April 28, 2006. Volume 02, Number 16.

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Thanks for tuning in again. No program last week. I was in Washington, D.C., visiting old friends and attending a meeting of the Washington and Southeast Regional Japan Seminar. Current Chair, Professor Tomoka Hamada, arranged a splendid program, the best one in years.

This week I've focused on the outcome of the Chiba # 7 district by-election in which DPJ candidate, Kazumi Ota, bested LDP candidate, Ken Saito. And the significance of that election outcome for Japan's politics in the short and medium-term. My interpretation differs somewhat from that of most of Japan's political journalists and commentators. Or, at least, differs from what they were writing during the week following the election.