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| With friends like these … Shinzo Abe's tactless colleagues cause consternation | |
| (5 days later) | |
| Imprudent remarks by ministers cost Shinzo Abe his job just 12 months into his first term as prime minister. Seven years later, a new cast of gaffe-prone colleagues is again making life uncomfortable for Japan's leader. | Imprudent remarks by ministers cost Shinzo Abe his job just 12 months into his first term as prime minister. Seven years later, a new cast of gaffe-prone colleagues is again making life uncomfortable for Japan's leader. |
| In recent weeks, Abe's advisers have angered Japan's closest ally, the US, while his appointee as head of Tokyo's organising committee for the 2020 Olympics took a public sideswipe at one of Japan's best-loved sports stars. | In recent weeks, Abe's advisers have angered Japan's closest ally, the US, while his appointee as head of Tokyo's organising committee for the 2020 Olympics took a public sideswipe at one of Japan's best-loved sports stars. |
| Abe's problems began last month when Katsuto Momii, the head of Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, caused irritation in Washington by complaining that Japan was being unfairly singled out for criticism over its use of up to 200,000 women as sex slaves before and during the second world war. | Abe's problems began last month when Katsuto Momii, the head of Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, caused irritation in Washington by complaining that Japan was being unfairly singled out for criticism over its use of up to 200,000 women as sex slaves before and during the second world war. |
| Momii, who was chosen to head NHK by a board that includes Abe appointees, also suggested that the broadcaster would toe the government line on key political and diplomatic issues, such as Japan's dispute with China over ownership of the Senkaku islands. | Momii, who was chosen to head NHK by a board that includes Abe appointees, also suggested that the broadcaster would toe the government line on key political and diplomatic issues, such as Japan's dispute with China over ownership of the Senkaku islands. |
| Having initially voiced regret for the remarks, Momii now appears unrepentant. "What is wrong with what I said?" he told fellow NHK board members this month, according to Japanese media. | Having initially voiced regret for the remarks, Momii now appears unrepentant. "What is wrong with what I said?" he told fellow NHK board members this month, according to Japanese media. |
| The broadcaster was sucked deeper into the mire when Naoki Hyakuta, a conservative novelist who serves on its board, said the Tokyo tribunals – in which several Japanese leaders were convicted of war crimes – were used to deflect attention from the "genocidal" US fire-bombings of Tokyo and its nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. | The broadcaster was sucked deeper into the mire when Naoki Hyakuta, a conservative novelist who serves on its board, said the Tokyo tribunals – in which several Japanese leaders were convicted of war crimes – were used to deflect attention from the "genocidal" US fire-bombings of Tokyo and its nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. |
| NHK has since been rebuffed in its attempts to secure an interview with the US ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy. | NHK has since been rebuffed in its attempts to secure an interview with the US ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy. |
| Abe's visit to a war shrine in Tokyo at the end of last year has provided the richest seam of material for his indiscreet colleagues. His December pilgrimage to Yasukuni shrine, where several war criminals are honoured among Japan's 2.5 million war dead, prompted a rare rebuke from the US, which said it was disappointed that he had risked adding to tensions with China and South Korea. | Abe's visit to a war shrine in Tokyo at the end of last year has provided the richest seam of material for his indiscreet colleagues. His December pilgrimage to Yasukuni shrine, where several war criminals are honoured among Japan's 2.5 million war dead, prompted a rare rebuke from the US, which said it was disappointed that he had risked adding to tensions with China and South Korea. |
| Abe's special adviser and close friend, Seiichi Eto, took to YouTube to hit back at the criticism, saying it was Japan, not the US, that should feel disappointed with its ally. | Abe's special adviser and close friend, Seiichi Eto, took to YouTube to hit back at the criticism, saying it was Japan, not the US, that should feel disappointed with its ally. |
| This week the chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, instructed Eto to remove the video, in which he appeared in front of giant posters of Abe along with his slogan "Take back Japan". | This week the chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, instructed Eto to remove the video, in which he appeared in front of giant posters of Abe along with his slogan "Take back Japan". |
| Suga was again forced on to the defensive after Abe's economic adviser, Etsuro Honda, defended the prime minister's Yasukuni visit in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, adding that Japan needed to build up its military to defend itself against China. | Suga was again forced on to the defensive after Abe's economic adviser, Etsuro Honda, defended the prime minister's Yasukuni visit in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, adding that Japan needed to build up its military to defend itself against China. |
| Honda, the paper said, dreamed of a Japan "that isn't beholden to the US as a patron, and doesn't feel restrained by the sensitivities of its neighbours". He claimed his remarks had been distorted. The Wall Street Journal stands by its story. | Honda, the paper said, dreamed of a Japan "that isn't beholden to the US as a patron, and doesn't feel restrained by the sensitivities of its neighbours". He claimed his remarks had been distorted. The Wall Street Journal stands by its story. |
| Even Japanese athletes competing in the Winter Olympics in Sochi were not immune to the tide of tactless comments. Yoshiro Mori, a former prime minister who was chosen by Abe to oversee Tokyo's preparations for the 2020 Games, offered a morale-sapping critique of Japan's popular figure skater Mao Asada after she failed to execute a difficult triple axel in her short programme this week. | Even Japanese athletes competing in the Winter Olympics in Sochi were not immune to the tide of tactless comments. Yoshiro Mori, a former prime minister who was chosen by Abe to oversee Tokyo's preparations for the 2020 Games, offered a morale-sapping critique of Japan's popular figure skater Mao Asada after she failed to execute a difficult triple axel in her short programme this week. |
| "That girl, she's always falling at a critical moments," he said of Asada, who pulled off a stunning performance in the free skate a day later to end the competition a respectable sixth. | "That girl, she's always falling at a critical moments," he said of Asada, who pulled off a stunning performance in the free skate a day later to end the competition a respectable sixth. |
| Mori will not have endeared himself to Chris and Cathy Reed, who were born in the US but represented Japan in the ice dance competition. "They live in America," he said. "Although they're not good enough for the US Olympic team, we include these naturalised citizens on our team." | Mori will not have endeared himself to Chris and Cathy Reed, who were born in the US but represented Japan in the ice dance competition. "They live in America," he said. "Although they're not good enough for the US Olympic team, we include these naturalised citizens on our team." |
| Mori's dedication to sport was behind arguably the biggest scandal of his calamitous year in office. On being informed that a Japanese fishing vessel crewed by high school students and teachers had been accidentally hit – and sunk – by a US submarine off Hawaii in 2001, Mori elected to continue playing a round of golf. Nine people, including four students, died in the accident. | Mori's dedication to sport was behind arguably the biggest scandal of his calamitous year in office. On being informed that a Japanese fishing vessel crewed by high school students and teachers had been accidentally hit – and sunk – by a US submarine off Hawaii in 2001, Mori elected to continue playing a round of golf. Nine people, including four students, died in the accident. |
| For Abe, the recent slew of gaffes has disturbing echoes of his previous term as leader when, for example, his health minister described women as "baby-making machines", just as his administration was trying to encourage couples to have more children. | For Abe, the recent slew of gaffes has disturbing echoes of his previous term as leader when, for example, his health minister described women as "baby-making machines", just as his administration was trying to encourage couples to have more children. |
| This time, though, Abe has the electoral calendar on his side; he does not have to face voters again until 2016. | This time, though, Abe has the electoral calendar on his side; he does not have to face voters again until 2016. |