Made in Akiba
Whether it is a dream come true or a nightmare one year in the making, Taro Aso is now officially the prime minister of Japan. A self-professed otaku who is a fan of Rozen Maiden, Rozen Aso, as he is affectionately known as, is a right-wing LDP politician with a history of offending various groups of people with his forthright comments. On one hand, this is probably not good news for those concerned about Japan’s fragile relations with its somewhat hostile neighbours, but on the other hand, he might just fill his cabinet with loli wind-up dolls! (Okay probably not.)
Ever since Fukuda resigned with his infamous “I am not like you bastards!” farewell, Rozen Aso has been the leading favourite to take over as head honcho. In anticipation of this, otaku-related stocks have reached sky-high level and will probably continue rising tomorrow when the markets open.
In any case, things should get interesting.
[ Source: AFP ]
I like that Businessweek article’s quote about rich jews.
But yeah, Japanese right wingers are scary sometimes.
If the otakus can push up the exchange rate singlehandedly and compensate for a possible fall in confidence due to Aso’s foreign policy….I take my hat off to otakus worldwide XD
This guy is crazy in a bad sort of way.
Yeah, I think Fukuda’s goodbye message is on T-shirts now. For a rather lacklustre premier, it’s not a bad way to bow out.
Let’s see how the PM-to-be’s love of manga will affect his political programme. I don’t think it will have much of an impact, but it can’t hurt to consider the more realistic possibilities. An 80-billion-yen combat robot for the Self-Defence Forces to start, then a nationwide seifuku redesign programme affecting all high schools, followed by the delivery of extensive manga collections to every public library . . .
Seems more like a nightmare than a dream, to me. The most important international relationship in the world today is between Japan and China. Fukuda took steps to improve it. Aso may well wreck it, to the great misfortune of Japan, China, and the world.
Yea I heard the news last night, but it’s been coming since Fukuda stepped down.
Whatever goes, it’s only a hopeful stance that any major step that involves anime (especially region-wide) will happen when he’s in power in the near future, he’s got lots of other agendas to attend to.
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Lol, this will be interesting indeed.
A more assertive Japan might not be as bad as you think. After all, it is true, to a certain extent, that they’ve allowed themselves to be kicked and prodded to no end for the slightest of issues.
I’m more worried about the actions Aso may take to sour the ties between china rather than what he can do for the anime/manga industry.
Personally I think Aso isn’t that different from most LDP politicians, who no doubt think the same things but leave them unspoken. I doubt he’ll really do much to worsen the ties. Abe was assertive about the whole revival of Japan thing, and the first thing he did after taking office was to improve ties with China, which was pretty much the only thing he did.
Beside foreign policy, I wonder will Aso take a different approach from his party in shoring up domestic issues and the economy where several social problems have been shattering the reality that most outsiders and perhaps Japanese themselves have of Japan which is an egalitarian and peaceful society.
I can’t believe I misspelled his name (that’s what I get for posting at 5.00 am)
His prime directive at any rate is Japan’s economic restructuring, especially in the face of the recession that just hit.
But beyond that, he’s not exactly been the most tactful politician when dealing with China. Abe’s prime directive was to improve ties with China, but even they were worried when he visited the Yasukuni Shrine. Taro Aso has visited the shrine several times and was pretty vocal against the verdict of the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal.
Still, China-Japan ties are extremely important to Japan in this day and age. Hopefully it turns out for the better.
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This will be interesting indeed… XD
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So how long is he going to sit in office?
Personally I kind of have a feeling that he’s going to do something good (improve the economy, deal with the country’s international issues perhaps) and if he’s boosting manga/anime markets while he’s at it, who’s to complain! X)
Yeah they need China. Otherwise who is going to manufacture all the Gachapon toys and anime figurines?
Yeah!!! There are going to release a Rozen Aso Nendroid set!!!
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