December 9, 2005

Welcome to the fourth program in the Japan Considered Podcast series.
Go to the Japan Considered Project website for more English language information on Japanese politics and diplomacy.

Today, we consider the following topics:

Significance of the Continuing condominium earthquake-resistance date falsification for Japan's national and local bureaucracies.

Creation of a Prime Ministerial advisory body charged with review of the yen-based loan element of Japan's overseas development assistance.

Democratic Party of Japan President, Seiji Maehara's efforts to develop his Party into a more effective alternative to the LDP with a visit to Washington, D.C.

Continued Yasukuni Shrine-related public relations friction with China during preparations for the APEC+3 meetings in Kuala Lumpur.

And dampened expectations for the success of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa space mission.

Links to organizations and individuals mentioned in today's Podcast:

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Democratic Party of Japan

Liberal Democratic Party

Seiji Maehara Visits CSIS in Washington, D.C.

Text of Foreign Minister Taro Aso's December 7, 2005 Speech

APEC Home page

The Wind Riders Home Page

This link takes you to the fourth audio Program

December 3, 2005

This is the third program in the Japan Considered Podcast series. Today we discuss the following topics:

A proposal to change the Imperial House Law to allow female succession to the throne;

The political implications of the construction inspection scandal and discovery of earthquake-prone condominiums and hotels;

The arrest of Democratic Party of Japan Lower House Member, Shingo Nishimura, on suspicion of profiting from irregularities at his law firm;

The landing of the Hayabusa space exploration craft on the asteroid Itokawa and collection of soil samples to bring back home;

And we close with music from North Carolina's progressive bluegrass band, The Wind Riders.

Links related to the program:

The Imperial Household Agency

Prime Minister Koizumi Receives Yoshikawa Report

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport

The Democratic Party of Japan

Shingo Nishimura's Web Page [in Japanese]

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

North Carolina's Progressive Bluegrass Band, "The Wind Riders"

This link takes you to the third audio program