Although it is nice to have the U.S. Secretary of State choose Japan as her first stop in Asia, I can not help but feel a little frustrated. Not with the choice, but with the current Japanese government officials that she has to meet.
Sleeping officials are not the most troublesome of worries we have in Japan. (Believe it or not, I actually feel sorry for the guy...)It was reported today that the GDP for Oct. to Dec of 2008 was at it's lowest, shrinking 12.7%
Last year at least 1,300 companies filed for bankruptcy in Japan. (Among those companies was the nation's largest importer of foreign books and magazines. ) However, there seems to be little to no sense of crisis in both the government party and opposition parties. They are both very eager to find faults with each other instead of focusing on passing necessary bills.
Hopefully a little bit of Hillary Clinton will rub off on the government here...
I also hope that the talks she is planning to have with the families of abducted Japanese nationals by North Korea, will be fruitful.
*The sleeping minister, Nakagawa, has resigned from his post. The rumors are that he was drunk, not just sleepy. Oh well, so much for my feeling sorry for the man.
*The last time Hillary was here it was 13 years ago as the First Lady. She has asked Prime Minister Aso to come to the USA on February 24th. If he goes, he will be the first foreign guest at the White House for President Obama...wow...Mr. Aso...oh dear....
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