When Japan buys global investment banks...

With the financial crisis in every eye, Japan spreads its financial power around the world. Difficult to evaluate the future strength that Japan is to use for its global financial dominance, but under Shoichi Nakagawa, the Minister of Finance, "Tokyo lost its low profile held since the late 90's and enter into a centripetal motion which will change the archipelago more than it ever did under Junichiro Koizumi", one can hear in Nagatacho (Diet of Japan)

Who ever gets the next Prime Minister Chair...?

After the first analysis made in autumn, based on summaries presented since 2007 according to my own sources, Japan’s biggest financial firms are seeking to expand abroad after buying stakes last year in overseas banks and brokerages that were forced to raise capital after posting losses related to the collapse of the U.S. subprime-mortgage market. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., the largest Japanese bank, bought a $9 billion stake in Morgan Stanley. Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the second-biggest lender by revenue, invested $1.2 billion in Merrill Lynch & Co. last January.

How interesting this document in two part about how Mitsubishi UFJ Bank bailed out Morgan Stanley. It is on the Mainichi shimbun site. Bi lingual English and Japanese.
Worth reading the process of the negotiations.

三菱ＵＦＪフィナンシャル・グループ（三菱ＵＦＪ）から米金融大手モルガン・スタンレーへの約９０億ドル（当時約９０００億円）出資。「１００年に１度」の金融危機で崩壊寸前の市場を支えた昨年１０月１３日の巨額資本提携の陰には、日米両政府の緊密な関与があった。ビジネスの論理を超えて同盟の経済安全保障が発動された緊迫の舞台裏を明かす。【後藤逸郎、井出晋平

On Oct. 13, 2008, an approximately 9-billion dollar investment deal by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's (MUFG) in U.S. financial giant Morgan Stanley came into effect. But behind this arrangement -- which helped bolster a market nearing collapse from a once-in-a-century financial crisis -- was an unprecedented level of involvement of the Japanese and U.S. governments.

In the following the interaction of both corporations with both different corporation cultures... until the clash comes, critics say.

"The U.S. government, in cooperation with the Japanese government, worked furiously from the close of the G7 meeting on Oct. 10, 2008 to the morning of Oct. 13, in order to secure vast sums of investments from Japanese banks to shore up the global financial system. For some time previously, however, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) had already been pushing for increased foreign investment in the U.S. financial sector."

Click the title to read the series.

France branded as "No.1 tourism destination"

Mont Saint Michel under a golden sun. The Mount was edified in the 8th century, Normandie, France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Saint_Michel

Straight in my eyes, a Japanese academic, a friend of mine, tells me: "Jean-Yves Le Drian does not know his classics!" "Le Couesnon dans sa folie a mis le Mont en Normandie" (The Couesnon river in its frenzy put the Mount in Normandy) as shown in this image of the Tapestry of Bayeux:


The Tapestry of Bayeux by Queen Mathilde of England (11th Century), illustrating the Couesnon river

Nevertheless, my scholar's friend adds that the sympathetic president of the regional council of Brittany "takes his dreams for reality, the Mount Saint Michel will be an island, and not belong to neighboring Brittany" according to environmental work undertaken since 2005 to renew the site, impaired by alluvial land and sand accumulated for centuries, and re create the Mount as an Island by 2015.

This regional pride contest is an old story, as old as the Mount itself. Mount Saint Michel is a "temoignage" of the regional patterns and varieties of France. (Something Japanese understand pretty well regarding geographical competition and pride) This heritage of my country's history also is a symbol of impressive Christian architecture. Still Monsieur Le Driand words shared with a little group of French journalists Correspondents in Tokyo recently did not cause a big surprise for the people of Normandie. We all know The Mont is to become an island and a protected area. Protected for neighbors and tourists who flock to this impressive testimony of this legendary and strategical territory and "élégante silhouette" known by every Japanese.

Normandie, elevated in history with the arrival of Northmen. Vikings raided west of France for decades before to settle down after France crown signed Traité of St Clair sur Epte in 911 between King Charles III and Northman Rollon.

Normandie highlighted in history by the conquest of England by the Duke William The Conqueror of Normandie whose castles in Caen and Falaise illustrate the "Donjon feudalistic architecture" (It reminds me of the Gusuku castles of Okinawa Unesco registered).

Normandie, the land of 1944 D-Day, of the Monet's impressionist painter, land of authors Corneille, Guy de Maupassant, Marcel Proust, Flaubert and Chateaubriand, André Gide, Alphonse Allais.

All guests and inhabitants appreciate Normandie's long history, culture, tradition, gastronomy and scenery. I recall numerous conversations with Japanese journalists happy to spend time, vacations or life, in the region located less than two hours drive west from Paris.



The point here is that France is the top world destination for tourism!

With the opulent French Riviera, iconic Eiffel Tower, Mont Saint-Michel, Alps, Pyrenees and 90 other wonderful regions districts and counties, blended with a unique history, (and luscious vineyards) France stands tall and proud as the world’s No. 1 travel destination. This is the fact.

To capitalize on this noble and strong heritage, France launched a campaign to “re-brand” France, a place already considered a dreamland by would-be travelers across the globe.

According to the U.N. World Tourism Organization, 82 million visitors traveled to France in 2007, an increase of 3 million from the year before and well ahead of No. 2 Spain and No. 3 the United States, who welcomed 58 million and 51 million visitors respectively.

The French government unveiled a new French “brand” last month, including a logo and travel campaign aimed at rejuvenating tourism revenue.

The logo features a young woman symbolizing Marianne, an allegorical figure and national symbol since the French Revolution, as she looks toward the future. The dreamy tag-line, “Rendez-vous en France,” is designed to seduce visitors to the land of fashion, food and fine wine.

Marianne invokes what the tourism authority, the Maison de la France, labels the traits that make France unique: adventure and spontaneity, a rich history, and of course, romance.

Determined to support the renewal of the French tourism industry, France’s number one economic sector, Christine Lagarde, Minister of Economy, Industry and Employment initiated earlier this year a strategic plan known as “Destination France 2020,” with the goal of increasing revenue and creating jobs.




The plan focuses on three objectives:

- Attracting a new clientele from emerging countries to all regions of France
The plan suggests faster visa processing for many countries; increasing low-cost airline service; more specialized training; youth and work exchange programs and more flexible work laws including seasonal employment.

- Updating the tourist product to respond to new expectations
Actions include a study to develop B-to-B marketing; a restructuring of the hotel classification system including the addition of 5-star level and financial loans for hotel improvements.

- Promotion of the new France brand
The France brand has been created to enrich and renew its image and to give a new meaning to “France.” Its objective is to establish a strong, united visual identity that can be used throughout the industry and to standardize the image of France worldwide. Represented by a new logo and tag-line, the brand will portray the importance of hospitality in France, and highlight the quality and distinct traits of the destination.

Minoru Morita: "Curing Japan's America Addiction"!

This book is for sale on Amazon: We had Mr. Morita at the press club in July 2008 for an interesting event recorded.
"Long considered one of Japan's leading political analysts, Minoru Morita's first book translated into English makes no bones about its premise -- that the Koizumi Cabinet, and its ties to the Bush Administration, have destroyed the nation's middle class. Morita says tensions between the countries are growing, and the book was translated into English so that Americans would better understand Japan's political situation.

The 75-year-old author says in the book's first sentence that Japan is on the verge of its greatest political crisis in history. With a general election coming within a year and support for the Fukuda Cabinet still low, make your reservations early as the veteran Nagatacho-watcher predicts how the saga will play out."

Some statements from Mr. Morita:

~ "The Government Japan Needs: It is time for a democratically inclined administration that puts priority on the people and our national interest"

~ "Japan must revive its brand of democratic capitalism. Citizens must recover their basic human rights. The Bush administration has made the majority of us unhappy with its beautiful sounding neoliberal globalism a series of structural reforms that bring us market fundamentalism, small government, deregulation and less social welfare. Neoliberal globalism brings misery to the people while also destroying capitalism. The downfall of Lehman Brothers points to the defeat of neoliberalism. We must turn from the reckless course neoliberalism has put us on. To do that, we need to resuscitate our democracy."

~ "I am also worried about the way the world is turning recently. Japanese politicians are looking inward now, and that's a dangerous stance to take. Instead, Japan should be forwarding peace initiatives."

~ "If the Americans can expand the war, they may be able to dissipate the growing sense of unease and economic gloom at home, but that sort of move will only deepen the dangers we face. The cracks that have begun to show in American society will spread. This is quite a dangerous situation. Japanese politicians are not even considering the appropriate international stance. They are shut down. This also is worrisome."

(This note was updated mid-January)

Japan new era wanted!

There is a wind of anger in Tokyo these days. The crisis is around. And the workers are angry. Back to the 70's?

"Parliamentary Secretary for Internal Affairs and Communications Tetsushi Sakamoto on Tuesday retracted his controversial comments questioning whether unemployed people who took shelter in Tokyo's Hibiya Park over the New Year period seriously possess the will to work. "I have caused trouble to many people," Sakamoto, a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker from the Kumamoto third district, said as he apologized at a press conference."

It is not new to look down the temp workers in Japan. Last year 200 people rallied outside the headquarters of the Nippon Keidanren, the business owners lobby group, in Tokyo's main business district on December 16th 2008 to protest massive job cuts. Protesters chanted, "Toyota, stop cutting seasonal workers! We workers are not disposable!" and "Sony, stop massive firing!"

Is Japan back to staging demonstrations and speaking true, 1970's alike, as it was the case yesterday set by workers fired and asking the Keidanren to hear their problems, at the New Otani Hotel, during the New Year Party organized, decently but lavish indeed, by the Keidanren?

Here is a comment from one economy watcher:
"The credit crisis and global economic slump have battered export-reliant Japanese companies, throwing thousands of people out of work. The sudden surge in the numbers of jobless has grabbed nationwide attention because major companies in Japan have long had a reputation for promising jobs for life. Much of the recent criticism has centered on the widespread use in recent years of temporary workers, who have been the first to be fired in the downturn. The government estimates 85,000 temporary workers will have lost their jobs by the end of March."

People fired suffer. The Japanese government, Keidanren, Japan Chamber of Commerce is now on restructuring and encouraging the small and medium enterprise to boost the economy. "A new Era is facing Japan" Toshiko Nakamura told me yesterday. He is the President of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. (ex Aichi Expo Chief and close to Toyota Executives ranks.

Chairman Fujio Mitarai, the Keidanren chief, recently stated to the press that he is planning to compile its own job creation measures to address the recent tide of layoffs among temporary workers by promoting green technology. But currently things are somber: "To solve the current labor problems, the corporate sector should create a safety net together with the government and take every step to expand employment. The idea of work-sharing is one option for a company that needs to adjust employment"

But is Japan ready to adapt to these European based labor reform?

Winter in Hokkaido

Hokkaido view



Off Abashiri city... free as a bird

Japan as a bold policy-maker?

The editorial of the Asahi shimbun of January 1st often is a big piece expected to influence the year ahead. Here is an extract:

"Japanese people long for a bold policy vision that transcends simple short-term measures to stimulate job creation and economic growth. They also want strong political leadership that will realize the vision.

The age when economic growth was the top priority has ended. Japan should be rebuilt in line with a drastic change to our sense of values.

Such a grand vision could focus on the environment, education or welfare. It should be designed to concentrate resources on crafting a decent future for the nation and job creation. Again, strong political leadership is essential to realize this grand vision.

The unipolar world dominated by the United States is now being replaced by a multipolar world where countries like China and India are gaining increasing clout. Given the growing importance of international cooperation to overcome the crisis and protect the environment of the planet, political leadership has a crucial role to play...

... Will the upcoming Lower House election in Japan, which must be held this year, shape up as a similar sea change for the nation? The 20 years since the end of the Cold War have led the nation from the heyday of the bubble economy to this glum new year, a period of constant turmoil.

Voters must now be more critical of the nation's politics than ever before."

"C'est le premier matin du monde"

Guercino (1591-1666)

C'est le premier matin du monde.
Comme une fleur confuse exhalée de la nuit,
Au souffle nouveau qui se lève des ondes,
Un jardin bleu s'épanouit.

Tout s'y confond encore et tout s'y mêle,
Frissons de feuilles, chants d'oiseaux,
Glissements d'ailes,
Sources qui sourdent, voix des airs, voix des eaux,
Murmure immense,
Et qui pourtant est du silence.

Ouvrant à la clarté ses doux et vagues yeux,
La jeune et divine Ève
S'est éveillée de Dieu.
Et le monde à ses pieds s'étend comme un beau rêve.

Or Dieu lui dit : Va, fille humaine,
Et donne à tous les êtres
Que j'ai créés, une parole de tes lèvres,
Un son pour les connaître.

La chanson d'Eve
C. V Lerberghe

Belle année pour 2009 aux lecteurs d'Asian Gazette

William Pfaff: "The Question of American Incompetence".

Ough, a tough guy this Mr. William Pfaff! Following the Gaza bloodshed, provoked or unprovoked between Middle-East Hamas and the harsh riposte of the Israelis armies, endorsed by Secretary Rice, I came to look at the current situation in Iraq* with this article I had in my recent files: From William Pfaff: The theme is about "The conclusions of the report on American reconstruction of Iraq" It included the following statement:

“Five years after embarking on its largest foreign reconstruction project since the Marshall Plan in Europe after World War II, the U.S. government has in place neither the policies and technical capacity nor the organizational structure that would be needed to undertake such a program.” I would think this should be written in fiery letters over the portal of the future president Barack Obama’s National Security Council. W. Pfaff writes.

Pfaff article describes the issue of "American official policy" under GW Bush. Beyond incompetence, some are raising concerns of Human Rights abuse and trial of US soon to be ex officials to avoid a complete loss of trust into the US policies, be political, economical or financial, or societal and human rights policies.

"A 513-page federal report on the American-led reconstruction of American-destroyed Iraq, which has proven to be a $100 billion disaster, incorporating ignorant assumptions, waste, organizational chaos, bureaucratic and personal rivalries, lies, and incompetence."



So much to do to the world most favorite new US president of Barack Obama, celebrated on the global scale as a remedy after the Bush disastrous "axis of incompetence."

The culture of war and the role of war in the US history and fascination for war and for 19th Century alike war mongers is a constant in American history according to Christophe Jaffrelot, Director of the CERI at Sciences Politiques school, Paris. Basically against minor States since WWII.

Other views are related to the questioning by Asian leaders of the reliability of the American leadership from now on. Well, hum... good luck Barack to say the least.

Click the title of this post to access to William Pfaff article "The Question of American Incompetence"

* Iraq is traversed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, whose valley was the site of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia. It was conquered by Arabia in the 7th century and from 1534 formed part of the Ottoman Empire. After World War I, a kingdom was established, although the country was under British administration until 1932. Saddam Hussein came to power as president in 1979. From 1980 to 1988, the country was at war with Iran, its eastern neighbor. In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait; it was driven back by an international coalition of forces in the Gulf War of 1991. The U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 and captured Saddam Hussein. Sovereignty was transferred to an interim government June 28, 2004, but U.S. forces remained in Iraq amid rising chaos.

Commerce et politique : Pas d'état d'âme pour le premier ministre japonais Taro Aso.

Je lis dans ce papier d'un quotidien français une information que la presse sud coréenne avait annoncée récemment : "Par le jeu de prises de participation, une entreprise française... figure parmi les principaux – sinon le premier – investisseurs étrangers en Corée du Nord. Car en prenant le contrôle, en décembre 2007, de la division ciment d'Orascom, Ciment Lafarge est devenu partenaire à 50 % d'une cimenterie nord-coréenne dont l'un des projets est le redémarrage des travaux de l'hôtel Ryugyong à Pyongyang."

Le problème est de taille pour le premier ministre... japonais, Taro Aso, engagé dans une croisade féroce a l'égard de la Corée du nord sous le motif, notamment, d'enlèvements de malheureuses victimes japonaises ces dernières décennies, par des présumés espions nord coréens. Ajoutons-y la dernière présence symbolique de "Guerre froide" en Asie, guerre froide incarnée par le régime tyrannique de Pyongyang.

Lafarge est liée a la firme familiale de monsieur Aso -"Aso Cement" appelée "Aso Mining" lors de la seconde guerre mondiale- qui est située dans la région de Fukuoka. Ce sont des partenaires en affaire. On peut découvrir ici le lien hypertexte http://www.aso-lafarge-cement.jp/ Question: Difficile de savoir qui l'emportera: du commerce ou de la politique?

Sur l'histoire controversée de "Aso Mining" et des prisonniers de la Guerre du Pacifique contraints aux travaux forcés au Japon, a lire cet article de notre collègue Christopher Reed http://lnk.nu/counterpunch.org/rmo.html

Au dernier sondage Jiji press, la cote de popularité du premier ministre japonais Taro Aso était de 16,7% et ce sont moins ses gaffes politiques ou la crise financière mondiale que son état d'esprit, qui lui posent un certain nombre de problèmes de survie politique.

Archives: Japan ex-PM and Peace Nobel Prize Sato told US to use nukes if China strikes Japan!

Sato and Nixon

Shocking? No, politics.

In 1965, Japan's then prime minister Eisaku Sato asked the U.S. to deploy nuclear weapons against PRC if war broke out, according to newly declassified government files released to the public.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato made comments in a January 1965 meeting with former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara that suggested he accepted port calls by U.S. nuclear-armed vessels, declassified documents have shown.

The information emerged in diplomatic documents released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday. The ministry's historical documents hint that there was a secret agreement between Japan and the United States over bringing nuclear weapons into Japan.

The irony is that Sato obtained the Nobel prize* in 1974 "in recognition of Japan's entry into the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty"!

During his first trip to Washington Sato told then-U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara that US military forces could launch a nuclear attack on the PRC by sea if needed. Sato also told McNamara that although Japan was technically capable of building atomic weapons, it had no intention of doing so. In the meeting, McNamara also reportedly asked the possibility of Japan exporting weapons. Referring to a space development rocket that Japan was producing, Sato said, "If the need arises it could be put to military use."

In 1969, Sato struck a deal with U.S. president Richard Nixon to repatriate Okinawa and remove its nuclear weaponry: this deal was controversial because it allowed the U.S. forces in Japan to maintain bases in Okinawa after repatriation.

Sato had entered the Diet in 1949 as a member of the Liberal Party, and gradually rose through the ranks of Japanese politics, becoming Chief Cabinet Secretary to Shigeru Yoshida, and in 1952, minister of construction. After the Liberal Party merged with the Democratic Party to form the Liberal Democratic Party, Satō became Minister of Finance in the governments of Nobusuke Kishi (his brother and ex-war criminal) and Hayato Ikeda.

These documents are already matter of bitter discussions. As the Mainichi shimbun pointed out in its English edition today:

"Historical records released in the United States in 1999 show that before the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty was revised in 1960, Japan and the United States secretly agreed that calls by U.S. nuclear-armed vessels to Japanese ports would be exempt from preliminary arrangements outlined in the security treaty's accompanying documents. Commenting on the latest information, Foreign Ministry official Kazuhiro Suzuki said that there was no secret nuclear agreement between Japan and the United States. He said it was thought that the prime minister's comments were an expression of general expectations of U.S. nuclear deterrence from the sea if war were to break out."

Peace Nobel Prize...? A document about a period of tumultuous relation between Japan and the US, declassified in a period of on going master-slave tumultuous relationship!

NB: * Eisaku Sato received the Nobel Peace Prize (with Sean MacBride in 1974) in recognition of Japan's entry into the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and emergence as a peaceful world power. He died in Tokyo the following year.