Shock Doctrine in Japan: Shinzo Abe's Rightward Shift to Militarism, Secrecy in Fukushima's Wake

[marmar]

Published on Jan 15, 2014

http://www.democracynow.org - Democracy Now! is broadcasting from Tokyo, Japan, today in the first of three special broadcasts. At a critical time for Japan and the region, we begin our coverage looking at the country's rightward political shift under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was re-elected just over a year ago. As head of the Liberal Democratic Party, Abe is known as a conservative hawk who has pushed nationalistic and pro-nuclear policies. In December, he visited the controversial Yasukuni war shrine, which honors Japanese soldiers who died in battle, including several war criminals who were tried by the International Military Tribunal after World War II. The visit sparked outrage from China and South Korea, who consider the shrine a symbol of Japanese militarism, and its refusal to atone for atrocities committed in the first half of the 20th century. We speak about Japan's increasingly pro-nuclear, nationalistic stance with Koichi Nakano, professor at Sophia University in Tokyo and director of the Institute of Global Concern.

[BelgianMadCow]

1. was considering the parallels today, glad to see you post this

thanks, marmar!

[Oakenshield]

2. Really good dialogue between these two.

I wish we could hear more from Konichi, I'm almost certain I've misspelled his name, as the parallels he draws to the second world war are quite interesting. Very well spoken individual. Thanks for sharing Marmar.

[flamingdem]

3. Important story

Japan news is hard to come by these days. The allies aren't too critical either.