The next Prime Minster? or, crazy rightwingers say the darndest thingsOctober 31st, 2005 by Roy Berman |
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For those who haven’t been keeping track of Japanese politics, a brief introduction courtesy of online Bloomberg news.
Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appointed Shinzo Abe, Taro Aso and Sadakazu Tanigaki as members of his final cabinet. All three are considered favorites to succeed him when he steps down in September.``It is essentially a three-man race’’ to see who can replace Koizumi next year, said Noriko Hama, professor of economics at Doshisha University in Kyoto and former chief economist at Mitsubishi Research Institute. ``The posts they’ve been given do harbor risks so any mistakes could be damaging. They will certainly jostle and compete with each other.’’
Earlier today, Curzon emailed us a link to this brief news item on Yahoo Japan reporting a statement that Aso made on the 17th of October, at the opening of the Kysushu National Museum
Japan is one nation, one civilization, one language, one culture, one race, none of which can be found in any other country.
This could be a surprise to the Ainu, Okinawans, Zainich Korean and Chinese minorities, and the hundreds of thousands of other foreigners legally residing in Japan, as well as the Japanese communities overseas. Come on, we have a Ninja restaurant in New York now, what more counter evidence do you need?
A couple of Aso’s other greatest hits, as translated from the Japanese Wikipedia entry by Adam:
- Claimed Koreans wished to change their names to Japanese names during colonial rule (an attempt to justify the Aso Zaibatsu’s colonial-era actions). Also claimed Japan helped spread the use of Hangul writing.
- When inaugurated as MIC Minister in 2003, made the bold prediction that office paperwork would disappear with the development of information technology and that everything would be done by magical new floppy disks in the future.
If only being this much of an idiot would disqualify him as a candidate for the Prime Ministership.
November 1st, 2005 at 2:37 am
magical floppy disk? in 2003? LMAO
November 1st, 2005 at 3:08 pm
The ninja restaurant is not inconsistent with Aso’s views, who stated in the same link that I sent you about “one civilization, one language” that Japan has had enough of being on the recieving end of culture and must now export its culture to the world. (Really, just read the article.)
I’ve contacted 20+ Japanese people on this… everyone is unanimous in their support of Abe. Although the more pissed the Korean press gets, the more likely it is that Aso will gain ground.
November 4th, 2005 at 12:45 am
[...] We’ve already talked about some of his more asinine comments: that burakumin shouldn’t be in government, that Japan is one race, that Korea was better off under colonial rule, that floppy disks are the future, and all that. [...]
November 5th, 2005 at 1:46 am
[...] Now that we’ve completely trashed Foreign Minister Taro Aso’s political qualifications, it’s time to look at Shinzo Abe, the new Chief Cabinet Secretary and Minister of State for Taking Over After Koizumi, shown here in all-out “I’m gonna be a world leader someday!” mode. [...]
January 31st, 2006 at 1:23 am
[...] Aso: “Are you from Asahi? You guys only print the facts, right?” Asahi: ... Aso: “Don’t you understand sarcasm?!” Asahi: ... – Was in the yacht club during his time at Gakushuin – 2ch Ascii Art compilation (The floppies are for his infamous “We’ll do all govt administration on floppy disks by 2005” statement, which is still up on Aso’s website.) [...]
September 13th, 2007 at 7:09 am
[...] model that had been the status quo for years before Koizumi broke the mold. Now, as it looks like xenophobic and gaffe-prone Foreign Minister Taro Aso might take over, it seems Koizumi didn’t break the [...]
November 4th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
[...] appointed Prime Minster Aso Taro, despite his right-wing views and his own well-earned reputation for making gaffes decided to take the pragmatic route and declined to protect [...]
March 31st, 2009 at 8:57 pm
[...] In his political career, Taro Aso has had to answer for many misstatements, ranging from “even someone with Alzheimer’s can tell that Japanese rice is more expensive in China than in Japan,” to the Taiwanese, and all the way to people who are aware that floppy disks are not the wave of the future. [...]