Holy shit! Sorry for the absence my Plaid Friends….but somehow I just woke up in a Toyko back alley, ringside at an illegal sumo competition in which competitors wrestle to the death while simultaneously engaged in an all-you-can-eat sushi showdown. And the fish wraps and fat rolls are flying! Dudes, you do not want to get in-between a sumo and his sushi. What an event! Unfortunately, the last thing I remember was going head to head with Vladimir Putin doing caviar-vodka bombs outside Moscow…but that was about four days ago I think….My, how time flies. However, this is a fortuitous touch down in Toyko, because I have been meaning to introduce you to the newest world leader of note…our main Japanese squeeze, Prime Minister Fukuda:

Japan PM sets out policy agenda

Japan May Cut Support of Afghan Mission

DIAM says new Prime Minister Fukuda positive for Japan

Fukuda Is More Pragmatic Than Former PM

Japan PM Fukuda likely to build on Abe’s Asia policy

Fukuda? Sounds like a Japanese curse word. I love it man! But I’ve heard that you folks are prepping for a mid-term exam, so I’ll keep this rant brief. Yasuo Fukuda is this ancient-ass dude (he’s 71 years old) who just replaced Shinzo Abe as the Prime Minister of Japan. Back up the sake cart for a second. What happened to Abe? You remember me ranting about Abe in the past, yes?

Poor Abe. He had a rough year to say the least. After riding into the Prime Minister position on the coat-tails of his extremely popular predecessor Junichiro Koizumi, ‘Honest’ Abe just kept getting the shit kicked out of him from the word go. His administration was beset by multiple scandals (most of which started before Abe even took office); he took a public pounding for downplaying Japanese war atrocities during WWII (specifically, the use of Korean ‘comfort women’ aka indentured sex slaves); and then his political party got smacked down in the 2007 elections (in which they essentially lost control of the upper house of the Diet—which is the Japanese ‘Congress’).

But the final straw came about a month ago when it became clear that the Diet was not going to pass Abe’s request to continue to use Japanese naval vessels to support the US’s campaign against terrorism in Afghanistan. And Abe just had enough. He threw down the gauntlet and proclaimed that if the Japanese support for the US (a major component of Abe’s foreign policy) was going to be voted down, then he might as well quit, since not shit else was likely to get passed. And that is exactly what he did. Abe bailed. And then he immediately checked into a hospital because he was so stressed out that he was physically falling apart. Damn! Hold it together Abe!

Following Abe’s resignation in September 2007, our new boy Fukuda announced that he would run in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election, which would also determine the prime minister, given the LDP’s majority in the House of Representatives. Just so you know: the LDP would be the equivalent of the Republican Party in the US: a socially and fiscally conservative, center-right political party. And the LDP has been large and in charge of Japanese politics for most of the post-WWII period. Like almost all of it. Almost every Prime Minister has been LDP, and LDP has held the majority seats in the Diet for 50 years too. They have been very popular…which is why their big electoral loss under Shinzo Abe was such a big deal!

So Fukuda won the LDP party leadership, and then instantaneously was formally elected as Japan’s 91st prime minister on September 25. Fukuda and his cabinet were formally sworn in by Emperor Akihito on September 26. Okay, well that’s the basics about how it went down…but who the hell is this dude and what is he likely to be up to in the next year?

Prime Minister Fukuda has inherited the split Congress situation from Abe, but is known to be a dude who can quietly get folks working together—a unifier. He is already distanced from all of Abe’s troubles, so he stands a better chance of getting the government to work with him, and stands a much better chance of getting some of the LDP’s legislation through. But make no bones about it: the Diet is split, so he will have to work hard to get things passed, and many folks in the opposing political party are already promising to make his life suck, just like they did to Abe.

Specifically referenced in a story above, the issue of continued Japanese naval support for the US in Afghanistan still seems destined to fail. Remember: this is the issue that Abe resigned over! And if Fukuda can’t get it passed, then he will have egg on his face too! Why?

Because Japan is a huge US ally, and the LDP leadership in particular are big fans of the Bush administration (both political parties are conservative, right-center). And sending those Japanese troops to help the US in the first place was not only a big sign of support for US foreign policy, but was a huge freakin’ deal in Asia because it was the first time that Japanese troops had been used anywhere outside Japan since WWII! It was a very big deal! To pull back support for the US at this critical stage in those campaigns will be a big loss of face for the US and the Japanese leadership.

FYI: Most Japanese folks did not support the use of their troops abroad, as they interpreted this as counter-intuitive to their pacifist constitution which bans the use of an active military for anything other than self-defense of the island nation itself. The Japanese leadership was compelled to do it anyway as a sign of support for its #1 ally, the US.

On a more positive front, Fukuda will likely continue the work of his predecessor Abe in mending ties with Asia countries, specifically China and the Koreas. There has been bad blood between Japan and all other Asian countries ever since Japan’s imperial takeover started prior to WWII. Japan pretty much owned/controlled Korea and large parts of China and SouthEast Asia, and Japanese war atrocities are still very much remembered in these places. Prime Minister Fukuda will be working hard to remedy this situation.

Plaid Avenger tip: watch for Fukuda to take numerous trips to neighboring Asian countries in an effort to better diplomatic relations—and I’ll bet he does way more Asian partying than any Prime Minister before him. Especially if his domestic agenda gets smacked down by the Diet. When a leader gets stymied at home, the best ones simply go abroad and work on their foreign policy…and he may be old, but Fukuda ain’t no fool.

To finish this rant, allow me to point out a specific policy which demonstrates Fukuda’s much more open policy to dialogue with Asia. One of his most noted policy goals is to end prime ministerial visits to Yasukuni Shrine. [Find out more: Japanese whacko gives Abe the finger…LITERALLY!] In June 2006, Fukuda joined 134 other lawmakers in proposing a secular alternative to the shrine. Why? Because visiting that particular shrine always pisses off Japan’s neighbors, and Fukuda is openly saying: “Hey, we don’t want to piss you guys off! We want to be better friends!”

So know you know a little about this Fukuda dude. And you need to know this guy! He does lead the second largest economy on earth, is a huge US ally, and is trying to quietly change Japan’s role in an Asian situation that continues to grow in global importance every day! And from the looks of him, can party all nite and is a chick-magnet. Look at that sweet forehead man! How can the ladies resist that party animal?

Fukuda: He’s old, but not dead yet. And I hear that Viagra also sharpens your political skills…..hmmmmm….I’ve got to party with this dude.