GlobalTalk 21

I have been “mistaken,” “misled,” “misrepresented,” and been “unaccountably in error,”
and am sorry if you have been offended

Saturday, June 28, 2014

More from the Mines

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The old man was reminiscing about his experiences immediately after the war. Discharged from the Imperial Army as a suicide-bomber trainee,...

The Opposition Have Hook for Tokyo Assembly Election (2)

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What happened after the event is well-chronicled in the Japanese media ( Yomiuri providing the most extensive online coverage, followed by...
Thursday, June 26, 2014

The Opposition Have Hook for Tokyo Assembly Election (1)

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As John Campbell reminded me, it’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up, and I guess that was why I just knew this story was going to blow up. ...
Sunday, June 22, 2014

The Japan Times-SHIMBUN?!?!?

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I looked for the English version of a Sankei editorial and came across the masthead/nameplate The Japan Times-SHIMBUN. I’ve heard that oppo...
Saturday, June 21, 2014

Not Quite Separate, Not Quite Equal: The Other “Japanese” during WW II

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Able-bodied Korean men were shipped out to the Japanese archipelago to work in the mines and factories there during WW II. Read these first...
3 comments:
Saturday, June 07, 2014

We’ve Always Liked China…But How Much Longer…

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The following commentary ends differently depending on how I feel that day. I manage to surprise most foreigners when I tell them that...
2 comments:
Friday, June 06, 2014

Conquering China: A Bargain with the Devil

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This time, it’s going up after a one-day delay. If this situation continues, I will post here immediately, without delay. We’re lucky t...
Thursday, June 05, 2014

“Out Damn’d Spot!” (Allegedly): The Cybertheft Allegations

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The following column was intended for my MIGA column, but I haven’t heard back from the editor for a whole week and counting, so here it is...
4 comments:
Friday, May 30, 2014

Abe Administration Wrongfoots Reporters on the Abductees Beat

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Prime Minister Abe’s surprise May 29 afternoon announcement that North Korea had agreed to comprehensive survey on the abductees and specif...
Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Serves the Hanshin Tigers Right for Free-Rider X-Men Tie-in

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On the other hand, it’s kind of a sad commentary on Japanese baseball. … minor league indeed …
Tuesday, May 27, 2014

North Korea’s Bloody Succession Offers Cover for Possible Deal on Abductees

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The sometimes on-again, most times off-again talks between the Japanese and North Korean authorities are now taking place in Stockholm, and...
Saturday, May 24, 2014

“Self-defense” and the Past that Prime Ministers Repeat Anyway

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I received a “quick” question about “[t]he stories about a new ministerial portfolio specifically to deal with the use of force issue.” I’m...

Next Stop on the MIGA Trail, India (featuring Narendra Modi)

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My second installment on the MIGA website . (Japanese version here.) The title “Narendra Modi Will Push Parliament Hard on Reform; and He H...
Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Oi No Go? Not So Fast

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Today, on May 21, the Fukui District Court handed down a decision that forbids KEPCO from restarting the nuclear power units at the Oi Nucl...
1 comment:
Monday, May 19, 2014

And Previously, on Abe and Modi

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And here’s the text email that spawned the text for the previous post: ...someone at another wire service looked at a Kyodo wire today ...

Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi—and Xi Jinping

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My response to a query: “I was wondering if Modi presents the US with another Abe. A popular conservative with some views (Hindu nation...
Friday, May 09, 2014

My Thoughts around the Purported Chinese Contingency Plans for North Korean Collapse

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…as leaked through a Kyodo wire   that touched off a flurry of reports worldwide. I am convinced of the authenticity of the plan; not...
Friday, May 02, 2014

Globaltalk MIGA, and the Impoundment of the Mitsui Cargo Vessel

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I will be writing a column, hopefully regularly, for the Meiji Institute for Global Affairs (MIGA) website . My first installmen I will be ...
1 comment:
Friday, March 14, 2014

Off-the-Cuff: A Couple of Notes on the “Shunto” Wage Hikes

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Is Abenomics working with regard to wages? Um, not so much when it comes to “core” wages. The following are a couple of memos that I whippe...
Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Which Comes First, TPA or TPP?

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The assumption always has been that the Obama administration needs the fast-track Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) in order to secure conclu...
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About Me

Jun Okumura
After graduation, Jun Okumura promptly entered what is now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and stayed in in its ecosystem most of his “adult” life. Along the way, he had pleasant stops in an assortment of Japanese quangos (Japangos?), overseas assignments and government agencies. After thirty years, though, it dawned on him that he had no aptitude whatsoever for administration and/or management. Armed with this epiphany, he went to the authorities and arranged an amicable separation; to come out, as it were. He is completely on his own IYKWIAS, but he and the METI folks remain “good friends.” He currently holds the titles of “visiting researcher” at the Meiji Institute for Global Affairs (no, that MIGA) and counselor at a risk analysis firm that dares not speak its name. This gives him plenty of time to blog or make money on his own. His bank account says that he does too much of the first, and insists that he do more of what he calls “intellectual odd jobs”. He wants to be paid to write fulltime, or better, talk—where the easy money is—but that distinction has largely escaped him. He really should not be referring to himself in the third person; he is not that famous.
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