Friday, January 13, 2006. Volume 02, Number 02

Spring classes have begun here at the University of South Carolina. Students are back, and the USC campus is altogether a brighter place. I have an undergraduate class in Japan's foreign relations this semester. About 50 students. Looks like a good group.

This week we run a bit longer than usual, beginning with an update on negotiations with China over exploitation of natural resources in the East China Sea, and then a look at what the handling of the Shanghai Consulate Incident of 2004 tells us about relations between Japan's central political executive and the Foreign Ministry.

Then we begin a review of the Liberal Democratic Party's preparations for a party presidential election to be held this September. Conditions have changed somewhat, and to better understand the current situation we look back at the April 2001 LDP presidential election that placed Junichiro Koizumi in the prime minister's office.

As usual we close with some progressive bluegrass, this time the opening of Billy Parks' "That Memphis Sound." You can hear the whole song on the webpage he maintains for the Dirty River Band, listed below.

Some links to individuals and organizations mentioned in today's podcast:

Dirty River Band

USC's Department of Political Science

Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Office of the Prime Minister

Japan's Liberal Democratic Party

The Japan Considered Project

Click here for the audio file for this program

Click here for a transcript of this program