Japan's Nikkei Free-Falling, -1143

(UPDATE) It is ugly in Europe, with Germany's DAX down 223 points (2.62%). US stock futures are ugly, too. Dow futures down 159. Ben's Fed has some work to do before the cash market opens.

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The stock market in Japan is supposedly disliking the contracting Chinese economy and the US Fed comment about "tapering" down the QE4EVA, but I think it's about another botched day in the JGB (Japanese Government Bond) futures market which was halted (yet again) when the price dropped and yield spiked. 10-year JGB's yield hit 1%, almost triple the yield right before the Bank of Japan intervention in early April.

Nikkei is now minus 940...still 5 minutes to trade.

I wonder if Governor Inose now has second thoughts about advancing the Japan Standard Time. He wouldn't want to start the financial day for the entire world with disaster after disaster in Japanese financial markets, would he?

It is now minus 976, one minute to trade...

...and just ended the day with minus 1,143. That's an intraday swing of 1,459 from the high of 15,942, or over 9% swing.

Now their stock market is catching up with the bond market in terms of extreme volatility.

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Idiosyncratic Japan: Governor of Tokyo Wants to Set Japan Standard Time 2 Hours Earlier, Making Tokyo the First Financial Market to Open in the World

(I almost put the title as "Idiotic Japan" instead of "Idiosyncratic Japan"...)

He's at it again. Governor of Tokyo Naoki Inose seems to have fully recovered from his faux pas over Turkey. He now wants to have the Japan Standard Time advance by 2 hours so that the Japanese financial markets will become the first major market in the world to open.

What's the point, you may ask?

According to Asahi Shinbun who reported the news, it is to enhance the status of Tokyo as financial center in the eyes of the world. Daylight saving time (Summer time)-like effect will be economically beneficial, they say, without telling us who touted these benefits (I assume it is Governor Inose).

By advancing the clock by two hours, Tokyo can open one hour earlier than Australia.

Are they kidding, you may ask?

No, dead serious. The Abe administration will consider Inose's demand as part of the economic growth strategy to be compiled in June, in preparation for the July Upper House election.

I could already hear roaring laughs from real financial centers in Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai).

From Asahi Shinbun (5/22/2013):

日本の標準時「２時間早く」　都知事が提案、政府検討へ

Governor of Tokyo suggests Japan Standard Time to be "two hours earlier", and the national government will consider the suggestion

東京都の猪瀬直樹知事は、２２日の政府の産業競争力会議で、日本の「標準時」を２時間早めることを提案する。東京の金融市場が始まる時間を世界で最も早くすることで、金融機関の拠点を日本に置く動きを促す狙いだ。政府は６月にまとめる成長戦略に盛り込むことを含めて検討に入る。

Governor of Tokyo Naoki Inose is going to propose at a meeting of the industrial competitiveness conference to be held on May 22 by the national government that Japan Standard Time be advanced by two hours. The aim is to encourage financial institutions to be based on Japan by making the financial markets in Tokyo first to open in the world.

日本の標準時は１８８６（明治１９）年に定めて以来、変更していない。しかし、海外ではシンガポールが１９８２年に標準時を早めるなど、政府の判断により標準時を変えた例はある。

Japan Standard Time was set in 1886 and hasn't been changed since. However, there are examples overseas in which the standard times were altered by the government decisions. For example, Singapore advanced the local standard time in 1982.

東京の標準時が２時間早まれば、外国為替市場などが１日のうちで世界で最初に開くことになり、世界の金融市場で東京の存在感が高まるという。

If Japan Standard Time is advanced by two hours, financial markets such as foreign exchange markets will be the first to open in the world, and that is said to enhance the presence of Tokyo among the world financial markets.

また、いまは日本時間の夕方に欧州の金融市場が始まるが、標準時を２時間早めれば、東京、ロンドン、ニューヨークの三大市場で、市場が開いている時間を補完し合える。

Right now, the European financial markets open in the evening in Japan. But if Japan Standard Time is advanced by two hours, the market hours of the three biggest financial markets of Tokyo, London and New York can complement each other.

サマータイムと似た効果も得られ、エネルギー消費の節約にもつながるという。

Effects similar to daylight saving time (summer time) will be obtained, resulting in savings in energy consumption.

The presence of Tokyo in the world financial markets has been already enhanced, albeit in a bad way, with yields of Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) going all over the place and crashing other financial asset classes, thanks to Bank of Japan's clumsy, amateurish interventions (none of which by the way is reported much in Japanese press).

Daylight saving time is usually one hour advance. But no, Japan will do two, and screw up everyone's internal clock badly. Why it's all for the economic growth!

Japan as Number One was the title of a best-selling book by Ezra Vogel published in 1979, before the start of the asset bubble in Japan in 1980s.

One more time, with arrogance and hubris.

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(OT) Are You Right-Brained or Left-Brained? (Or Is She Spinning Clockwise or Counter-Clockwise?)

Apparently, she's spinning clockwise all the time for some, counter-clockwise for other. Some see both but cannot control the direction, and others can switch at will.

(I can switch if I focus, and it feels bizarre.)

The article that appeared in Australia's Herald Sun on October 9, 2007 says most of us see only counter-clockwise (i.e. left-brained), but when I re-tweeted this article there were many who said they could only see clockwise turn no matter how hard they try.

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US Congressional Research Service on Japan-US Relationship: Abe Administration "Could Upset Regional Relations in Ways that Hurt U.S. Interests"

Ouch.

Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Abe administration is trying to spin it by saying, "The report must have been based on misunderstanding." But as I'm skimming through the report written by three Asia specialists and one specialist on international trade and finance at the Congressional Research Service of the US government, it is well written, and the grasp of Japanese politics and economic issues looks solid.

From CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress "Japan-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress" (5/1/2013; emphasis is mine):

(From "Summary")

Japan is a significant partner for the United States in a number of foreign policy areas, particularly in terms of security priorities, from hedging against Chinese military modernization to countering threats from North Korea. The post-World War II U.S.-Japan alliance has long been an anchor of the U.S. security role in East Asia. The alliance facilitates the forward deployment of about 49,000 U.S. troops and other U.S. military assets based in Japan in the Asia-Pacific.

Japan has struggled to find political stability in the past seven years. Since 2007, six men have been prime minister, including the current premier Shinzo Abe, who also held the post in 2006-2007. His Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) returned to power in a landslide election in December 2012. Japan’s leaders face daunting tasks: an increasingly assertive China, a weak economy, and rebuilding from the devastating March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. In recent years, opposition control of one chamber of parliament has paralyzed policymaking in Tokyo and
made U.S.-Japan relations difficult to manage despite overall shared national interests. Abe is unlikely to pursue controversial initiatives before the next national elections, for the Upper House of parliament (called the Diet) in July 2013. Perhaps most significantly, the United States could become directly involved in a military conflict between Japan and China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islets in the East China Sea.

Comments and actions on controversial historical issues by Prime Minister Abe and his cabinet have raised concern that Tokyo could upset regional relations in ways that hurt U.S. interests. Abe is known as a strong nationalist. Abe’s approach to issues like the so-called “comfort women” sex slaves from the World War II era, history textbooks, visits to the Yasukuni Shrine that honors Japan’s war dead, and statements on a territorial dispute with South Korea will be closely monitored by Japan’s neighbors as well as the United States.

(From "Japan’s Foreign Policy and U.S.-Japan Relations", page 10)

It remains uncertain how Prime Minister Abe will fare as a steward of the relationship. On the one hand, he is known as a strong supporter of the U.S. alliance and promotes a number of security positions that align with the United States. He is an advocate of building relations with fellow democracies, particularly advancing security ties with Australia and India. On the other hand, Abe faces questions about his ability to steer foreign policy away from divisive regional issues that could hurt U.S. interests. (See section below for discussion.) In addition, domestic political divisions mean that major U.S. priorities such as Japan agreeing to the terms for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (see “Economic Issues” section for more) and allowing for more advanced defense cooperation (see “Alliance Issues” section for more) will be difficult to pursue. Abe’s approval ratings after his initial fourth months in office remained high, but action on many agenda items may be determined by the July 2013 Upper House election results.

(About "comfort women" - sex slaves, page 11)

Abe’s statements on the so-called “comfort women”—sex slaves used by the Japanese imperial military during its conquest and colonization of several Asian countries in the 1930s and 1940s—have been criticized by other regional powers and the U.S. House of Representatives in a 2007 resolution. Abe has suggested that his government might consider revising a 1993 official Japanese apology for its treatment of these women, a move that would be sure to degrade Tokyo’s relations with South Korea and other countries.

(About U.S. World-War II-Era Prisoners of War (POWs), page 14)

For decades, U.S. soldiers who were held captive by Imperial Japan during World War II have sought official apologies from the Japanese government for their treatment. A number of Members of Congress have supported these campaigns. The brutal conditions of Japanese POW camps have been widely documented.(24) In May 2009, Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki attended the last convention of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor to deliver a cabinet-approved apology for their suffering and abuse. In 2010, with the support and encouragement of the Obama Administration, the Japanese government financed a Japanese/American POW Friendship Program for former American POWs and their immediate family members to visit Japan, receive an apology from the sitting Foreign Minister and other Japanese Cabinet members, and travel to the sites of their POW camps. Annual trips were held in 2010, 2011, and 2012.(25) It is unclear whether the Abe government will continue the program. It is also unclear if Abe and other LDP politicians’ suggestions that past Japanese apologies should be reworded or retracted include the apologies to the U.S. POWs. In the 112th Congress, three resolutions—S.Res. 333, H.Res. 324, and H.Res. 333—were introduced thanking the government of Japan for its apology and for arranging the visitation program.26 The resolutions also encouraged the Japanese to do more for the U.S. POWs, including by continuing and expanding the visitation programs as well as its World War II education efforts. They also called for Japanese companies to apologize for their or their predecessor firms’ use of un- or inadequately compensated forced prison laborers during the war.

I don't think many Japanese are even aware of former American POWs... The Abe administration certainly wants to "reword" what took place in the World War II, starting with the definition of "aggression".

(About "Japanese politics", page 32)

The December 2012 Elections: A Landslide Without a Mandate for the LDP

Since 2007, Japanese politics has been plagued by in stability. Six men have been prime minister, including the current occupant of the post, Shinzo Abe (born in 1954), who was also prime minister for a 12-month period from 2006-2007. The LDP’s dominant victory in the December 2012 Lower House elections swept the party back into power. However, in the view of most observers—and even many in the LDP—the results were more attributable to voters’ desire to eject the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from power rather than enthusiasm for the LDP or its policy proposals.(51) Indeed, by some measures, the LDP garnered less support than in the last Lower House election, in 2009. Nonetheless, it was able to secure a commanding number of seats because of one of the lowest turnouts (59%) in the post-World War II era and the splitting of the anti-LDP vote among the DPJ and a number of new or relatively new parties.

The Abe administration, and Prime Minister Abe himself, has been craving the love and attention from the US administration. After visiting President Obama, Abe was heard complaining to his aides, "I traveled great distance to see him (President Obama), and but didn't even smile at me."

Instead, in this report, I sense a puzzlement, almost a slight dismay - of all nations, why does Japan under this prime minister have to be the US military ally and economic partner?

As usual, some of the response I get on Japanese Twitter is rabidly anti-US, casting Japan as "victim"; it's all because of China, Korea, or the US that Japan and the Japanese suffer, and they are there to wrestle money from Japan.

Like worrying that Thais will re-export expensive tomatoes and asparagus from Fukushima back to Japan and the Japanese will suffer.

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Cherry Tomatoes and Asparagus, From #Fukushima to Thailand

I don't quite understand the psychology of some of the farmers in Fukushima in the past two years. From what's been reported and what I've known in blogs and tweets, they are angry that fickle consumers outside their prefecture are still fanning the "baseless rumors" that their produce is contaminated with radioactive materials from the biggest nuclear accident in Japan in history, and they are determined more than ever to keep producing anything they like and demand that consumers buy them, because they have to make living. I'm sure there are conscientious farmers who would rather not farm, but they are not vocal.

"Eat and support" is now clearly being expanded to foreign countries, with Thailand to start.

For some time, the Fukushima prefectural government and Fukushima JA seem to have been targeting Thailand, which receives 70% of foreign economic aids from Japan, according to Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. First, it was Fukushima peaches. Then apples, pears, then persimmons. Now, Fukushima will sell fresh cherry tomatoes and asparagus to wealthy Thais.

That, on top of the hot money escaping from Japan, thanks to PM Abe and BOJ's Kuroda, and pouring into developing nations including Thailand. Thais are traditionally very friendly to Japanese, but I wonder how long that will last.

From Fukushima Minyu (5/17/2013; part):

県産野菜をタイで販売へ　ミニトマトとアスパラ初輸出

Vegetables grown in Fukushima to be sold in Thailand, first export of cherry tomatoes and asparagus

　県や市町村、県内企業でつくる県貿易促進協議会は１６日、県産のミニトマトとアスパラガスをタイへ初輸出、２４～２６日にバンコク市の大手デパートで試験販売すると発表した。県産野菜のタイ輸出は初めて。２３日は現地で商談会を開き、県内の酒造会社４社の銘酒も提供する。同協議会は県産モモとリンゴの売れ行きが好調だった実績を好感、タイへの輸出拡大に向け販売促進活動を本格化させる足掛かりにしたい考えだ。

Fukushima Trade Promotion Council made of the prefectural and municipal governments and corporations in Fukushima announced on May 16 that cherry tomatoes and asparagus grown in Fukushima will be exported to Thailand for the first time, and test sales will be on May 24 to 26 at large department stores in Bangkok. It will be the first export of Fukushima's vegetables to Thailand. On May 23, a business meeting with potential buyers will be set up in Bangkok, where 4 brands of well-renowned sake in Fukushima will be offered. The Council felt good that peaches and apples from Fukushima sold well [in Thailand last year], and wants to make this occasion a foothold to expand export to Thailand.

　輸出するのは、いわきトマトランド（いわき市）が生産するミニトマト４０キロ、ＪＡ会津いいでが出荷する喜多方市産のアスパラガス３０キロ。試験販売のため量を絞り、タイの大手デパート系列５店舗で店頭に並ぶ。輸出にはタイ政府指定の検査機関で安全性を確認する必要があるため、出荷時にアスパラガスとミニトマトの放射性物質検査を実施。それぞれ検査証明書を添え、羽田空港から空輸する。

Vegetables to be exported this time are 40 kilograms of cherry tomatoes produced by Tomatoland Iwaki (in Iwaki City), and 30 kilograms of asparagus produced in Kitakata City and shipped by JA Aizu Iide. Since it will be a test sales, the quantities will be small, and they will be sold at 5 stores of a large department store chain in Thailand. In order to export, it is necessary to confirm the safety of the produce at a testing laboratory designated by the Thai government. So, at the time of shipment, the vegetables will be tested for radioactive materials. The test results will be attached to the vegetables which will be transported by air from Haneda Airport.

Tomatoland Iwaki's homepage proudly says "Delicious and Safe Produce to Your Table".

The company says it tests its tomatoes for radioactive materials using the germanium semiconductor detector at an outside lab. Radioactive cesium not detected, says the latest result for cherry tomato on May 15, 2013. Looking closely, I notice that the detection limit is 10 Bq/kg. That's awfully high for the germanium semiconductor detector, meaning they don't test long. But in post-Fukushima Japan, if it is less than 10 Bq/kg, what are you complaining about? There's nothing to fear.

Iwaki City is located 30 kilometers south of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

While the Aizu region (mountain third of Fukushima) are relatively free of radioactive materials from the accident, areas around Kitakata City is unfortunately not so clean, as you can see in Professor Hayakawa's map.

Fukushima Prefecture's own testing of asparagus from Kitakata City has been N/D, with the detection limit of about 8 to 20 Bq/kg for radioactive cesium.

So, people in Bangkok will have an opportunity to taste pricey cherry tomatoes and asparagus from Fukushima which may or may not have radioactive cesium, in addition to peaches, apples and persimmons which were found with radioactive cesium, albeit below the government safety standard of 100 Bq/kg.

There are people who retweet this story in Japan with their comment like "Now the risk of having these vegetables and fruits processed in Thailand and shipped back to Japan as "Made-in-Thailand" food will be even greater!" It does not make any economical sense for Thais to do so, but for some Japanese, it has to be always the Japanese who are the victims of this nuclear accident.

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Belgium's Two Nuclear Reactors with Cracks Are Good to Restart, Minister Says Government Does Not Have Power To Interfere with "Independent" Regulator and Operator

These days, things nuclear look almost serene compared to the (soap) scums in the political world (here and here in Japan, here and here and here in the US, for some examples).

But that's probably because political scums are used to mask problems that cannot be fixed.

Belgium, having to rely on nuclear power for more than 50% of electricity, has declared two reactors safe to operate whose Reactor Pressure Vessels were found with thousands of small cracks in August 2012 (see my post for one of them).

Why? Because there is no way to fix the cracks now (besides, the company that made the vessels went out of business), and Belgium needs electricity.

From Reuters (5/17/2013):

UPDATE 1-Belgian regulator clears GDF to restart nuclear reactors

* A third of Belgium's nuclear capacity closed since last yr

* Reactors should restart in 2-3 weeks (Recasts with regulator confirmation)

By Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS, May 17 (Reuters) - Belgium's nuclear safety regulator has given approval for GDF Suez to restart two nuclear reactors closed last year over safety concerns, it said in a report on Friday.

"The Federal Agency for Nuclear Control considers that the Doel 3 and Tihange 2 reactor units can be restarted safely," the report said.

It added that all of the safety concerns had been resolved satisfactorily.

Belgium halted the 1,006-megawatt (MW) Doel 3 reactor in August last year after indications of cracks were discovered on the core tank during ultrasound checks.

A month later, it found similar flaws on the 1,008-MW Tihange 2 after it tested the tank during a routine stoppage, leaving Belgium without a third of its nuclear power generation capacity.

It will take two to three weeks to restart the reactors, a spokeswoman for GDF Suez's Belgian division Electrabel said following the decision.

According to Asahi Shinbun who reported the news in Japan, Doel 3 reactor has over 8,000 small cracks, and Tihange 2 has over 2,000. They conducted the tolerance test to ensure safety, according to Asahi.

Greenpeace is vowed to sue the Belgium government, according to Euronews (5/17/2013):

Greenpeace are threatening to sue the Belgian government. The leading environmental activist network is threatening legal action after Belgium’s nuclear safety regulator gave the green light to GDF Suez to go ahead and restart two nuclear reactors.

However, during a news conference, the Belgian Interior Minister, Joelle Milquet claimed that the government does not have the power to block the move.

“The independent regulator provides technical advice to an operator on the restarting of its operations. We do not have the ability to interfere in the decision, because it is an independent operator,” he said.

Last year two nuclear reactors were closed after safety concerns were flagged up in their their tanks, during an ultrasound check.

Greenpeace says it is the government’s responsibility to guarantee the safety of the Belgian people.

“We will summon the government for the lack of decent emergency plan and at the same time they increase the risks of a nuclear accident,” says Greenpeace Belgium energy campaigner Eloi Glorieux.

So while a legal battle may be brewing reactors, Doel 3 and Tihange 2 could be back up and running within 3 weeks, now that Belgium’s nuclear watchdog claims all issues have been resolved.

What does the minister mean, the government does not have the power to block the move? Ensuring the safety of things like nuclear reactors is one of the few remaining good things that a government should do.

In contrast, Switzerland's Mühleberg Nuclear Power Plant has a huge crack in the core shroud inside the Reactor Pressure Vessel, and the license to operate is set to be withdrawn by the court order in June this year.

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#Idiosyncratic Japan: Business Is Good at Tokyo's "Soaplands", and They Call the Boom "Awa (Soap Bubble) nomics"

Ahhhhh this can't be happening......

As Boy-wonder speaks of Japanese sex industry as solution to Marines in Okinawa and doubles down on his "opinion" that comfort women were necessary and they were no sex slaves and everyone did it, The Economist magazine puts wrinkled Abe as a superman of some sort flying over Tokyo accompanied by two Japanese fighter jets, and puts out an article titled "Japan and Abenomics: Once more with feeling" with the opening paragraph talking about price hike at "soapland" outfits in Tokyo that offer sexual massage.

Welcome to "Awanomics". ("Awa" is bubble, as in soap bubble used in the soapland massage.)

From The Economist (5/18/2013):

Japan and Abenomics: Once more with feeling

The Shinzo Abe shaking up Japan’s economy seems a different man from the one whose previous premiership was marked by nationalistic posturing. He isn’t

IN “SOAPLAND”—Sopurando, a Tokyo red-light district—the price of a basic half-hour “massage” has recently gone up for the first time since 1990. Demand for the top-end, “highly technical” massage service, costing ¥60,000 ($600) a go, has also been soaring, according to Akira Ikoma, editor of My Journey, which covers the sex industry. He says it is all thanks to the surging stockmarket.

In Sopurando they are cheekily calling this reinvigoration “awanomics”, from awa, meaning bubble or lather. Elsewhere in Japan they call it Abenomics in honour of Shinzo Abe, elected prime minister in December 2012. Japan, Mr Abe declared as he took office, was back, and he lost not a moment in proving it. Having quickly assembled his cabinet, in January he announced a ¥10.3 trillion fiscal stimulus.

(Full article at the link)

The article even has a Japanese Self Defense Force ship with the rising-sun flag of the imperial navy (which is still used as the naval ensign of the SDF). It had been used before the Meiji government adopted it as military flag, but it is widely regarded in Asia in particular as the symbol of Japanese aggression (which Boy-wonder's sidekick and Governor of Osaka Prefecture wants it precisely defined).

The somewhat light-hearted, Keynesian article still ends somewhat ominously:

The emperor’s new constitution

Some amendments to the 1947 constitution, such as one acknowledging Japan’s clear right to a standing army, navy and air force, are now broadly popular. But it is becoming clear that Mr Abe and the traditionalists, pining for an imperial era from which most of the country has moved on, aim to go further than that. They want, among other things: the emperor to be restored as head of state; collective duties emphasised over individual rights; and veneration for the family unit. As a precursor to such changes, the LDP plans to make it easier to amend a constitution which so far has never been altered. The current process requires a two-thirds majority in each house, plus a national referendum.

At best, all this could prove a distraction at a time when some structural-reform initiatives already appear to be running into the sands. At worst, it could endanger all reform by eroding the government’s popularity, at the same time increasing tensions with Japan’s neighbours. Far from having banished the ghosts of his past, as some of his advisers claim, the prime minister is in danger of summoning them up again.

The section title is a pun on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes", I believe. Not good at all...

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"Comfort Women" Controversy: Mayor Hashimoto to Hold a Press Conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan

(UPDATE) It is on. The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan announcement:

P/L Toru Hashimoto Mayor of Osaka and Co-leader of The Japan Restoration Party

Summary :
PROFESSIONAL LUNCHEON Toru Hashimoto Mayor of Osaka and Co-leader of The Japan Restoration Party

Description :

PROFESSIONAL LUNCHEON

Toru Hashimoto

Mayor of Osaka and Co-leader of The Japan Restoration Party

12:00-14:00 Monday, May 27, 2013

(The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation)

* Initial reservations are limited to two tickets and may be subject to further change.

Since 2008, when he became Osaka governor, Toru Hashimoto has been described, variously, as the long-awaited savior of Japanese politics, as a smart, practical, reformer representing a new generation, a populist fighting the hated Tokyo bureaucrats, a fascist dictator, and as "Japan's answer to the American Tea Party movement."

In November 2011, Hashimoto and his local party, Osaka Ishin no Kai, took control of the Osaka mayor's office, the governor's office and the Osaka prefectural government assembly. Hashimoto then went national, tying up with former Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara for last year's Lower House election. Their Japan Restoration Party won 54 seats, making it the third largest party in that chamber.

In recent months, however, the party and Hashimoto have been largely eclipsed by Prime Minister Abe’s economic program dubbed “Abenomics.” All of that changed last week, however, when Hashimoto began speaking out on “comfort women,” war-time prostitution and related issues, bringing a virtual wave of international criticism.

In response, Hashimoto made a declaration: He would come to the FCCJ to explain his views to a global audience. His appearance will almost certainly be one of the top news events of the year.

The outspoken Hashimoto loves a good debate, and is one of the few Japanese political leaders whose press conferences are open to all. He is reportedly something of an expert on French wines and old whiskies, and he's an avid user of social media, with a Twitter account that has over 1 million followers worldwide.

Please reserve in advance, 3211-3161 or on the website (still & TV cameras inclusive). The charge for members/non-members is 1,700/2,600 yen, non-members eligible to attend may pay in cash (menu: hamburger steak mushroom sauce). Reservations canceled less than one hour in advance for working press members, and 24 hours for all others, will be charged in full. Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation. For meal service, please enter the room by 12:25.

Professional Activities Committee

I don't know whether the comments like "almost certainly be one of the top news events of the year" are sarcastic or not.

=======================================


Mark your calendar. It will be on May 27, 2013.

Boy-wonder doubles and triples down on his remarks that "comfort women" were necessary, that everybody did it, and that his remarks were misunderstood by foreigners because he can't speak English because of Liberal Democratic Party.

(Huh?)

According to the world of Toru Hashimoto, mayor of Osaka City and co-president of Japan Restoration Party, these women were "pros", and not "sex slaves". Tell that to the Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Dutch, Philippino, and other women in Japan-occupied Asia from that time.

Kyodo News has a tepid coverage of Hashimoto's plan, and reduces everything to "difference of opinion".

From Kyodo News (5/19/2013):

橋下氏、特派員協会に説明の考え　慰安婦問題、性奴隷を否定

Mr. Hashimoto will explain the issue of comfort women at the Foreign Correspondents' Club, denies they were sex slaves

日本維新の会共同代表の橋下徹大阪市長は１９日の民放番組で、旧日本軍の従軍慰安婦について「暴行、脅迫、拉致を、国を挙げてやり、嫌がる女性に無理やり（慰安婦を）やらせた『性奴隷』と言われている。それは違う」と述べ、２７日に東京で外国特派員協会に対し、こうした見解を説明する考えを示した。

Toru Hashimoto, mayor of Osaka City and co-president of Japan Restoration Party, appeared in a TV program on May 19, and talked about the comfort women of the Japanese imperial army. He said, "It is said that the whole nation raped, threatened and abducted these women and forced them against their will to become (comfort women) and thus "sex slaves". But that's not true." He said he will explain his opinion at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on May 27.

既に来日し、２４日に橋下氏と面会する韓国人の元従軍慰安婦は「経験した本人がいるのに、どうして証拠がないと言えるのか」と橋下氏の一連の発言を批判しており、見解の相違が際立った格好だ。

A Korean former comfort woman, who is already in Japan to meet with Mr. Hashimoto on May 24, criticizes Mr. Hashimoto's remarks, saying "I experienced exactly that. How can he say there is no evidence?" It seems to highlight the difference of opinion.

There are an amazing number of Japanese who staunchly support Boy-wonder. They all cling on to the semantics, and seem to think these women were willing prostitutes selling themselves for money. Here's one example of the tweets I get:

Hashimoto is doing the politics of words. He's challenging the existing framework of the US being always right.

What does that have to do with forced slavery under the Japanese imperial army?

Boy-wonder's latest excuse is that he didn't know enough about "US adult entertainment (sex) industry" when he talked to the Marine base commander in Okinawa and suggested to him that Marines make good use of Japanese sex industry.

This is a "Young Global Leader" elected by the world elite who meet at Davos every year.

What a wonderful world.

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Reuters: There Is No Plan B for Japan, as Abe Bets the Whole Country on His Economic Programs Dubbed "Abenomics"

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the cockpit of T-4 training jet at the Japan Air Self-Defense Force base in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi prefecture, May 12, 2013. REUTERS/Kyodo


Tank commander was clearly not enough. What's next? A battleship captain?

Good luck, Japan. You'll need it. Even that won't help you much with the leader like this.

From Reuters Opinion page, by Anatole Kaletsky (5/17/2013; emphasis is mine):

The 3.5 percent gross domestic product growth announced by Tokyo Wednesday suggests that Japan may be the fastest-growing economy in the G7. Since the Tokyo stock market hit bottom exactly six months ago, the Nikkei share index has soared almost 80 percent. Meanwhile, the yen has experienced its biggest six-month move against the dollar. All these events appear linked to the election of Shinzo Abe and the regime he has installed at the Bank of Japan.

Even after 20 years of stagnation, Japan remains the world’s third-largest economy, with a 2012 GDP of $6 trillion, equal to France, Italy and Spain combined. Financiers, business leaders and economists everywhere are starting to ask the obvious question: Is Japan finally taking the truly radical action required to fix its economy and end its “lost decades”?

This, however, is the wrong question. It confounds two very different issues – which need to be carefully distinguished to understand what’s happening in Japan.

The first question is whether Japan is truly committed to actions far more radical than anything attempted in the past 20 years. The second question is whether these actions, if pursued with determination and persistence, will fix Japan’s economy.

The first question was answered with a clear “yes” in March, when Abe appointed Haruhiko Kuroda as the governor of the Bank of Japan. Kuroda is an independent thinker, light-years from the consensus-seeking bureaucrats who have dominated Japanese policymaking for 20 years.

Kuroda demonstrated this immediately, in his first meeting of the BoJ council. He announced a monetary stimulus of staggering proportions – roughly three times larger, relative to the size of the Japanese economy, than the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing in the United States.

But that still leaves the second question: Will Japan’s unprecedented macroeconomic expansion succeed in delivering the hoped-for economic growth? The answer is “maybe.”

Most bottom-up analysts, economists and investment analysts, who study companies and industrial sectors in detail, put the probability of success at well below 50 percent. Japan, after all, has profound structural problems: a shrinking population, misallocation of investment, enormous public debt, protectionist lobbies in service industries and agriculture, inflexible labor practices, unimaginative management – the list could go on. None of these can be fixed by monetary policy.

Why, then have stock market investors turned so bullish? Because top-down investors, who seek to profit from macroeconomic trends, have ignored the skepticism of bottom-up investors. To see why they have done this – and why they may be right – let us return to my two questions.

Bottom-up analysts, who think mostly about structural issues, quite reasonably argue that macroeconomic policies, however bold, will not help Sony invent the next iPhone. They will not turn frugal pensioners into spendthrifts or stop Japanese companies from hoarding profits instead of distributing excess cash to shareholders through higher dividends or to workers through higher wages.

Macro-investors, on the other hand, see unprecedented fiscal and monetary expansion as a good enough reason to buy Japanese equities and sell the yen. But if bullish macro-investors keep acting on Japan with enough conviction, they could change Japanese economic reality and win their intellectual contest with skeptical bottom-up analysts.

(In other words, exactly the same forces that have been driving the US stock market up so much that even the financial cheerleaders at CNBC are voicing concerns that the market does not reflect the main street at all. But then who cares about the main street, other than people on the main street? Now, onward with the article's conclusion part...)

Finally, the macroeconomic stimulus of the past few months is only the beginning, not the end, of the Abe program. Abenomics has been described as a quiver with three arrows – fiscal stimulus, monetary expansion and structural reform. The third arrow will be fired only if Abe wins the Upper House election in July.

After that election, Abe is almost certain to make structural reforms in areas such as international competition, female labor participation, employment deregulation, lower energy prices and corporate taxation. These reforms will likely meet with opposition from powerful political lobbies. But some, at least, are almost certain to go ahead.

The reason is that Japan will have no choice. The fiscal and monetary expansion started in the first few months of Abenomics has been so extreme that there is no turning back. Unless Japan can achieve much faster economic growth, Abe’s radical experiment with macroeconomic stimulus will create a debt and monetary overhang so huge that it will bankrupt the financial system and possibly trigger hyper-inflation.

In short, Abe has bet his country on the success of his economic program. He will now be forced to do whatever it takes to achieve strong growth, both through macroeconomic stimulus and structural reform.

The financial arithmetic of Abenomics means that tolerable stagnation is no longer an option for Japan.

The Abe administration seems to think the economy will grow if female labor participation goes up. They look at the statistics in other countries, and see the statistical significance (I don't think so, but they do) as the causality. How are they going to lower energy prices with the falling yen? Who knows? Nobody cares, particularly not those "macro" investors - i.e. Goldman Sachs and J.P.Morgan Chase. "Macro" means nothing but government policies these days, and no one is more proficient in "macro" investment than these two.

There is no "Plan-B", as Abe bet the whole country on the success of his pet project that he says he polished over those years after he resigned from the premiership till his party's win in 2012 December election.

For the likes of Abe, if his pet project ends in an unmitigated disaster that finally sinks the country (and a good chunk of the world economy with it - after all, Japan is still the third largest economy), that will be probably OK as long as his name will be associated with the disaster, making history.

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(OT) Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No.3 by Ottorino Respighi

Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa, excellent interpretation - lyrical but not overly dramatic, clean.

(I am playing this on Friday night (second violin, principal), and have been busy doing the rehearsals. Sorry I haven't been able to post much because of that.)

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US State Department's Response to Osaka City Mayor Hashimoto: "Outrageous and Offensive", with Transcript Footnote Showing Disgust to Asahi Reporter's Question

A reporter from Asahi Shinbun went to the daily briefing at the State Department on May 16, 2013 and asked questions to the spokesperson Jen Psaki.

What do you think of Mayor Hashimoto's comments?

What do you think, were those women "comfort women" or "sex slaves"?

(Oh boy.)

From the US Department of State Daily Briefings transcript for May 16, 2013:

QUESTION: Hi, my name is Takashi from Japanese newspaper Asahi. Osaka City Mayor Hashimoto recently made a comment on the so-called “comfort women” issue, arguing that even though it is unacceptable from the moral perspective value, but the comfort women were necessary during the war period. And he also argued that it is not fair that only Japan is criticized by the United States and other countries, because there are other country military that were provided sexual service by prostitute. And do U.S. has any position on his comment or criticism against the United States?

MS. PSAKI: We have seen, of course, those comments. Mayor Hashimoto’s comments were outrageous and offensive. As the United States has stated previously, what happened in that era to these women who were trafficked for sexual purposes is deplorable and clearly a grave human rights violation of enormous proportions. We extend, again, our sincere and deep sympathy to the victims, and we hope that Japan will continue to work with its neighbors to address this and other issues arising from the past and cultivate relationships that allow them to move forward.

QUESTION: Do you describe this issue sex slave or comfort women?

MS. PSAKI: Again, I don’t know that I’m going to define it. You kind of laid out the specific details there, and we have described this issue in the past as comfort women[ii].

What is the footnote ii? Well I am afraid even the Asahi reporter managed to piss off the State Department (emphasis below is mine):

[ii] Rather than focusing on the label placed on these victims, we prefer to address the fact that this was a grave human rights violation of enormous proportions. The United States is also committed to working with our partners and allies around the world to denounce modern-day slavery and trafficking in persons no matter where it occurs.

これらの被害者につけられたラベル［慰安婦（Comfort women)か性の奴隷（Sex slaves）か］にこだわるよりも、私たちは、これが、重大で恐ろしく大規模な人権の蹂躙であったという事実に向き合う[事実を扱う］方を好む。アメリカ合衆国はまた、世界のパートナーや同盟諸国と共に、世界のどこであろうと現在存在する奴隷制度、人身取引を強く非難する。

I couldn't believe it until I read several articles by the Japanese media and tweets by some Japanese, but some people in Japan do seem to think if those women were called "comfort women", somehow they were part of the legitimate business. And they are shocked that foreign media portrays these women as "sex slaves". Thus the Asahi reporter asked that question.

If you start to believe in your own shit (often called "tatemae" in Japanese, literally "a facade"), you are toast. But many Japanese do not even know that　any more. Lost art of tatemae and honne.

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US NRC Chairman Allison M. Macfarlane: Life after #Fukushima - “The New Normal”

I guess Ms. Macfarlane probably doesn't know that the word "New Normal" was coined by PIMCO's co-president Mohamed A. El-Erian, as she doesn't give any credit to PIMCO when she quotes the word...

El-Erian's "New Normal" is the phrase he coined in 2009 to describe the post-Lehman world of slow economic growth, high unemployment and high government debt.

In Macfarlane's "New Normal", she says that "public interest in nuclear power, whether positive or negative, remains heightened."

So what exactly is her definition of "New Normal" in nuclear industry regulation, other than to say "In the months and years ahead, we should continue to consider “the new normal,” and assess the nature of the influence Fukushima will have on our daily work"?

Continue to consider?

Well I haven't had time and patience to read the 5-page statement yet, but you can read her entire prepared statement at the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) Nuclear Energy Assembly on May 14, 2013, here.

Feel free to leave the summary in the comment section.

In early April this year, NRC effectively ditched the idea of filtered vent (a la Sir Humphrey, "further study is needed").

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Groundwater Pump and Release from #Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Fukushima Fishermen Want Safety Assurance from Government, and Goverment Is Set to Give That Assurance

Another reason for TEPCO's shares jumping 18% in the morning session at Tokyo Stock Exchange is this:

TEPCO may get to release groundwater into the ocean soon.

From Jiji Tsushin (5/14/2013):

茂木敏充経済産業相は１４日の閣議後記者会見で、東京電力による福島第１原発の地下水放出が地元の懸念から先送りになったことについて、「関係者の了解を得ることが前提であり、国としても説明を尽くしていきたい」と述べた。地下水の放出については、汚染水抑制の観点から「極めて重要だ」と指摘した。

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshimitsu Motegi commented in the press conference after the cabinet meeting on May 14 on the release of groundwater from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant [to the ocean] which has been postponed because of the concern from the locals, and said, "Obtaining the approval from those involved would be the prerequisite, and the national government will do its best to explain [to the locals]." As to the release of groundwater, he said "it is extremely important" from the standpoint of reducing the amount of contaminated water.

Why is Motegi saying this? Because that's what the Fukushima fishermen have said they need the government's assurance that the water is safe.

In other words, they will agree to the scheme as long as the national government tells them it is safe.

Trust in the government continues to run supreme in Fukushima after two years of pathetic performance by both the national government and the prefectural government when it comes to dealing with the accident and resultant contamination.

Also from Jiji Tsushin, from yesterday (5/13/2013):

福島県漁業協同組合連合会（県漁連）は１３日、同県いわき市で県漁協組合長会議を開き、東京電力が福島第１原発の汚染水増加対策として敷地内で地下水をくみ上げ、海に放出する計画について協議した。地下水は原子炉建屋で放射性物質に汚染される前の水で、東電は理解を求めたが結論は出ず、６月以降に改めて協議することになった。

The Federations of Fishery Cooperatives in Fukushima Prefecture held a meeting of the cooperatives presidents in Iwaki City in Fukushima on May 13 to discuss TEPCO's plan to draw groundwater in the plant compound and release it into the ocean as part of countermeasures against the increase of contaminated water at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. The groundwater is the water before it enters the reactor buildings and gets contaminated with radioactive materials. TEPCO asked for understanding, but no agreement was reached. They will meet again in June.

　県漁連の野崎哲会長は終了後、記者団に「地下水と汚染水を混同している漁業者もいる」と述べ、さらなる説明を東電に求めた。また、国に対して「（国が）了承したということを明確にしてもらわないといけない」と語った。

Tetsu Nozaki, president of the Federations of Fishery Cooperatives in Fukushima Prefecture, said to the press after the meeting, "There are fishermen who are confusing the groundwater with the contaminated water", and asked for further explanation from TEPCO. He also said, "We need to know clearly that (the national government) has approved [the plan]."

　会議には県内の漁協幹部のほか、水産庁や県の担当者が出席。東電の新妻常正常務が改めて計画を説明した。東電は安全性に問題はないとしているが、漁業者から風評被害を懸念する声が上がっている。

The meeting was attended by the senior members of the Fishery Cooperatives in Fukushima and the officials from the Fisheries Agency and Fukushima prefectural government. TEPCO's executive director Tsunemasa Niizuma explained the plan. There is no problem with safety, according to TEPCO, but fishermen are worried about damages from baseless rumors.

There you go. For the mayor of Iwaki City, his out is that he objects to the release of groundwater "at this point" (see my previous post on the topic). For the Fukushima fishermen, as long as the national government vouches for the safety of the water released, they will be OK with the plan. Just blame the fickle and ignorant consumers, as they've been doing for the past two years.

TEPCO seems to be trying to keep the water level in the reactor building basements at about O.P. (Onahama Peil) +3000 (or three meters above the standard sea level used for the plant), so that it is groundwater that's flowing into the basement instead of highly contaminated water flowing out of the basement.

Judging by the high, and increasing bioconcentration of radioactive materials in the fish inside the plant harbor, contaminated water from somewhere may be already leaking into the ocean anyway. That news died quickly.

Now with this cleaner water dump, TEPCO may be able to hasten the dilution of radioactive materials in the harbor.

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TEPCO's Stock Jumps 18% Thanks to PM Abe's Word That They Shouldn't Be the Only Ones Responsible for the Accident Cleanup

The reason for the jump is given in the Yomiuri article in the morning of May 14, 2013 (part):

安倍首相は１３日の参院予算委員会で、福島第一原子力発電所の事故を起こした東京電力に対して、「（賠償や廃炉などの問題）すべてを東電に押しつけるのは間違っている。国がしっかりと前面に出て、取るべき責任を果たす」と述べた。

In the Upper House Budget Committee on May 13, Prime Minister Abe said about TEPCO who caused the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident, "It's wrong to foist (all the problems like compensations and decommissioning) on TEPCO. The national government will step forward to fulfill its responsibility."

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Osaka City Mayor Toru Hashimoto Urges US Military Commander in Okinawa to Use More Japanese "Fuzoku" (Adult Entertainment) Establishments

In the context, "adult entertainment" is "sex for a price".

Boy-wonder, who was selected as one of the "Young Global Leaders" at Davos World Economic Forum, a confab of the rich and the powerful in the world, was visiting Okinawa.

Commander of the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Colonel James Flynn, froze, according to Sankei Shinbun article.

Sankei Shinbun (5/13/2013; part):

「もっと風俗活用を」と橋下氏　凍り付く沖縄の米軍司令官

"Use more adult entertainment establishments", says Hashimoto, Okinawa Commander froze

日本維新の会共同代表の橋下徹大阪市長は１３日夕、米軍普天間飛行場（沖縄県宜野湾市）を視察し同飛行場の司令官と面会した際に「もっと日本の風俗業を活用してほしい」と促していたことを明らかにした。「風俗業を活用してもらわないと、海兵隊の猛者の性的なエネルギーをコントロールできない」と伝えたというが、司令官は「米軍では禁止されている」などと取り合わなかったという。

Toru Hashimoto, mayor of Osaka City and co-president of Japan Restoration Party disclosed on May 13 evening that when he visited the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma (Ginowan City, Okinawa) and met with the commander, he urged "more use of Japanese adult entertainment" by the US military. According to Hashimoto, he told the commander, "Unless you make good use of the adult entertainment industry, you can't control sexual energy of tough Marines." The commander ignored his suggestion, saying "it is prohibited in the US military".

　橋下氏は今月１日、同飛行場を視察。その際、司令官に「合法的に性的なエネルギーを解消できる場所が日本にはある」と述べた上で、海兵隊員に風俗業者を活用させるよう求めたという。橋下氏によると、司令官は凍り付いたような表情をみせ、「米軍では禁止の通達を出している。これ以上、この話はやめよう」と打ち切った。

Mr. Hashimoto visited the Futenma Air Station on May 1. On that occasion, he told the commander of the Station that "there are places in Japan that [the Marines] can legally release their sexual energy", and urged that the commander order the Marines to make use of adult entertainment establishments. According to Mr. Hashimoto, the commander froze, and cut off the talk by saying "The US military bans the use [of such establishments]. Let's not talk about this any more."

Boy-wonder's comment is no surprise, as he's been saying "comfort women" are absolutely necessary.

It is absolutely no surprise for the country of Japan either. After all, the country readied what was to become "Recreation and Amusement Association" in three days after the Emperor declared the end of World War II on August 15, 1945 - almost the very first thing that the defeated government did. Heroic girls and women to serve as "breakwater", and preserve the virginity of the rest of Japanese girls and women.

What a country.

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(OT) Space Oddity from International Space Station

Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station sings David Bowie's "Space Oddity":

Plant Earth is blue and beautiful.

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#Radioactive Japan with Nothing Better to Do: Police and Japan Coast Guard Held Joint Anti-Terrorism Exercise to Protect #Fukushima I Nuke Plant from Terrorists

Jiji Tsushin's article has no information as to who the Police or the Coast Guard think would be the supposed "terrorists" who would attack Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

Jiji Tsushin (5/11/2013):

原発テロ想定、合同訓練＝警察と海保、福島第２で－特殊部隊も参加し「銃撃戦」

Police and Coast Guard held joint exercise against terrorism on nuclear plant at Fukushima II (Daini), with special force staging "gun battle"

東京電力福島第１原発をテロリストが襲撃するという想定で、警察と海上保安庁が１１日、合同訓練を行った。同原発は東日本大震災で脆弱（ぜいじゃく）性が露呈し、現在も不安定な状態で廃炉に向けた作業が続いている。警備体制を不安視する声があるため、訓練を公開。テロ対策の専門部隊も参加して「銃撃戦」を交わすなど実戦さながらの訓練を披露した。

On May 11, Police and Japan Coast Guard held a joint exercise on the assumption that terrorists were attacking Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Vulnerability of Fukushima I Nuclear Plant was exposed in the March 11, 2011 disaster, and work toward decommissioning is on-going today in a situation that is still unstable. The exercise was open to the public, as there are those who have expressed doubt about the security system. A special force for counter-terrorism also participated in a mock gun battle.

訓練は、第１原発から南に１０キロ余り離れた福島第２原発で実施。原発に常駐する福島県警の銃器対策部隊や千葉県警の特殊部隊「ＳＡＴ」など警察官約８０人と、海保のテロ対処部隊ら海上保安官約７０人が参加した。第１原発へのテロを想定した合同訓練は震災後初めて。

The exercise was carried out at Fukushima II (Daini) Nuclear Power Plant, about 10 kilometers south of Fukushima I (Daiichi) Nuclear Power plant. About 80 policemen from the Fukushima Prefectural Police Firearms Countermeasure Unit which is stationed at the nuclear plant and from the Chiba Prefectural Police Special Force "SAT" (Special Assault Team), and about 70 officers of Japan Coast Guard including the Coast Guard Counter-Terrorism Unit participated. The joint exercise against terrorist attack on Fukushima I Nuke Plant was the first after the March 11, 2011 disaster.

Jiji has a photo of Coast Guard officers with machine guns, dressed in black-and-yellow radiation protection gear and looking like a bee or fly, having subdued the "terrorists" on board a ship:

Let's see... To disable the plant and stop the cooling of the reactors and Spent Fuel Pools, all you need would be to release a boat-load of rats and mice and wait... Or simply wait until all those huge steel tanks that are not welded start to leak, in about 3 years. Or just continue to let TEPCO do the work and wait.

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Atomic Energy Society of Japan Survey: 70% of Nuclear Experts Say They Are Comfortable with Nuclear Power, 92% Say We Should Continue to Use Nuclear Power

Just as the stock market performance has increasingly little or nothing to do with the real economy, the nuclear experts who are the members of Atomic Energy Society of Japan feel more confident about nuclear power while ordinary people continue to feel uneasy and threatened, 2 years after the worst nuclear accident in Japan which is still on-going.

The Mainichi article below speculates that the experts may have regained confidence after the LDP win in the Lower House election in December last year. If that's the case, well they are not scientists, but politicians.

As far as I am aware, there has been very little soul-searching, so to speak, after the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident by the members of Atomic Energy Society of Japan (and who make up the so-called "nuclear village"), nor active participation by the members in solving the many problems that TEPCO has been dealing with (albeit ineffectively) since the day 1 of the accident.

They have been lying low, but now that LDP has put the restart of nuclear power plants in the election promise for the Upper House election in July, they should be more confident.

Mainichi English (5/8/2013):

70% of nuclear experts still 'comfortable' with atomic power: survey

Some 70 percent of nuclear energy experts with the Atomic Energy Society of Japan (AESJ) remain "comfortable" with atomic power, while at the same time public confidence in the technology remains low, a society survey has revealed.

The AESJ began the annual survey of its members in fiscal 2006, and of the general public in fiscal 2007. The fiscal 2012 survey, conducted in January and February this year, queried 500 randomly selected residents of the Tokyo region and 559 AESJ members at universities and in the private sector.

In the fiscal 2010 survey, 86.5 percent of AESJ members queried said they were either "comfortable" or "somewhat comfortable" with atomic power generation. In the fiscal 2011 survey -- conducted after the March 2011 Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant meltdowns -- that figure dropped to 62 percent, but bounced back to 69.2 percent for fiscal 2012.

Meanwhile, only about 25 percent of the 500 members of the public agreed or somewhat agreed that Japan should keep using atomic power -- around the same rate as in the 2011 survey and half that of before the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Asked if Japan should keep using atomic power, some 92 percent of AESJ members said yes -- 6.6 points higher than in the fiscal 2011 survey and close to the pre-disaster level of around 95 percent.

"The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) included continuing atomic power in their election promises last year and won a huge victory, so I think nuclear experts might have regained some of their confidence in the technology," Kansai University professor of social psychology Shoji Tsuchida said of the survey results. "But it would be a mistake for them to think that the election results mean the public has signed off on nuclear energy."

For some unknown reason, Mainichi English drops the reference to the percentage of ordinary citizens who are comfortable with nuclear power. According to Mainichi Shinbun's Japanese article,

一方、市民は１０年度の１８・６％が５・２％（１１年度）に下がり、１２年度も６％と低下したままだ。

On the other hand, 18.6% of citizens answered they were comfortable with nuclear power generation in the fiscal 2010. The number dropped to 5.2% in the fiscal 2011, and it remains low at 6% in the fiscal 2012.

Even before the Fukushima accident, most citizens were not comfortable with nuclear power. But they were told it was good for them and good for the planet Earth, and were told it was unscientific and unreasonable to fear the nuclear power.

About the experts confidence, Mainichi English says it is the "confidence in the technology". But that cannot be inferred from the original Japanese, which simply says:

原発利用継続を公約した自民党が圧勝したことで、専門家は自信を回復したのかもしれない。

Because of the huge victory by LDP who promised continued use of nuclear power plants, the experts may have regained their confidence.

I think it is the confidence in themselves.

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OT: Obama's Press Secretary's Fine Performance of Non-Answer on Benghazi

Obama White House spokesman Jay Carney answers questions from reporters with facts and details totally unrelated to the questions, and the reporters are left wondering what in the world they just heard and why, forgetting to press for real answers. Classic.

"Terms of reference". Sir Humphrey Appleby would be proud.

From White House Dossier by Keith Koffler (5/9/2013):

Internal Benghazi Review Ignored Clinton, Obama

The internal State Department Accountability Review Board report being touted by the White House as an “unsparing” investigation into the Benghazi response actually completely spared the two individuals whose actions Republicans want to know about most: President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

There is no mention in the report of the what Clinton or Obama did related to Benghazi. In fact, Obama isn’t mentioned at all in the document, and Clinton only once – in the context of her appointing the Review Board. There is no suggestion that Clinton or Obama were interviewed or even examined by the investigation.

What’s more, Accountability Review Boards are part of statutory State Department process that is not legally permitted to investigate the president.

It’s not even clear that an Accountability Review Board is permitted to probe the Secretary of State. The purview of a Review Board covers “employees” of the State Department who could be subject to discipline by the Secretary of State, who presumably would not be tasked to discipline herself.

Despite all this, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney Wednesday suggested the Review Board report exculpates Clinton.

From the briefing:

Q    So the White House is confident that Hillary Clinton acted appropriately throughout this process?
MR. CARNEY:  We are.  And I think I would point you to the Accountability Review Board and what –
Q    Which didn’t –
MR. CARNEY:  I think I would point you to the report the put out.  I would point you to what the two heads of that board, Ambassador Pickering and Admiral Mullen — each highly praised by both sides of the aisle for their long, distinguished careers — put out in a statement this week:  “From the beginning of the ARB process, we had unfettered access to everyone and everything, including all of the documentation we needed.  Our marching orders were to get to the bottom of what happened, and that is what we did.”
Again, this is an unsparing report done by two career professionals, nonpartisan career professionals, that contain within it very serious recommendations, found shortcomings that needed to be corrected, and the State Department acted immediately on that.

But there is no evidence Pickering and Mullin ever talked to Clinton, or that they even sought to.

Carney dodged a question about whether Obama was interviewed by the Review Board.

Q    On the question of the Accountability Review Board, you keep saying it was unsparing and you said they had unfettered access.  Did Admiral Mullen and Mr. Pickering interview the President about what he did on the night of September 11th?
MR. CARNEY:  Again, I will point you to what Admiral Mullen and Ambassador Pickering said and what the report said, beginning with the fact that — this is useful here.  The Accountability Review Board investigation, headed by, as I said, two of the most respected, non-partisan leaders in Washington, found that the interagency response was timely and appropriate and “helped save the lives of two severely wounded Americans.”

Here’s a video of the exchange, in which Carney appears a little flustered. [video at the link]

Note that this is a classic case of press secretary spin, in which the answer contains a litany of facts wholly unrelated to the question and designed to draw attention away from the fact that the press secretary is not addressing the issue that was raised.

In this case, Carney was successful. There was no follow up.

"Terms of reference" dialog between Minister Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby, from "Yes, Minister: Doing the Honours" (1981), from IMDb:

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Minister, if you block honours pending economies, you might create a dangerous precedent.

James Hacker: You mean that if we do the right thing this time, we might have to do the right thing again next time. It seems on that philosophy, nothing would ever get done at all.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: On the contrary, many, many things must be done...

Sir Humphrey Appleby, James Hacker: [together] but nothing must be done for the first time.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: No, no, Minister. What I mean is that I am fully seized of your aims and of course I will do my utmost to see that they are put into practice.

James Hacker: If you would.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: And to that end, I recommend that we set up an interdepartmental committee with fairly broad terms of reference so that at the end of the day we'll be in the position to think through the various implications and arrive at a decision based on long-term considerations rather than rush prematurely into precipitate and possibly ill-conceived action which might well have unforeseen repercussions.

James Hacker: You mean no.

Well, fictional Minister Hacker saw it through.

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WSJ's Hilsenrath: Federal Reserve Maps Exit from Stimulus

This is really funny. What started as a joke on Twitter yesterday became real, sort of, today, as Jon Hilsenrath channels Federal Reserve (Dallas Fed Richard Fisher, in particular) and says the Fed has mapped out an exit strategy from its unprecedented easing of the past 4 years.

Mr. Kuroda of Bank of Japan, uh oh. My condolences, and best of luck holding the bag.

The news, for what it is worth still from the once-omniscient Hilsenrath, of course broke after the financial market is solidly closed for the weekend.

From Wall Street Journal (5/10/2013):

Fed Maps Exit From Stimulus
Timing of Wind-Down Is Uncertain, but Focus Is on Managing Unpredictable Market Expectations

Federal Reserve officials have mapped out a strategy for winding down an unprecedented $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program meant to spur the economy—an effort to preserve flexibility and manage highly unpredictable market expectations.

Officials say they plan to reduce the amount of bonds they buy in careful and potentially halting steps, varying their purchases as their confidence about the job market and inflation evolves. The timing on when to start is still being debated.

The Fed's strategy for how and when to wind down the program is of intense interest in financial markets. While the strategy being debated leaves the Fed plenty of flexibility, it might not be the clear and steady path markets expect based on past experience.

Officials are focusing on clarifying the strategy so markets don't overreact about their next moves. For example, officials want to avoid creating expectations that their retreat will be a steady, uniform process like their approach from 2003 to 2006, when they raised short-term interest rates in a series of quarter-percentage-point increments over 17 straight policy meetings.

"I don't want to go from wild turkey to cold turkey," Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said in an interview Friday. "I think we ought to dial it back." Mr. Fisher is part of a contingent of Fed hawks who are wary of the central bank's easy-money policies.

...

Mr. Fisher said he advocated starting right away at the last Fed meeting. Some officials can envision taking a first step this summer, if strong data show the economy is weathering the tax increases and federal spending cuts that appear to be weighing on growth. But they might wait longer, especially if the economy disappoints, as it has for several years during the spring and summer months.

A Wall Street Journal survey of private economists this week showed that 55% expect the Fed to start shrinking its bond purchases in the third or fourth quarter this year, while 45% expect the Fed to wait until next year or later. None expected the Fed to increase its purchases as its next step.

(Full article at the link)

Dial it back. Just like that. The rich got way richer, the not-so-rich got poorer, says Pew Research; many lost all their assets in the form of home equities and even went into negative assets because of the foreclosure fraud by the major Wall Street banks. But what's that to the Fed? Nothing, as it is not their so-called mandate. Now these banks and hedge funds are landlords, having bought those houses on the cheap.

Dial it back. Really, Mr. Fisher.

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