Word: japanned
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...this version of Family Affair unfolding in Bangladesh or the Philippines? Think again. It's Japan, long held up as the paragon of a mature Asian democracy, yet which continues to serve up political leaders distinguishable only by subtleties of grey in their ideological coloration. Yasuo Fukuda, the leading candidate to replace Shinzo Abe as Japan's next PM, and Fukuda's rival, Taro Aso, appear to be trying to differentiate themselves as the Sept. 23 Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) election approaches. Aso is pegged as a tough-talking hawk, Fukuda a diplomatic dove. But both are products...
...want to live indefinitely.' TOMOJI TANABE, of Japan, the world's oldest man, who celebrated his 112th birthday on Sept. 18 and told reporters the key to longevity is avoiding alcohol...
...Perpetuating the family business doesn't get at the real challenges facing Japan. But rather than combat the country's complex problems - stagnating wages, a widening income gap, a shifting global balance of power - many politicians seem intent on replaying ancient political battles. And it's not just a Bush here or a Kennedy there: roughly one-third of Japan's sitting parliamentarians come from political nobility. Hereditary leadership doesn't just plague the LDP, which has ruled Japan virtually uninterrupted for half a century, but opposition parties as well. Ichiro Ozawa, the head of the Democratic Party of Japan...
...voters. But look at what happened to Abe, grandson of a nationalist ex-Premier. He blamed his resignation on the opposition for having stymied his efforts to continue Japanese refueling of American ships involved in the U.S.-led war on terror. Abe, like his grandfather, was intent on strengthening Japan's military ties with the U.S. But the Japanese public had already deserted Abe, not because of his foreign policy but over his inability to address fundamental economic issues. Harping on a faraway military operation only made Abe appear more out of touch...
...fact, the majority of Japanese oppose the country's naval mission. Yet Aso and Fukuda, like Abe, both support extending Japanese refueling, and they have other things in common. Their family political DNA runs deep. Aso's grandfather was Shigeru Yoshida, a China-bashing leader who called for Japan to rely on American military protection so it could focus on developing an export-led economy. Fast-forward half a century and Aso, a former Foreign Minister, staunchly supports the U.S.-Japan security alliance, while antagonizing China by defending visits of Japanese statesmen to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals...