Volume 01, No 06 of the Japan Considered Podcast.

Prepared a day early this week due to power outages planned for Gambrell Hall, here at the University of South Carolina, home of the Japan Considered Project. Point your browser at www.JapanConsidered.ORG for more details about the program and the other information resources of the Japan Considered website. Write me at japanconsidered@gmail.com with your comments and suggestions.

Today we consider press reaction to the annual convention of the Democratic Party of Japan, and the performance of the DPJ's chairman, Seiji Maehara, looking for hints about what electoral politics in Japan will be for the next few years.

Then we consider the Ministry of Finance's draft of next year's budget, which came in just below 80 trillion yen, down from last year. Budget cuts, however, are not without specific victims, and we focus on medical expenditures and Japan's overseas development aid.

The leading academic expert on Japan's ODA, Professor Dennis Yasutomo of Smith College, Massachusetts, joins us this week for a brief commentary that provides background and sophisticated commentary on their political implications.

Links to individuals and organizations mentioned on today's program:

University of South Carolina
Democratic Party of Japan
The Japan Medical Association
Rengo, The Japanese Trade Union Confederation
Ministry of Finance Budget Page
Japan Considered Interview with Professor Dennis Yasutomo
The Dirty River Band of Washington D.C.

Click here for the Audio File for this program