Their economy could be salvaged with a massive push to develop their renewable energy infrastructure. That is an obvious engine of strong, sustainable economic growth that the LDP has spent three years obstructing. Just like the Republican asshats here they've sabotaged the sensible publicly popular course of action in order to hurt their political opponents - all on behalf of a powerful group of narrow special interests.
Doubling down of wrong is stupid and I don't think it's going to happen.
Hosokawa eyes no nukes by 2020
Tokyo gubernatorial candidate, wielding Koizumi's clout, has LDP on defensive, probing for weaknesses
KYODO JAN 18, 2014
Former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa will pledge in his campaign for the Feb. 9 Tokyo gubernatorial election to set out a road map for Japan to break with nuclear power generation by 2020, according to a close aide.
“By making 2020 his target year, he will change Tokyo and Japan, with the focus on a complete end to nuclear energy,” Shusei Tanaka, who was a special adviser to Hosokawa during his 1993-1994 prime ministership, said Friday in an interview....
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/01/18/national/hosokawa-eyes-no-nukes-by-2020
Hosokawa to pledge 'immediate zero-nuclear' policy in Tokyo election
Former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa is poised to pledge an immediate breakaway from nuclear power as part of his election promises in the upcoming Tokyo gubernatorial race, it has been learned.
Hosokawa, 76, who earlier announced his intention to throw his hat into the ring for the Feb. 9 election, decided to make the pledge a main pillar of his campaign promises. He is planning to announce the decision at a press conference on Jan. 22.
By putting forward a policy to disallow the restart of idled reactors in Japan, Hosokawa aims to move in step with former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, an anti-nuclear advocate who has expressed his support for Hosokawa. Hosokawa's move is also apparently aimed at distinguishing himself from other competitors, including former Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe, 65.
According to sources in Hosokawa's camp, the policy goal of an immediate departure from nuclear power and measures for sustainable energy will top the handful of election promise "pillars" that Hosokawa is going to announce next week. He is also set to call for cultural promotion and disaster-resistant urban development...
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140118p2a00m0na013000c.html
This addresses the other implications of the wider governor's elections and the rightwing shift in Japanese politics. It might be too much "insider" for anyone who isn't routinely following developments in Japan.
Ishin’s Osaka wing hopes Tamogami loses in Tokyo
BY ERIC JOHNSTON
JAN 18, 2014
To the frustration — and rising panic — of nuclear village chieftain and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Tokyo’s gubernatorial election next month is shaping up to be a contest not about “local” issues like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics or even perennial complaints such as the lack of economic reform. Barring some last-minute change or surprise, it’s now a contest about the future of nuclear power in Tokyo and Japan.
But in Osaka, the real question is what effect the entry of an old far-right-wing nationalist known for his inflammatory comments — who has the support of an old, far-right-wing nationalist also known for making inflammatory comments — will have on the political fortunes of Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party).
<snip>
...a third candidate who is getting the most attention in Osaka’s political world, especially because his entrance may further drive a wedge between the Tokyo and Osaka factions of Nippon Ishin: Toshio Tamogami.
The former chief of staff of the Air Self-Defense Force, fired in 2008 for defending Japan’s wartime aggression, advocates a nuclear-armed Japan against China and all of the usual political and social agendas favored by ultranationalists and right-wingers. Needless to say, Tamogami’s biggest political supporter is Nippon Ishin co-leader and former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
Earlier this month, Ishihara hinted he would support Tamogami’s bid, but only personally. Hashimoto and most in Nippon Ishin’s Osaka faction have no use for Tamogami. Younger Osaka party members derisively refer to Ishihara and the elderly Tokyo nationalists as “old garbage,” and Hashimoto is not pleased with Ishihara’s latest move. He and the Osaka faction wanted the party to back someone more in tune with Nippon Ishin’s local economic and bureaucratic reform agenda, but couldn’t find anyone...
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/01/18/national/ishins-osaka-wing-hopes-tamogami-loses-in-tokyo-2/
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