Well, the race for the leadership of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party is over, and the calm, moderate Yasuo Fukuda has emerged victorious. Japanese leaders need to be consensus-builders, and when LDP politicians compared the calm, steady Mr. Fukuda (71) to his younger, more fiery colleague Taro Aso (66), it didn’t take long for them to decide which was the safer choice, even if Fukuda does look like a parody of a Japanese salaryman complete with “bar code hair.” While I was hoping for avid anime and manga fan Aso to be chosen — I can just see the cabinet appointments he’d have made, with Rumiko Takahashi and Katsuhiro Otomo heading up the various government ministries — I guess I can’t fault the lawmakers’ logic. Mr. Fukuda happens to be from J-List’s home prefecture of Gunma, the fourth Japanese leader to emerge from our sort-of rural, sort-of urban part of the country, and it’s no small point of pride here to have so many Prime Ministers springing from this humble land. Mr. Fukuda has promised to continue to support the U.S. in its current operations and work for better ties with China and South Korea. To that end, he’s agreed to refrain from visiting Yasukuni Shrine, a private Buddhist temple in Tokyo where thousands of Japanese soldiers are interred, including some of the primary war criminals. That alone will be a refreshing change.
The new Prime Minister is famous for cracking jokes
It was interesting to compare the process by which Japan’s next leader was chosen with the way that parties pick candidates back home. There can be a lot of political blood shed between candidates vying for a nomination in the States, yet the two hopefuls for the top LDP job avoided any negativism whatsoever in their statements, speaking nothing but words of praise and respect for each other as they slowly worked to win the trust of their party. One impression I had was that very few people seemed to be involved in the process, with most discussions going on behind closed doors — which is one of those sho ga nai (it can’t be helped) areas of Japanese politics, I guess. One of the words batted around this time was “thoroughbred” (the Japanese sounds funny, サローブレッド, “saro-breddo”), indicating the long history both Mr. Fukuda and Mr. Aso have had in politics, being the son and grandson of former Prime Ministers, respectively. This mattered enormously to the political establishment in this country where true outsiders and political mavericks are few and far between.
I often get asked by readers who are coming to Tokyo for a visit what they should do while here. While the Kanto region of Japan pales in cultural significance to the greatness of cities like Kyoto, Nara, and Himeji about 400 km down the Shinkansen line, there is plenty to see and do here. Tokyo has a lot of beauty to be found, and shrines like Asakusa and Meiji are popular with foreign visitors, or else take a stroll through Ueno Park and check out the many museums found inside. Shopping is always a fun activity, and there’s plenty of good things to buy here, from high-end department stores all the way down to the shopping streets of Ameyoko, which grew out of a black market during the occupation of Japan. There are some good short day trips out of the Tokyo region, including the lovely town of Kamakura, home of the second largest Buddha statue in the country; and Nikko, a breathtaking collection of temples and shrines and a 5-story pagoda. Being from San Diego, I’ve always felt an affinity for our sister city of Yokohama, and that city is definitely great for doing some sightseeing, especially the Chinatown area. Part of the fun of visiting Japan can be going to places you’ve seen in movies, manga or anime, such as the Shibuya 109 building, or the inverted pyramid of Tokyo Big Sight, or Tokyo Tower, the scale replica of the Eifel Tower featured in dozens of anime series. If you’re ever looking for a hotel in Tokyo, I always recommend the Mets Hotel Chain operated by JR, a convenient and modern chain of hotels built into major train stations for extra convenience.
Good news for fans of our large-format 2008 Japanese calendars: we’ve posted *even more* amazing anime, JPOP and sexy idol calendars to the site, allowing you to browse what we have and put your preorder in now. Japanese calendars are extra-special because the printing is so large and beautiful, and since the calendars are not generally available outside of Japan, they’re a unique way to bring a slice of Japan to your life all year long. Today’s calendars include the relaxing Rilakkuma (“Relax Bear”), beautiful women like Shoko Hamada and Yuka Kosaka and and China Fukunaga; anime series like Xenoglossia, a great sci-fi series using characters from the IdolMasters universe; a calendar of baby pandas, a calendar that teaches you Japanese, and much more! Browse our 2008 calendars now!
