1. Eric Johnston
Kansai University of Foreign Studies
April 15th, 2013

2. RIGHT WING
``members of a conservative or reactionary
political party, or those opposing extensive
political reform. ‘’

3. CONSERVATIVE
1) Attending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or
institutions
2) Marked by moderation or caution
3) Marked by or relating to traditional norms of taste, style, or manners

4. THE
DECEMBER 2012
LOWER HOUSE
CAMPAIGN
What Did Abe Want to
Do?

5. Retrieve
Japan? From
what?
Take Back
Japan? To
Where?
Redeem
Japan? What
did it do
wrong?

6. The Heian Period?
Era of
peace, tranquility,
no civil
wars, Japanese
arts and culture
flourishing?
Kyoto the capital
of the country?
Great respect for
China?

7. To a feudal system of
government?
To samurai warriors
running the country?
To peasants knowing
their place and not
challenging samurai
rule?
To Japan closed to
the outside world?

8. The Meiji Period?
To the emperor and small
band of oligarchs running the
country?
To the age of 和魂洋才
(wakon yosai) ``Japanese
spirit/Western learning’’ which
means ``Keep Western
technology, Reject Western
ideology’’?
Fight wars with
China, Russia, and
Korea, and become main
military power in Asia?

9. To the Prewar Period?
Strong military?
Militaristic education?
Emperor worship?
Attempt to colonize
China?
Bad relations with virtually
everybody except Nazi
Germany, Fascist
Italy, and leaders in Asian
countries
(Indonesia, Burma, Taiwan
) friendly to Japan?

10. To the Immediate Postwar
Years?
A time of hard-working men who
rebuilt Japan and worked long
hours without complaint?
A time of women who stayed at
home and raised their children?
A time when people had less
material goods but had a national
purpose and worked toward a
common goal?
A time when industry was
king, everybody hated liberals
and communists, the Yomiuri
Giants were guaranteed to win
every year, and nobody worried
about environmental pollution or
the social costs of pursuing an
``economic/industry-first’’ policy.

11. The Late 1980s Bubble Economy
Period
A time when Japan was Number
One?
A time when the world respected
and admired Japanese industry
and people for being intelligent
and hard working?
A time when people had lots of
money, felt good, partied, and
spent it on luxury brand items
and foreign travel?
A time when women become
more
independent, aggressive, and
entered the workforce in greater
numbers than ever?
A time when Western culture in
Japan was at its most popular?

12. WE DON’T REALLY
KNOW. BUT GIVEN HIS
PAST, AND STATED
BELIEFS, WE CERTAINLY
KNOW HE IS NOT GOING
TO BE A PROGRESSIVE
OR A LIBERAL
Thus, the following kinds of reports. . .

13. CONSERVATIVE
Associated Press (Dec. 12th): Japan's
parliament elected Shinzo Abe as the nation's
prime minister on Wednesday, ending three
years of rule by liberal administrations and
bringing back to power the conservative, pro-big
business party…

14. Fri Dec 14
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Shinzo Abe may be
thoroughly modern when it comes to pitching his
policies on a widely followed Facebook page, but his
conservative agenda for shedding the shackles of
post-war pacifism is one that he learned at his
grandfather's knee.

15. By Asian News International – Mon 17 Dec, 2012
Tokyo, Dec 17 (ANI): Japan's presumptive next prime
minister Shinzo Abe is a conservative hawk who
openly proposes revising the war-renouncing
Constitution to bolster country's military capabilities

16. Los Angeles Times
December 16, 2012
Japan’s conservative former ruling party made a
dramatic comeback in elections Sunday, riding a wave
of anxiety about rising China and economic stagnation.

17. ``The conservative LDP's hawkish
leader, Shinzo Abe, will become Japan's prime
minister for the second time.’’

18. Shinzo Abe’s appointment
of a scarily right-wing
cabinet bodes ill for the
region

19. RIGHT-WING SHINZO ABE

20. The victory puts Mr. Abe, 58, a former
Prime Minister and outspoken
nationalist at Japan’s helm.

21. HAWKISH
WITH A NATIONALISTIC BENT

22. CONSERVATIVE LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY
A HAWKISH, RIGHT-OF-CENTRE LEADER
A RIGHT-WING NATIONALIST,

23. WERE THE LABELS
``CONSERVATIVE’’, ``RIGHT
WING’’, ``CONSERVATIVE HAWK’’
APPROPRIATE?
Given the groups Abe and his Cabinet
belonged to, it’s easy to see why the terms
were used…

24. PRIME MINISTER
SHINZO ABE
Diet Groups to Which Prime Minister Abe belongs:
歴史=自民党歴史・検討委員会)
日本（副幹事長=日本会議国会議員懇談会
教科書（顧問 =日本の前途と歴史史教科書を考える議員の会
神道（会長）神道政治連盟国会議員懇談会
靖国みんなで靖国神社に参拝する議員の会
改憲、同盟（顧問)= 憲法調査推進議員連盟（超党派の改憲議連）
創生（会長= 創生「日本」（「戦後レジーム」からの脱却、改憲をめ
ざす超党派議員連盟）
拉致（顧問)= 北朝鮮に拉致された日本人を早期に救出するために行動
する議員連盟
慰安婦= 米・ニュージャージー州「スターレッジャー」に「慰安婦」
否定の意見広告

25. IDEOLOGICAL BREAKDOWN OF THE ABE
CABINET
第二次安部晋三内閣24人はこのような議員連盟に所
属
 神道政治連盟国会議員懇談会：20人 （思想・目的：女性天皇反対、
米の自由貿易反対、在日韓国人の地方投票権利反対、外国人に森の土地
や「重要土地」販売反対、「愛国的、精神的な教育」支持、男女共同参
画教育反対
 みんなで靖国神社に参拝する議員の会：19人（思想・目的：
8月15日国会議員として正式的な靖国神社に参拝することを促進）
 日本会議：17人（思想・目的：憲法改正、精神教育促進、君が代、日
の丸への尊重、日本歴史、文化の中、天皇制度の中心的な役割）

26. IDEOLOGICAL BREAKDOWN OF THE ABE CABINET
第二次安部晋三内閣24人はこのような議員連盟に所属
 憲法調査推進議員連盟15人：（思想・目的：憲法九条を改正）
 日本の前途と歴史教科書を考える議員の会：10人（思想・目的：南京大虐殺、慰安
婦史は教科書から外して「愛国的な価値観」を学校で教えることを目指しています。
 慰安婦問題は日本の責任はないとの立場を正式的に支持している7人もいます。

27. OBAMA’S
PRIORITY OUGHT TO BE MAKING SURE
THAT ABE’S RIGHT-WING FANTASIES DON’T
WRECK IT ENTIRELY.

28. BUT BY FEBRUARY,
THE TONE OF THE COVERAGE
BEGINS TO CHANGE.

29. SHINZO
ABE IS SHOWING AN INCREASING WILLINGNESS
TO TAKE ON SOME PILLARS OF JAPAN’S
ESTABLISHMENT
TO FINALLY
BREATHE SOME NEW LIFE INTO JAPAN’S
LISTLESS ECONOMY.

30. I WANT TO SAY THAT
JAPAN’S DOOR IS ALWAYS OPEN TOWARD CHINA,’’
ABE SAID.
``PROVOCATIONS ARE
CONTINUING AGAINST OUR COUNTRY’S TERRITORIAL
LAND, SEA, AND AIR.’’

31. JAPANESE PM SHINZO ABE’S SUPPORT RATINGS
INCH UP AFTER TPP ANNOUNCEMENT; MAJORITY
OF JAPANESE BACK ABE’S MOVE

32. SHINZO ABE II IS DOING MUCH
BETTER AT THE BOX OFFICE THAN ITS ILL-
FATED PREQUEL.

33. ABE IS MAKING A
KEYSTONE OF HIS STRATEGY TO
OPEN JAPAN'S ECONOMY

34. An effort by many Japan
policy experts in the U.S.
and in Tokyo to convince
Western media that Abe
was not as right-wing as he
might seem (difference
between campaign rhetoric
and governing reality)
A better-than-expected
summit meeting with U.S.
president Barack Obama in
February.
Continued problems with
Abe taking on political
establishment to meet
goals (return of
Futenma, joining TPP)
desired by many in
Washington as well as
many in Japan.
Lack of a clear, coherent
opposition in Japan to
challenge Abe. Lack of
strong opponents within the
LDP.
A fear among many foreign

35. Will the LDP and New Komeito
win a two-thirds supermajority
in the Upper House?
If they do not win a
supermajority, will they tie up
with Nippon Ishin no Kai or
Minna no To?
Will Abe’s determination to
participate in TPP hurt the
LDP?
Will the Constitution be
revised (Article 96)?
Will Abenomics still be popular
by the election?
If the LDP loses big, will Abe
resign?
Foreign correspondents in Japan
discussing the political situation.

36. 1) Abe and his Cabinet have
conservative, traditional, and even
right-wing domestic policy views, but
their foreign policy (U.S.-Japan
relations, North Korea, China) shows
they are (1) pro-U.S.; and (2)
``pragmatic’’. In other words, Abe is
pursuing a foreign policy that U.S. and
Western media foreign policy
``experts’’ agree with.
2) Abe’s domestic economic policy of
``Abenomics’’ might not work, but
joining TPP will help.
 3) Abe is willing to take on traditional
LDP support groups like farmers, at least
rhetorically, making him a ``tough’’
leader.
 4) Most foreign media understand that
Abe is limited in what he can do because
of the twisted Diet.
 5) Asian, especially Chinese, media
continue to remain suspicious of Abe’s
motives.
 6) Foreign media interested only in Abe’s
foreign policy, and whether it is ``Right
Wing’’ or ``Conservative’’. Nobody really
cares about whether Abe’s domestic
social policies are right wing or
conservative.

37.  1) Nobody attempting to understand a host of issues, ranging from TPP to Okinawa to
the Senkakus, to North Korea, to Japanese fiscal policy, to how Japan is responding
to the Tohoku quake and Fukushima, to energy issues can do so unless there is a
good understanding of how the major media around the world see Abe and Japanese
politics.
 2) Whether or not you agree with Abe and his Cabinet, as Japanese citizens, they are
your democratically-elected representatives and you, personally, are judged by those
who read the media reports of their actions on your behalf.
 3) You cannot possibly communicate intelligently with the outside world if you have no
idea how the world, through the lens of the international media, sees your leadership.