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minniping t1_jd1sx8l wrote

Reply to comment by ElJefe543 in Japanese leader heading to Ukraine for talks with Zelenskyy by Auburn_Value_1986

When your back is against the wall all weapons are defensive weapons.

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ElJefe543 t1_jd1tlvs wrote

You know what I mean. Defensive as in weapons used to take down missiles. The iron dome for example. The west is providing offensive weapons like tanks and guns. Humanitarian aid is also badly needed. Japan is a wealthy country, they can provide a lot in terms of humanitarian aid.

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LannerEarlGrey t1_jd2dsws wrote

Kishida already recently announced a massive $5.5 billion in additional aid, which would immediately make Japan one of the top contributors as far as money is concerned, and it wasn't prompted by a request from Zelenskyy.

Japan has always maintained strong support for Ukraine's sovereignty, and has levied major sanctions against Russia (though they haven't sanctioned a joint energy project in the Sakhalin Islands, for complicated reasons).

Hell, the Saitama Super Arena, Japan's largest indoor sports/concert venue (and it is massive) has been lit with the colors of the Ukraine flag for almost all of the last year, which is a pretty good indicator of public opinion regarding the war.

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turbo-unicorn t1_jd2q4so wrote

I have to say, I was very skeptical of Kishida when he took over, but he's been doing a lot of things right. Not just the Ukraine aid, but also regarding Korea, mobilizing ASEAN, etc.

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williamis3 t1_jd2t9wu wrote

His stance regarding Korea has caused a lot of controversy with Koreans. His cabinet has also been with scandal after scandal having 4 cabinet ministers fired in two months. He has yet to make do on his campaign promise of “New Capitalism”. His economy is stagnant. There’s a massive problem with low-wages and a huge gender disparity and not to mention the incoming depopulation issue.

His approval ratings were dismal at 21-30% for months.

Just because he paid a surprise visit to Ukraine, it doesn’t make him any good. You think most people care about foreign matters when domestically it’s a shambles?

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Riptide360 t1_jd3atwo wrote

That is way too much to pin on any one person to fix. The decades of declining birth rate is front and center Japan’s number one problem. No point in arguing about the return of the Kuril islands if both Japan and Russia are both losing population each year. https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Japan-s-successes-in-boosting-birthrates-should-not-be-overlooked

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williamis3 t1_jd3gmfd wrote

Mate, the LDP have been in power for Japan for 70 years. They’re all cut from the same cloth.

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Tokyogerman t1_jd4w1b6 wrote

The LDP has a lot of different factions with very different ideas. Japanese politics are not just decided by the party in charge, but in case of LDP also which faction of the party

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williamis3 t1_jd5wmj8 wrote

Japanese politics has been decided by one party for 70 years. Their factions range from far-right to conservative to moderate.

Wow. What a great choice a lot of people have.

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Tokyogerman t1_jd5xpmv wrote

You said, they are all the same, I said, there are a lot of different factions, which you just agreed on it seems as the far-right and the moderate are very far apart and Kishidas opponents in the "faction wars" last time were a far right Abe favorite and a guy with quite progressive views even, who I favored.

The discussion about vote choice is a quite different one from what you were claiming.

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Tokyogerman t1_jd4w2gs wrote

The LDP has a lot of different factions with very different ideas. Japanese politics are not just decided by the party in charge, but in case of LDP also which faction of the party

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turbo-unicorn t1_jd8n3e0 wrote

I suppose I should've prefaced it as "For a Japanese politician", and qualified is as "exceeded my exceptionally low expectations. Pretty much all of post 2000's major politicians have been ineffective at best, if not downright incompetent.

If people actually expect someone to be able to turn around the dumpster fire that is the Japanese economy in just a few years, they're highly delusional. Much of the fault lies with the mentality in companies. I believe some PMs actually raised this point, but companies either ignored it, or entrenched their positions. I suppose one thing they could do more is encourage startups, as many of those have been performing quite well, but still..

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[deleted] t1_jd49rb8 wrote

[deleted]

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LannerEarlGrey t1_jd685v5 wrote

He has: agrred to Improved relations, begin lifting trade restrictions placed by previous administrations, help increase military cooperation between Japan, South Korea, and the United States, including overseeing the first military drills held trilaterally with all three countries, and to share all military intelligence bilaterally with South Korea.

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Onlyherforare4son t1_jd6xidf wrote

Aren’t most if not all of these a result of Yoon pushing these things, not Kishida

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LannerEarlGrey t1_jd77bd5 wrote

Yoon had been pushing for it, yes; the agreements (as in, concrete steps having been taken) were announced bilaterally so I don't think that none of it was Kishida, especially as this happened extremely close to Kishida's announcement regarding Japan's defense budget. Either way, my original response will be edited to reflect this.

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turbo-unicorn t1_jd8o7vq wrote

That's correct, but it takes two to make an agreement, and much of the LDP's leadership is likely to pander to the uyokus. Consider that initially, Korea considered both Kono and Kishida as terrible options, in regards to their relationship, with Kishida being the worst option.

So yeah, I'm impressed that he managed to do so many positive things, given the expectation.

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skeeter04 t1_jd38p8j wrote

Japan also has plenty of open disputes with Russia - perhaps they sense blood in the water - so to speak...

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