJ during last summer's elections. As a result, the last eight months have been a political tug-of-war that has resulted in many disputes. Playing a central role is Fukuda, who has watched his approval ratings plummet in the past few weeks, with some polls showing as low as 24%. (By contrast, former Prime Minister Shinzo...
...political parties and government officials are not familiar with this new situation, so it takes time to settle things," says Jun Iio, a professor of government at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. But how long does Japan have? While some might chalk up the gridlock to the nascent stages of an emerging two-party democracy, others blame both the LDP and the DPJ for a lack of concern over issues that have both domestic and global ramifications...
...Parliament's track record so far doesn't seem promising. But if pain is any indication of progress then perhaps the LDP and the DPJ are onto something. Aside from deciding on the next BOJ governor, the issue of Japan's gasoline tax has come up and gone - and will likely come up again if the LDP and Fukuda's government have their way. Since 1974, those who purchase gasoline have paid a 25-yen ($0.25) per liter tax. But the law that enforced the surcharge ended on March 31. The Fukuda government submitted a revision to the tax reform...
...Fukuda nominated on Monday for the deputy governor position. Again, the DPJ was expected to veto a former official of the Ministry of Finance. In terms of BOJ nominees, it looks like the parties are tied at 3 - but at least when it comes to this Friday's G7, Japan can put this to one side and play a real part in the meeting...