Background: Yasukuni Shrine is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) diplomatic challenges that Japan has with its neighbors. The shrine exclusively celebrates the Japanese war dead, so naturally when an anniversary of a war comes up the prime minister needs to look patriotic and pay homage to fallen soldiers. The problem is that those fallen soldiers, to neighbors such as China and Korea, also include Class A war criminals that tortured and killed their people. Every prime minister in recent years that has visited the shrine has ended up getting key diplomatic missions cancelled, and on a more extreme level countries will shut off economic and political negotiations entirely.

Prime Minister Aso today commented on Yasukuni, in the background of the anniversary of the end of WWII coming up on August 15^th. Each newspaper had a different take on the event.

Nikkei “I’m Against Visiting Yasukuni While in Office” On the evening of August 10^th at the Prime Minister’s residence, Prime Minister Aso stated in regards to the anniversary on the 15^th of WWII: “It’s a mistake to mix up the confusion of the election and paying homage to fallen soldiers. I think politics and the media should be placed far away from this process. I would like to pray in a quieter spot.”

The second paragraph states Aso’s intentions since the budget meeting last year in October. The Nikkei claims that although the Prime Minister said, “I don’t have to answer if I will go to Yasukuni or not,” sources from the Nikkei claim that his advisors around him stated he had decided he wouldn’t go during his term in office.

So for the Nikkei the Prime Minister is following his past promises. Although they did mention that one of his cabinet members had paid money to the shrine this year in April.

Asahi “The Prime Minister Expresses Thoughts about not Going to Yasukuni” The Asahi had a more critical approach to the events on the evening of August 10^th. Unlike the Nikkei, the Asahi skipped the Prime Minister’s commentary, and instead decided to focus on comments made to the newspaper in the year 2006. At that time the Prime Minister said, “Giving contributions to Yasukuni would set a bad precedent. It would politicize this process of praying for the war dead.”

They then drilled the Prime Minister on this issue, stating that he had given contributions earlier this year to Yasukuni in April. His reply was “I think politics and the media should be placed far away from this process.”

The Asahi’s trying to paint the Prime Minister as a flip flopper, who could possibly go back on his word again and maybe even visit the shrine this August 15^th. The Nikkei however tried to show the Prime Minister as following a policy that he had instituted last year in October.

Yomiuri “Buried by a mudslide in Oita Prefecture” The Yomiuri didn’t have any political commentary on the Prime Minister’s speech and instead decided to focus on the mudslide in Oita prefecture. Japan has had record rainfall, at 69.5mm in one hour on August 10^th. At about 7pm a mudslide buried 5 cars, one car was sent into a river, and four drivers are currently attempting to be rescued from their cars covered in mud.

Background: One of the most amusing parts of Japanese politics is the willingness for politicians to get involved in comedy shows. Although this might sound familiar in terms of American politicians joining Saturday Night Live, David Letterman, or Obama at Jay Leno, the Japanese air tons of comedy and game shows everyday, most of which do not have the star quality of a light night talk show. It is here where the “Talent” Governor, Hideo Higashikokubaru, appears so much that the average viewer wouldn’t recognize him as a governor.

A former comedian turned politician, Higashikokubaru-san uses the television to increase his popularity and discuss his political life. Today he was encouraged to be a candidate for the Diet by Koga-san, the head of the electoral commission. Each newspaper reported a different take on the event.

Asahi “Higashikokubaru: If I were a candidate…” The Asahi reported more detailed commentary and remarks than the other papers. They claim that the head of the electoral commission for the LDP, Koga-san, stated that, “The LDP needs to change and develop power to reinvent itself.” They claimed that this comment was then a signal to Higashikokubaru that he needs to run for the Diet.

In response, Higashikokubaru-san stated he would get together with all the governors, and create a manifesto outlining how he would change the party going forward. He also said that “If I were a candidate, we’d have to talk more in depth about the conditions of my candidacy.”

Nikkei “Higashikokubaru Encouraged to be a Candidate” The most striking difference between the Asahi’s article and the Nikkei’s article is the Nikkei lacks all description of the event. It makes the reader wonder if the Asahi has articles that pay much more attention to detail, or more likely the Asahi added commentary that it saw appropriate, such as “The LDP needs to change…” Usually when the Nikkei reports political events it takes the more conservative, pro – LDP approach.

The Nikkei stated: “What was discussed between the governor and the head of the election commission is not clear, what is clear is that the governor did not announce his candidacy for the Diet.”

Yomiuri “Higashikokubaru: If I were the president of the LDP…” The Yomiuri had a slightly different take on the event vs. the Asahi and Nikkei. They claimed that Higashikokubaru-san stated his conditions for running as a member of the Diet, and in response the head of the electoral commission said “I’ve heard these conditions.” They turned the event into a conversation between Higashikokubaru-san and Koga-san, with Higashikokubaru-san requesting certain conditions be met before he becomes a candidate, and Koga-san stating he’ll think about it.

Earlier this year in April North Korea did two long range missile tests, aimed at the two bodies of water bordering Japan. Although North Korea claimed the rockets were designed to launch a satellite, these launches were widely condemned by the United Nations as acts of aggression. North Korea in response to the U.N.’s condemnation said it would start testing its nuclear facilities again and continue to do more long range missile tests. Yesterday North Korea put words into action by conducting a nuclear test. The Japanese newspapers this morning reported different world reactions to the North Korean nuclear testing.

Asahi “Korean Foreign Minister: 3-4 Times the Size of Hiroshima” In response to the nuclear testing conducted by North Korea, the Asahi reported that Korea has determined the blast was 3-4 times the size of the bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Yu Myonfan, the foreign minister, claimed this in an interview in front of the Korean cabinet. Although these numbers are alarming, the Asahi does point out that the Defense Minister, Lee Sanghi, claimed the day before that the blasts were not as big as the Hiroshima blast.

Why are the opinions differing between the Defense Minister and Foreign Minister? The Asahi offers this troubling thought: “According to scientists, both the defense and foreign ministers would have had a different perspective on the bomb blast. If they were in different parts of the country when the nuclear bomb went off, they would’ve felt a different earthquake-like wave.”

Nikkei “Russia: A Strict Resolution is Inevitable” The Nikkei reported the commentary by the Russian Foreign Ministry. As Russia is part of the Security Council, any commentary made by them will surely affect the outcome of how the United Nations responds. “Using our power in the Security Council of the United Nations, we cannot back down from giving a strict response of sanctions to North Korea.”

To echo these comments, the economic summit that was planned between Russia and North Korea for the 28^th of this month was delayed until further notice.

Yomiuri “Missiles Launched at the Sea of Japan” Perhaps the most alarming headline this morning about North Korea was the Yomiuri’s. It is one thing to talk about an event after it has taken place and the world’s reactions. It’s another to briefly state: “North Korea, as confirmed by the authorities in Seoul, launched two missiles directed at the Sea of Japan. One missile was a surface to ship, one missile was surface to air.” It appears Yomiuri, unlike the Nikkei and Asahi, preferred to focus on the long range missile testing instead of the nuclear testing. I know if I was living in Japan though, my first reaction to that article would be: where did the long range missiles end up?

Representative Ozawa of the Democratic Party of Japan announced his resignation today. The DPJ, or Democratic Party of Japan, has gained unprecedented political prominence in recent years. Just earlier this year it was highly rumored that the DPJ was going to unseat the ruling party, the LDP or Liberal Democratic Party, for the first time since the Second World War. Then, amidst a scandal where Ozawa’s secretary was accepting illegal campaign contributions, Ozawa and the DPJ abruptly started losing public favor. Each newspaper took a slightly different account of Ozawa’s resignation speech and how they viewed his departure from power.

Asahi A Political Soldier, “I did it for the Unification of my Party”. The Asahi reports that Ozawa’s main focus in his resignation was to unify his party, and continue the political battle. It’s almost made to seem as if a soldier has just retired from the battlefront. “Not only am I doing this to pave the way for a transition of power, but beyond that I’m doing this for sake of political solidarity.” The Asahi then adds that Ozawa still feels that “winning the snap election is of the utmost importance. I will continue along with my party to fight till the end.”

Nikkei A Vulnerable Threat, “The Party was Unstable”. The Nikkei focused on very different commentary than the Asahi for why Ozawa resigned. Their summary of the commentary states “I was the focus of attack from the media, and my departure will hopefully smooth things out and give the party the framework to work together to continue the political battle.” The Nikkei makes it seem as if Ozawa was the weakest link, rather than a strong soldier. The most interesting commentary is the words from Ozawa where he admits “My party was unstable. I couldn’t let this instability go on any longer.”

Yomiuri A Weathered Politician, “It was decided on vacation”. Interestingly enough, Yomiuri was the only newspaper that reported Ozawa’s commentary on when he decided to leave his position of power. “I decided to leave during my vacation, when I had time to sit down and think.” Although the Yomiuri also adds in comments about how Ozawa will continue to fight on within his own party, the nuance is slightly different. They add these comments after he states “I decided on my vacation”, making it seem as if his influence within the party might wane quickly.