By Andrew L. Jaffee

A $14 billion emergency bailout for U.S. automakers collapsed in the Senate Thursday night after the United Auto Workers refused to accede to Republican demands for swift wage cuts. …

- Associated Press, 12/11/08

The Big Three U.S. automakers, Chrysler, Ford, and GM, now “teeter on collapse,” as both their management and labor long ago willfully missed all opportunities for making the systemic changes necessary to remain competitive with foreign rivals. Now, the Big Three’s only chance for survival, and their workers’ only hope for staying employed, is entirely dependent on a hand-out from Washington. Despite the glaring red warning lights — the massive writing on the wall (”doom”) — it seems that the United Auto Workers (UAW) are so intransigent that they would rather lose their jobs than cooperate with lawmakers and make some long-overdue wage concessions.

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By Shirzad Azad

This article suggests that Japan’s staunch support for the United States over the course of the Iraq War was substantially influenced by its foreign policy toward the Persian Gulf region in general and Saddam’s Iraq in particular after the 1990-1991 crisis, as well as by its security alliance with the United States.

In his January 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush branded Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as the "Axis of Evil." Less than three weeks later, Bush made a state visit to Japan. After a speech at the Japanese parliament on February 18, 2002, he met with then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Joined only by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Japan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Toshiyuki Takano, Bush informed Koizumi that the United States would attack Iraq.^[1] Koizumi had roughly 13 months to prepare the ground for Japan’s support for this development.

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A personal, historical vignette

By Cainnech Ó Sullibhain

This story goes back to November 1966, when I met Fr. Franciscus Tadashi Hasegawa at the Peace Memorial Cathedral in Hiroshima, Japan.

A few days ago, while looking through some old books, a card fell out of one. I picked up the card and remembered that Fr. Hasegawa had given it to me in November 1966. My thoughts rushed back to the time and the place where I received it. It was with a heavy heart that I was unable to carry out the assignment that Fr. Hasegawa had given me, and felt that I now had to fulfill it in a very different way.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

A 17-year-old Japanese kid killed and beheaded his mother. He put her head in a bag and stopped by an internet cafe to watch a music DVD before turning himself in to police(!?!?!). But not to worry, “some [psycho-babbling] experts” have reassured the nation — the perp was “desperate:”

…While such gruesome killings have outraged the nation, some experts caution that the dismembering of victims is not always a symptom of deeper social disfunction.

“In many cases, they killed in a desperate situation and carried or hid the body by dismembering it to avoid being caught for homicide,” said Yoshikazu Yuuma, an expert in criminal psychology at Saitama Institute of Technology outside Tokyo.

Ya’ gotta consider all angles now…

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Some more good news from Iraq? Japan wants to buy oil from Iraq. By Hisane Masaki, entitled “Japan energy: Goodbye Iran, hello Iraq,” from the Asia Times Online:

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Concluding a press conference with President Bush today, Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said:

Thank you American people for “Love Me Tender.”

Yes, Elvis has touched the hearts of people everywhere. Junichiro generally comes across as stuffy and uptight, but he’s obviously full of surprises. And we couldn’t have a better friend than Koizumi.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Japan’s exports were healthy even during its 10-year recession, but a truly healthy economy cannot survive on exports alone. Japan’s domestic economy is back, largely due to the reforms pushed through by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. From Bloomberg:

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After more than a decade of stagflation, Japan has reemerged as an economic powerhouse:

• Japan Emerges from Stagflation… Finally
• Losing Money in Japan’s Yucho
• Japan: Victory for Koizumi and the World Economy
• Can Japan Ever Emerge from Stagnation?

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

The good economic numbers keep coming out of Japan, but perhaps the best news is that the House of the Rising Sun is starting to experience a little price inflation. No, that is not a typo — I said inflation.

Gross domestic product (GDP) increased 1.7% in the most recent quarter — Japan’s GDP has now shown four straight quarters of growth. Today, CNNMoney announced that:

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Now that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has a clear mandate for economic reform, he has wasted no time in transforming his electoral capital into practical results. Koizumi has finally unlocked the wealth now wallowing in the country’s “Yucho.” Japan’s stock market — indeed, its entire economy — is poised for years of sustained growth. This growth will help to buoy the world economy, too.

Last Friday, Japan’s Diet (Parliament) approved legislation that will privatize the $3 trillion held by Japan’s postal service. The postal service? In Japan, the “Yubin” is more than just mailing letters. For the last 130 years, post offices have also served as local savings banks for conservative grannies and grampas to stash their hard-earned money.

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