Score the crisis management skills of Suga vs. Koizumi
Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2025 8:01 am
In 2010, the Democratic Party of Japan was plagued by confusion over the Futenma base issue, and then by financial problems over the politics of Ozawa and Hatoyama. Although they managed to survive by replacing the prime minister, they suffered a crushing defeat in the House of Councillors elections. Since the summer, a series of major diplomatic problems have occurred, including the Senkaku Islands issue, the Russian president's visit to the Northern Territories, and North Korea's shelling incident. In the end, they were unable to respond appropriately, and Japan's status in the international community has steadily declined.
In the year and a half since the Democratic Party came to power, every time Prime Ministers Hatoyama and Kan spoke, the Japanese people must have felt increasingly uneasy. There is no end to looking back at each and remove background image every one of them, but at the beginning of the Japan-China summit at APEC, Prime Minister Kan read a note while speaking in front of Chinese President Hu Jintao, which was an unprecedented and foolish move that brought tears to my eyes.
Greetings are important in summit diplomacy. When Prime Minister Koizumi first visited North Korea and met with Kim Jong-il, he never relaxed his expression and even paid attention to the way he shook hands to intimidate his opponent. But if he was just a reader who read out a note without looking the other person in the eye, he would not be seen as a leader in the international community and no one would pay him any attention.
The response to the North Korean shelling incident was also pathetic. A document titled "Responses of Each Country to the North Korean Shelling Incident" has been published on the Prime Minister's Office website. The document continues to make it seem as though the Japanese Prime Minister's Office is doing its job, with information liaison offices set up within an hour of the incident at 2:34 p.m., and two and a half hours later Prime Minister Suga was giving a hanging interview and in contact with the South Korean ambassador to Japan. Meanwhile, only press secretary announcements are listed for the US, Russia, and China, making it seem as though the Japanese Prime Minister's Office is doing the most work.
In addition, almost the same content was posted on November 27th on the Prime Minister's Office information blog known as the "Kunfuru Blog," which was launched in November in place of the Prime Minister's Office email newsletter. However, since it was made public after the blog had been criticized in the press and questioned in the Diet, it is inevitable that it will be seen as an excuse.
In the year and a half since the Democratic Party came to power, every time Prime Ministers Hatoyama and Kan spoke, the Japanese people must have felt increasingly uneasy. There is no end to looking back at each and remove background image every one of them, but at the beginning of the Japan-China summit at APEC, Prime Minister Kan read a note while speaking in front of Chinese President Hu Jintao, which was an unprecedented and foolish move that brought tears to my eyes.
Greetings are important in summit diplomacy. When Prime Minister Koizumi first visited North Korea and met with Kim Jong-il, he never relaxed his expression and even paid attention to the way he shook hands to intimidate his opponent. But if he was just a reader who read out a note without looking the other person in the eye, he would not be seen as a leader in the international community and no one would pay him any attention.
The response to the North Korean shelling incident was also pathetic. A document titled "Responses of Each Country to the North Korean Shelling Incident" has been published on the Prime Minister's Office website. The document continues to make it seem as though the Japanese Prime Minister's Office is doing its job, with information liaison offices set up within an hour of the incident at 2:34 p.m., and two and a half hours later Prime Minister Suga was giving a hanging interview and in contact with the South Korean ambassador to Japan. Meanwhile, only press secretary announcements are listed for the US, Russia, and China, making it seem as though the Japanese Prime Minister's Office is doing the most work.
In addition, almost the same content was posted on November 27th on the Prime Minister's Office information blog known as the "Kunfuru Blog," which was launched in November in place of the Prime Minister's Office email newsletter. However, since it was made public after the blog had been criticized in the press and questioned in the Diet, it is inevitable that it will be seen as an excuse.