India and Japan: News and Discussion

[SSridhar]

Are there any theories or explanations for such extreme brutality shown extensively by Japanese troops ?

Cyrano, I would put racism, the self-anointment of being the rulers over the rest (much like the idea of the Middle Kingdom), the population’s fierce loyalty to the Emperor, the long-standing militarism nurtured by the samurai, a great feeling of insecurity especially when surrounded by implacable Tsarist Russia and Imperial China, and a sense of betrayal as well as the looming presence by the Western nations in the 19th & early 20th centuries all contributed to this depraved and despicable behaviour.

[Cyrano]

Thanks SSridhar ji.
Which means Buddhist and Taoist philosophical underpinnings didn't prevent this depravity. Interesting.

[Amber G.]

Japanese foreign ministry conducted a domestic survey from March 16 to 20 on Japan’s diplomacy. On India, most backed strengthening of Economic ties

On China, 60% called on to take a strong stance on territorial issues.

[sanman]

Japan threatens to destroy any rockets/missiles that overfly its territory, after NKorea announces plans to launch first military spy satellite within 2 weeks:








Seems like NKorean regime was on death's door just a few years ago -- but now the Cold War seems to be back in full force, and has given them a new lease on life.

It feels like the more Japan & SKorea are tapped by Washington for pressure against Russia & China, then the more NKorea will be supported by China & Russia in carrying out provocations against Japan & SKorea.

This time it's a spy satellite - but what further mischief can NKorea make?

[sanman]

north korea satellite launch fails

[sanman]

Abe, late nationalist and friend of India, is now despised in his country, in the aftermath of his assassination

[sanman]

[sanman]

The ever vengeful spirit of Japan's nuclear bombing trauma returns:









Notice near the end how his dorsal spines now pop out like reactor control rods, before he unleashes his fearsome atomic breath

[Amber G.]

I am glad for programs like INSPIRE-MANAK, under which these students were selected through a competition, organized by the Department of Science & Technology. The DST has been successfully participating in this exchange program since 2015.

Under the Japan-Asia Youth Exchange (SAKURA) Science High School Program, a group of 55 students studying in classes X, XI, and XII will be visiting Japan for a week. During their visit, they will gain exposure to Japan's science and technology institutes, including meetings with Japanese Nobel laureates.

Picture Credit: DST, India.

[ricky_v]

7.4 magnitude earthquake off coast of japan, fears of tsunami 5m high





live tracking

[S_Madhukar]

Some coverage of new Indian immigration to Japan on NHK -


New Indian migrants to take care of horses in Hokkaido -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_3c7MS ... ORLD-JAPAN

A couple of NE girls in a traditional Japanese restaurant -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg6PRt6 ... ORLD-JAPAN

Learning Japanese online with a Japanese host -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPY4Joa ... ORLD-JAPAN

[sanman]

[sanman]

I found this Japanese professor's reply about India interesting (8:54)

https://youtu.be/cb2xC9jzx1g?t=534

[sanman]

Japan PM Kishida is suddenly stepping down!

I find this very noteworthy and bizarre.

Are America's allies in the east faltering? US was putting so much pressure on them to deliver aid & arms to Ukraine, and have Bank of Japan keep its interest rates down in spite of the negative effects on the value of the Yen currency, which helped spike inflation. As we know, Bank of Japan has now been forced to abandon that rate lowering policy.

[Suraj]

There doesn't seem to be anything remarkable behind Kishida's exit. Some swirling allegations around the Abe assassination, but mostly plain vanilla slush fund scandals implicating a bunch of his party people. Japan is also dealing with the Yen falling to record levels touching 160 to the dollar, before recovering a little after the BOJ rate hike. But they're still dealing with creeping inflation that's something an entire generation of people have not encountered. Some beloved food items costing a few yen more has been the stuff of national outcry.

[sanman]

There doesn't seem to be anything remarkable behind Kishida's exit. Some swirling allegations around the Abe assassination, but mostly plain vanilla slush fund scandals implicating a bunch of his party people. Japan is also dealing with the Yen falling to record levels touching 160 to the dollar, before recovering a little after the BOJ rate hike. But they're still dealing with creeping inflation that's something an entire generation of people have not encountered. Some beloved food items costing a few yen more has been the stuff of national outcry.

But it seems to me that Japan Yen went down because Japan was lowering interest rates and also apparently trying to resume its old role as the prime purchaser of US treasuries, in the wake of China's hard move towards de-dollarization.

IMHO, all of these things were occurring at the prodding of Washington - just like when Washington prods Germany to do things in regards to Ukraine.
Countries like Japan and Germany are subordinates always forced to toe America's line (even accepting their energy supply pipelines being blown up)

But of course an attempt to return to 1980s policies are not viable/sustainable, since Japan is no longer what it was in the 1980s. The world is not what it was in the 1980s.

Japan's attempt to lower rates has only boosted inflation in the country, which imports nearly everything.
It has of course led to immediate resumption of the famous Yen Carry Trade, whereby everybody tries to take out loans in Japanese Yen and then reinvest or park that money abroad, where they can reap much higher returns.

This has forced Japan to quickly pull back and raise its rates once more. I see a lot of US-based critics grumbling about this, claiming it's "counterproductive". Americans seem to be unhappy that Japan isn't holding the line. After all, they do need somebody to purchase US treasuries, especially in the face of gathering momentum for de-dollarization.

[sanman]

General Dushyant Singh briefly made a wry comment about how Five Eyes is now Six Eyes.

I was wondering who the 6th member would be - and then I came across this article from the beginning of the year

https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/privacyhu ... ecome-six/


It seems likely that Japan would be the new addition to Five Eyes.

[ricky_v]

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/india ... nger-ties/

India and Japan have just concluded their 2+2 ministerial dialogue. On the one hand, the talks demonstrated significant progress in the relationship over the past few years—a positive trend from Australia’s point of view. On the other, it is difficult to avoid the sense that most of the accomplishments were the low-hanging fruit in the relationship, and progress in further deepening ties would require significant political investment on both sides, which is not yet visible.

Nevertheless, the joint statement listed an impressive set of achievements. These included Japanese participation in bilateral and multilateral air exercises hosted by the Indian Air Force, and bilateral military exercises by all three services in 2023—the first time this has happened in a single calendar year.

In addition, there has been a steady drumbeat of dialogues on issues including disarmament and non-proliferation; cyber security and counterterrorism. A particular emphasis for both countries is the UN Security Council reform. Even though this still seems a somewhat distant ambition, both sides continue to discuss pathways forward in promoting such reforms.

As well as security cooperation, India is clearly interested in technology transfers from Japan—an area that New Delhi has been keen to develop with other strategic partners, especially those with access to high-end technology such as its Quad partners, the United States, Japan and Australia.

Moreover, it is unclear how much progress was made in previous efforts. For example, India and Japan collaborated in a joint research project on unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) robotics—though it seems possible this did not lead to the development of any actual vehicles. The collaboration was revealed by the first 2+2 ministerial dialogue in 2019 and mentioned again in 2020 by the Japanese Ministry of Defense as an example of defence equipment and technology co-operation with partner countries. The initiative was quite forward-looking, considering the development of such UGVs in the context of the Ukraine war.

The latest joint statement says the project is complete, but what this means is unclear. Japan has contracted for three THeMIS UGVs from Estonian firm Milrem Robotics, which suggests that the India-Japan research project has not produced any UGVs. The two countries did announce transfer of the unified complex radio antenna (UNICORN) and related technologies, communication gear that are deployed on Japanese stealth warships.

[SRajesh]

https://www.deccanherald.com/world/who- ... ba-3209556
Ishiba to be next PM
Seems to be quite outspoken about US
Wants a Asain NATO (wonder if its against China??)
What does it portend for the India-Japan relations and wider QUAD impact!!
Looks like a guy how is not afraid to speak his mind

[Suraj]

Leaders who speak their mind are not typically noted for long political longevity in Japan.

[drnayar]

https://www.deccanherald.com/world/who- ... ba-3209556
Ishiba to be next PM
Seems to be quite outspoken about US
Wants a Asain NATO (wonder if its against China??)
What does it portend for the India-Japan relations and wider QUAD impact!!
Looks like a guy how is not afraid to speak his mind

its not unlikely that once China digests Taiwan, Japan would be next !!

[sanman]

https://www.deccanherald.com/world/who- ... ba-3209556
Ishiba to be next PM
Seems to be quite outspoken about US
Wants a Asain NATO (wonder if its against China??)
What does it portend for the India-Japan relations and wider QUAD impact!!
Looks like a guy how is not afraid to speak his mind

I repeat -- what happened to the 2 previous posts I made in response to this post?
Did I say something wrong?

Anyway, here's more about Ishiba and his noteworthy new ideas:



Forces of multi-polarity?

[sanman]

[SRajesh]

Sanmanji
I am a Zimple Foooram member aa!!
I have nooo power aa!!

[sanman]

[SRajesh]

Ishiba's party set to loose majority in snap polls. LDP and the ruling coalition to fall short as per predictions (worst preformance of LDP since 2015).
Is Ishiba paying for being too much of a loud mouth??
And probably all the talk of Asian NATO will vanish now