India and Japan: News and Discussion

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 May 2014 12:28

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe follows only three people on Twitter: his outspoken wife, a scandal-tainted politician and India’s prime minister-in-waiting Narendra Modi.

Modi and Abe are two assertive nationalists who came to power on platforms pledging economic revival. They share a keen interest in neighbor China’s growing regional ambitions.

Mutually appreciative messages have pinged back and forth on the online service since Modi won a landslide victory in India’s general election on Friday.

“Personally, I have a wonderful experience of working with Japan . . . I am sure we will take India-Japan ties to newer heights,” Modi said in one of several tweets, the most effusive of his replies to foreign leaders who congratulated him.

Abe replied cheerfully on Tuesday from his @abeshinzo account: “@narendramodi Great talking to you, Mr. Modi. I look forward to welcoming you in Tokyo and further deepening our friendly ties.”

Relations between India and Japan have gone from strength to strength in recent years, with cooperation on infrastructure projects, trade and defense that is watched closely by China.

Japan ranks 13th among India’s top trading partners.

Official data showed trade between the countries was worth $18.5 billion in 2012/13, up from $13.7 billion two years earlier. But it is still far behind China, with which India shared $65.8 billion in trade in 2012/13.

During a January visit to New Delhi in which India and Japan agreed to crank up maritime security cooperation, Abe said their ties had “the greatest potential of any bilateral relationship anywhere in the world.”

Advisers to 63-year-old Modi say growth is likely to accelerate after he is sworn in as prime minister on Monday.

Relations between the leaders go back at least seven years.

As chief minister of the western state of Gujarat, Modi met Abe when he visited Japan in 2007 and in 2012 — when the Japanese leader was in opposition. Later that year, Modi called Abe to congratulate him on his return to office.

“Modi’s victory is likely to turn Indo-Japanese ties — Asia’s fastest-developing bilateral relationship — into the main driver of India’s ‘Look East’ strategy,” Indian security analyst Brahma Chellaney wrote in a newspaper column this week.

Other than Modi, Abe follows his wife, Akie Abe, and Naoki Inose on Twitter.

Inose is an author-turned-politician who was forced to resign as governor of Tokyo last year after being caught up in a financial scandal just three months after he helped his city win a bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 23 May 2014 19:51

Be a bit cautious about Shinzo Abe. He is a pukka Roman Catholic with trying allegiance to Vatican. Vatican views him as a potential revivalist for western religious thought in Japan.
Combined with his free market philosophies any western dislike of him is just an eyewash.

vivek.rao · Post by **vivek.rao** » 23 May 2014 20:45

^^ http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinzo_Abe

Born 21 September 1954 (age 59)
Nagato, Japan
Political party Liberal Democratic Party
Spouse(s) Akie Matsuzaki
Alma mater Seikei University
University of Southern California
Religion Shinto[1]

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 23 May 2014 21:32

Akie Abe in 2007
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Japan
Incumbent
Assumed office
26 December 2012
Monarch Akihito
Prime Minister Shinzō Abe
Preceded by Hitomi Noda
In office
26 September 2006 – 26 September 2007
Monarch Akihito
Prime Minister Shinzō Abe
Preceded by Chieko Mori
Succeeded by Kiyoko Fukuda
Personal details
Born 松崎昭恵 (Matsuzaki Akie?)
June 10, 1962 (age 51)
Tokyo, Japan
Political party Liberal Democratic Party
Spouse(s) Shinzō Abe
Relations Akio Matsuzaki and Emiko Matsuzaki
Children None
Residence Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi
Alma mater Sacred Heart Professional Training College
Occupation Housewife / radio disc jockey
Religion Roman Catholicism

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 23 May 2014 22:35

Jarita, source ?

member_19686 · Post by **member_19686** » 23 May 2014 22:45

Jarita wrote:Be a bit cautious about Shinzo Abe. He is a pukka Roman Catholic with trying allegiance to Vatican. Vatican views him as a potential revivalist for western religious thought in Japan.
Combined with his free market philosophies any western dislike of him is just an eyewash.

Nonsense.

It is precisely because Abe is a staunch Shintoist that the Western media dislike him.

Do you follow what the leftist media in Japan say about him or domestic politics in Japan?

Here are a few actual facts for you:

Abe is the chairman of the Shinto Political Alliance Diet Member’s Roundtable (Shinto seiji renmei kokkai giin kondankai) which is e Diet arm of the Shinto Political Alliance (Shinto seiji renmei, or Shinseiren) & Sosei Nippon.

When he visited Ise Jingu along with his wife & other LDP politicians privately for the Shikinen Sengu, the leftist Asahi had an article about how "secularism" was in danger & quoted some Christian Japanese joker about it.

In an attempt to ward off criticism over the Ise visit, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at an Oct. 2 news conference: "Abe will attend as a private individual. Because it is from a personal standpoint, the visit does not violate the principle separating politics from religion, which prohibits the central government from becoming involved in religious activity."

However, others were quick to criticize Abe's presence at the ceremony.

Muneo Bannai, 79, who heads a committee within the National Christian Council in Japan that studies issues related to Yasukuni Shrine, said: "It is an act that violates the principle of separation of religion and politics that is defined in the Constitution. We are taking this matter very seriously."

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_new ... 1310030060

He has also visited Yasukuni Jinja in defiance of US pressure.

When leftists proposed a "secular" war memorial, it was the supposedly "Roman Catholic" Abe who shot down their proposal.

Yasukuni: Prime Minister Abe is surely aware that moderates within his own LDP have long-argued for construction of a secular, national monument to Japan’s war-dead, where Japanese and foreigners alike could pay their respects. Abe has consistently opposed the effort. There is an alternative to Yasukuni; Abe has helped block it.

http://www.dispatchjapan.com/blog/kono-statement/

Going by wikipedia, even Taro Aso (Abe's associate & ex-PM) is listed a "Catholic" but anyone who knows Aso knows that he is unlikely to be a practitioner going by his visits to Ise & derision of Biblical religions in the media.

You remind me of Rahul Mehta according to him everyone except himself is controlled by MNC's & missionaries.

member_19686 · Post by **member_19686** » 23 May 2014 22:53

Narendra Modi & Shinzo Abe: What explains the Western loathing?

http://vajrin.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/ ... -loathing/

For the record, Abe Shinzo is a Shinto chauvinist, meaning that he not only publicly participates in Shinto rituals whilst in the dress of a public official, but he is leader or significant member of a number of political organizations aiming to promote a politico-social role for Shinto. Abe is the chairman of the Shinto Political Alliance Diet Member's Roundtable (Shinto seiji renmei kokkai giin kondankai), the Diet arm of the Shinto Political Alliance (Shinto seiji renmei, or Shinseiren - Link - J), an organization established in 1966 to combat, according to the organization's website, the spirit postwar materialism and the accelerating loss of memory of what is Japanese and what it means to be a Japanese.

Abe is also the chairman of Japan's Rebirth (Sosei Nippon), an organization recently featured here. Japan's Rebirth seeks a reawakening of the pride of the Japanese people in their history and culture, with a special focus of the Imperial House. Given the prominence of the thought of Yoshida Shoin in the organization's literature (Yoshida's spirit being, in Prime Minister Abe's life, a focus of special reverence) and given the special mention in the group's guiding principles to a fight against permanent residents receiving the right to vote in local elections (Abe and I, a holder of permanent residence, are in complete agreement as regards the idiocy of such proposals) Sosei Nippon should be seen as a rinsed and limp version of the 19th century's sonno joi ("Revere the Emperor/Expel the Barbarian") movement. As such, Shinto, particularly a version of State Shinto, is definitely in the Japan's Rebirth tool set.

http://shisaku.blogspot.ca/2014/01/hes- ... hinto.html

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 23 May 2014 22:58

Surasena wrote:Nonsense.

It is precisely because Abe is a staunch Shintoist that the Western media dislike him.

In Japan one can declare oneself a staunch Shintoist as well as a practicing Buddhist/Christian/Whatever. They aren't mutually exclusive. What it means is that the latter run within the context of the former. The 'shadbalas' (sthaanabala, etc.) are Japanese, and those factors determine how whatever religion is practiced. Its the same concept with Hindutva - that the 'shadbalas' are kept Indocentric. So it is plausible that Abe might also be a practicing Catholic in addition to being Shinto (though I have no idea of the facts here - just making a theoretical point)! Western agendas may be crying foul when they see Abe 'digesting' their nonsense and thereby inoculating the Japanese against falling under their political sway.

member_19686 · Post by **member_19686** » 23 May 2014 23:10

Agnimitra wrote: In Japan one can declare oneself a staunch Shintoist as well as a practicing Buddhist/Christian/Whatever. They aren't mutually exclusive. What it means is that the latter run within the context of the former. The 'shadbalas' (sthaanabala, etc.) are Japanese, and those factors determine how whatever religion is practiced. Its the same concept with Hindutva - that the 'shadbalas' are kept Indocentric. So it is plausible that Abe might also be a practicing Catholic in addition to being Shinto (though I have no idea of the facts here - just making a theoretical point)!

Japan has a long history of being against Christianity.

Yes individual politicians may be born into Christian families or practice some version of it but Japanese nationalist thought in general is opposed to Christianity because they see it as being incompatible with being Japanese due to its intolerance.

The opposition has varied with the threat level, for the 260 years of the Shogunate, being a Christian could get you the death penalty. Starting with the Meiji era, Japan had to reopen (country was closed in the first place due to the Christian threat) because of Western pressure & Xtians tried to convert Japan but were blocked at the street level due to local opposition and state Shinto. During the WW2 war years, Japanese Xtians were seen as a fifth column and persecuted by the gov't. In post war Japan, MacArthur thought he could Christianize the country & the Americans made efforts towards it using taxpayer money (just as they did in Korea with success) but that proved unsuccessful. As currently PRC is seen as the main threat & Xtianity not so much, the focus is on the former.

One of the most important texts in Japanese nationalist thought is Shinron written by Aizawa Seishisai in 1825, & he considered Christianity as the biggest threat to Japan not Western armed might. He reiterated again & again that Christianity must be nipped in the bud and prevented from growing. He characterized Islam as being similar to Christianity in nature and thus a danger.

How Japan dealt with the Christian Threat

http://vajrin.wordpress.com/2014/04/18/ ... an-threat/

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 23 May 2014 23:48

Surasena ji, yes I'm aware of the above. Therefore, having recognized that the Christianist thought-virus is more dangerous than Western military might, the best solution is to "vaccinate" the Japanese society against it. That inoculation must include the virus itself - in a controlled quantity administered with a controlling contextual medium (Shintoism in this case). This way the half-truth on which the deracinating thought-virus operates is subsumed, and the deracination is prevented - or looped back in full circle.

OTOH, an "anti-venom" formulated to fight against such foreign and malignant thought-viruses is only a stop-gap measure for immediate short-term protection and relief. The longer-term solution is inoculation. The inoculation formula has to be got right.

Thus, an overall strategy would be:
1. Make sure the Dharmic "immune system" is spiritually vigorous and creative throughout the body politic. That means ensuring healthy, unblocked flows of sanskaras, knowledge, skills, privileges, wealth and even genetics within the society.
2. Always have a strong "anti-venom" to different foreign thought-viruses on hand, in the event of aggressive proselytism to vulnerable sections.
3. Creatively engage with and formulate an "inoculation" for all existing foreign thought-viruses and their constantly mutating forms aimed at deracinating one from a Dharmic system. [If used successfully, this inoculating medium could even transform a half-true thought-virus into a useful sort of "growth hormone" for better ideas, and a "mercy" of sorts. All "kripa" is the product of one's own half-truths being subsumed by a Guru and converted into an opportunity for growth.]

Doing these 3 constantly is what creates keeps Dharma alive - by changing itself to respond to the changing illusions around it, and thereby maintain its underlying essence unmolested.

I was saying that - just as several Indic Gurus have done this down the ages, there might be a similar inoculation formula in Japan (though I have no idea whether Abe has anything to do with it).

It would be interesting to think what factors made a section of Korea succumb to Christianism so much more easily than Japan.

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 24 May 2014 01:28

Rahul M wrote:Jarita, source ?

Yes a person in Japan can be Shinto and Catholic. Also do read about the Tokogawa Shogunate

Wiki and elsewhere

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akie_Abe

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001297851

Influence in Japanese cabinet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar%C5%8D_As%C5%8D

http://www.us-japan.org/dc/pdf/2012/120 ... nJapan.pdf

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 24 May 2014 01:31

Surasena - take a chill pill. I know that one has shattered your illusions about Shinzo. Drink some hot sake.

member_19686 · Post by **member_19686** » 24 May 2014 03:14

Meet Pope = Catholic.

While you were busy getting such astounding "sources" I actually posted about his policies and advocacy.

I don't drink, perhaps you should lay off the bottle before making posts.

How do we know Jarita is in fact not a pukka Catholic himself/herself?

See how this game can be played.

I already mentioned that Aso was born into a Catholic family. Here is "devout" Catholic Aso:

World religions can learn from Japan: PM

TOKYO (AFP) — Prime Minister Taro Aso said Thursday some of the world’s major religions could learn from Japan’s work ethic.

The conservative leader, who is known for his controversial remarks, told a parliamentary committee that Japan’s belief in hard work contrasted with that of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

“Our values in Japan regard hard work as important,” Aso said during a discussion on the global economic crisis.

“To work is good. It’s completely different thinking from the Old Testament,” Aso said.

Aso, who is a Catholic, was apparently referring to the Bible’s description of work as God’s punishment of Adam for disobeying his commands in the Garden of Eden.

He made a similar argument in a speech on December 7 in southern Japan, according to the Nikkei newspaper.

“In the Old Testament, God gave Adam punishment: labour. The Old Testament, Christianity, Islam — if you add them up, what percent of the world is that? About 70 percent of religions hold a philosophy that work is a punishment.”

https://catholicinjapan.wordpress.com/t ... -catholic/

And no a person certainly can't be Catholic & anything else at the same time, certainly not according to basic Catholic teachings.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 24 May 2014 03:41

Even better. Aso was born into Catholicism and was a revert to Shinto roots. Showing the way.

member_19686 · Post by **member_19686** » 24 May 2014 04:37

Here is "pukka" Catholic Shinzo Abe:

Abe & Aso:

Secularization, Deprivatization, and the Reappearance of ‘Public Religion’ in Japanese Society by Mark R. Mullins

http://teroauvinen.files.wordpress.com/ ... 1n1_s5.pdf

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 24 May 2014 04:44

Hic! whatever
If only everything was so straightforward. Please talk to some Japanese folks to get a perspective.
I will not comment on this anymore. Pigs etc

member_19686 · Post by **member_19686** » 24 May 2014 04:51

Jarita wrote:Hic! whatever
If only everything was so straightforward. Please talk to some Japanese folks to get a perspective.
I will not comment on this anymore. Pigs etc

I do, do you?

When you have nothing to back up your nonsense, resort to some conspiracy theory that only you know of.

The bold part must be in reference to yourself I presume.

Perhaps BR should have a conspiracy thread so that the rest of us can get on with real documented info while the conspiracy mongers can uncover how everyone except themselves are controlled by MNC's and missionaries.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 24 May 2014 06:12

Jarita wrote:
Rahul M wrote:Jarita, source ?
Yes a person in Japan can be Shinto and Catholic. Also do read about the Tokogawa Shogunate

Wiki and elsewhere

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akie_Abe

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001297851

Influence in Japanese cabinet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar%C5%8D_As%C5%8D

http://www.us-japan.org/dc/pdf/2012/120 ... nJapan.pdf

thanks, I can search wiki by myself well enough.

you said something about abe being pope's white hope. source for that plz.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 24 May 2014 06:48

Yuriko Koike, Japan's former defense minister and national security adviser, was Chairwoman of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party's General Council and currently is a member of the National Diet.
MAY 23, 2014
Tipping Points to Asia’s Future

Yuriko Koike, project-syndicate.org

TOKYO – A week, it is said, is a long time in politics. But events in Asia over the past week may define the region for decades to come.

Thailand, one of Asia’s most prosperous countries, seems determined to render itself a basket case. A military coup, imposed following the Thai constitutional court’s ouster of an elected government on spurious legal grounds, can lead only to an artificial peace. Unless Thailand’s military is prepared to serve as a truly honest broker between deposed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (and her supporters) and the anti-democratic Bangkok elite, which has sought a right to permanent minority rule, today’s calm may give way to a new and more dangerous storm.

To Thailand’s east, Vietnam is the latest Asian country to feel pinched by China’s policy of creating facts on the ground, or in this case at sea, to enhance its sovereignty claims on disputed territory. Vietnam’s government reacted vigorously to China’s placement of a huge, exploratory oilrig near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. Ordinary Vietnamese, taking matters into their own hands, reacted even more vigorously, by rioting and targeting Chinese industrial investments for attack.

China’s unilateral behavior has exposed a strain of virulent anti-Chinese sentiment bubbling beneath the surface in many Asian countries. Renewed protests over China’s mining investments in Myanmar this week confirmed this trend, one that China’s leaders seem either to dismiss as trivial, or to regard as somehow unrelated to their bullying. Indeed, like Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces widespread public antipathy in Ukraine, China’s leaders appear to believe that popular protests against them can only be the product of an American plot.

Yet, despite their shared contempt for expressions of the popular will, China’s President Xi Jinping and Putin struggled, during Putin’s two-day visit to Shanghai, to agree on a new gas deal that the Kremlin desperately needs. Putin had viewed China as his backup option should the West seek to isolate Russia following its annexation of Crimea. Putin’s idea was that he could pivot Russia’s economy into a partnership with China.

But Xi balked, signing the gas agreement only after Putin offered a steep, long-term discount. Xi’s self-confidence reflected not only the Chinese leadership’s contempt for Putin’s mismanagement of the Russian economy, but also the fact that China’s energy worries have lessened considerably of late. Successful deployment of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) technology in Xinjiang suggests that China, like America, will soon be able to draw on its own reserves of shale energy. Moreover, plentiful gas supplies from Myanmar and Central Asia will provide China with sufficient supplies of energy for at least a decade.

China’s hard bargaining with Russia has exposed the limits of the two countries’ bilateral cooperation, which has important geo-strategic consequences for Asia and the world. China, it now seems, is happy to see Putin poke his finger in the West’s eye and challenge America’s global leadership. But it is not willing to underwrite with hard cash Russian pretensions to world power status. Instead, China appears interested in turning Russia into the sort of vassal state that Putin is seeking to create in Ukraine.

But the most epochal events of the last week took place in two of Asia’s great democracies: India and Japan. Narendra Modi’s landslide victory in India’s general election was not only a huge personal triumph for the son of a tea seller, but may well mark a decisive break with India’s traditional inward-looking policies. Modi is determined to reform India’s economy and lead the country into the front rank of world powers.

Here, Modi will find no stauncher ally than Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was among the first Asian leaders to embrace him in his bid to lead India. Given that both countries have almost perfectly aligned regional security interests, there should be plenty of scope for the two to act in tandem to improve regional security and mutual prosperity. Thailand’s crisis might well mark a good early test of their ability to work together, because both countries have strong interests in Thailand’s rapid return to democracy and the credibility needed to act as an honest broker in ending the country’s crisis.

In the past week, Abe created for himself considerably more political space to act as a strategic partner, not only to India, but also to Japan’s other allies, particularly the United States. Quietly, a panel appointed by Abe’s government this week offered a reinterpretation of a key element of Article 9 of Japan’s constitution. For the first time since the Pacific War’s end in 1945, Japan’s Self-Defense Forces would be able to participate in “collective self-defense” – meaning that Japan could come to the aid of its allies should they come under attack.

Of course, China and others in Asia have tried to muddy this change with the alarmist charge of a return to Japanese militarism. But the new interpretation of Article 9 augurs just the opposite: it embeds Japan’s military within an alliance system that has been, and will remain, the backbone of Asia’s prevailing structure of peace. Abe will make this clear when he delivers the keynote address in Singapore at this year’s Shangri La Dialogue, the annual meeting of Asian military and civilian military leaders.

Modi’s victory and Abe’s increased ability to stand by Japan’s allies can help to forge deeper bilateral ties and, if properly understood by China, foster a greater strategic equilibrium in the region. It is now possible for Asia’s greatest powers – China, India, Japan, and the US – to form something akin to the concert system that gave Europe a century of almost complete peace in the nineteenth century.

Of course, such a system would require China to set aside its goal of regional hegemony. Clear-sighted Chinese must already see that, short of a victorious war, such dominance is impossible. Now is the moment for China to anchor its rise within a stable and mutually acceptable Asian regional order. Indeed, for China, this may be the ultimate tipping point in its modernization.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 24 May 2014 17:35

Chennai, Andhra come under Japanese investors' radar - The Hindu

Of late, Japanese business establishments prefer to set up their units in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh due to various factors, including logistics support.

This is evident from the investment figures made available for the period October 2012-October 2013 with Tamil Nadu leading the pack with 179 business establishments followed by Andhra Pradesh (141), Maharashtra (120), Karnataka (71) and Delhi/Haryana (46). However, in the year-ago period, about 58 firms have been established each in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi/Haryana.

Talking to The Hindu , Director General of Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Chennai, Hidehiro Ishiura, said: “With the recent entry of insurance and logistics firms, a large number of Japanese firms have expanded their business base in different parts of India in the last one year. The number of firms located in Tamil Nadu has gone up from 344 to 523. This is due to the formation of insurance firms. But, if we exclude the insurance firms, then the numbers in Tamil Nadu would be close to 400.”

According to him, there has been a 41 per cent increase in business establishments operating in India. It now stands at 2,542 marking an increase of 738 over the corresponding period last year.

At the last count, Tamil Nadu ranks first with 523 firms, followed by Delhi/Haryana 500, Maharashtra 397, Karnataka 299 and Andhra Pradesh 229.

“Eighty-six firms are located in Hyderabad and 14 firms are operating from Sri City. The proximity to Chennai and Krishnarajapatnam Port makes it an attractive option. Japanese agencies are demanding inclusion of Nellore in the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor. It would help all the three growing regions,” said a port user.

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 25 May 2014 09:35

Rahul M wrote:
Jarita wrote:thanks, I can search wiki by myself well enough.

you said something about abe being pope's white hope. source for that plz.

That source is a Japanese buddhist pretty high up and working for Tibetan refugees. Nothing more

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 28 May 2014 04:26

Jarita: Please do not make assertions you cannot back up with quotable and credible online sources. Further, don't make it worse by personally attacking another person and namecalling. Please consider this an informal warning; continuing the same line of attack against Surasena will earn a warning. This debate is being conducted online; if you cannot provide online sources to back your position up, it is best not to make your assertion, because in comparison your assertion is based on alleged statements by unnamed sources, and is nothing more than a conspiracy theory.

K Mehta · Post by **K Mehta** » 28 May 2014 21:54

In the post-SAARC meeting press interaction with Foreign secy. At around 22:30 a journo asked

Given this initiative and given the fact that the prime minister has accepted the invitation of the SAARC leaders, would a SAARC country overtake Japan in hosting Mr Modi ?

To which the lady replied with a knowing sort of gleam in the eye and a smile on the face

Why dont we wait and see?

I believe it is almost confirmed that he will visit Japan first.
MEA briefing starting at the question
[youtube]http://youtu.be/EtBFvH28aFg?t=22m30s[/youtube]

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 30 May 2014 17:55

Just heard Abe at the Shangri La conference in Singapore. He said clearly that Japan and India have a strong strategic relationship and this will only grow further now. He said their navies, Coast Guard and SDF do exercise both in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and this has brought the two oceans together. He said he has already spoken to Modi and asked him to visit japan asap and he is waiting for that day. Japan & India together will bring stability in this region. Great words from Abe.

member_19686 · Post by **member_19686** » 30 May 2014 20:31

Kokka Woodblock Reproductions of Early Neo-Bengal School Paintings

— Satyasri Ukil

Kakuzo Okakura, in ‘The Ideals of the East’ (published by E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, 1903, p.1) says:

“Asia is one. The Himalayas divide, only to accentuate, two mighty civilisations, the Chinese with its communism of Confucius, and the Indian with its individualism of the Vedas. But not even the snowy barriers can interrupt for one moment that broad expanse of love for the Ultimate and Universal, which is the common thought-inheritance of every Asiatic race, enabling them to produce all the great religions of the world, and distinguishing them from those maritime peoples of the Mediterranean and the Baltic, who love to dwell on the Particular, and to search out the means, not the end, of life.”

More than hundred years ago, in 1901-02, an American disciple of Swami Vivekananda, Josephine MacLeod, brought Kakuzo Okakura to India. Okakura wanted to invite Vivekananda to Japan, who was already renowned in the world after his speech on Hinduism at Chicago in 1893. However, as Vivekananda passed away untimely at the age of only thirty-nine in July 1902, Okakura came more in contact with the Tagores of Jorasanko while his stay in India, and thus began our cultural relationship with modern Japan, which left a lasting impression on twentieth century Indian art and aesthetics...

http://www.chitralekha.org/articles/aba ... -paintings

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 12 Jun 2014 21:16

When PM Modi goes to Japan, the Soryus should be on his list:

"Japanese and Australian defence scientists will work together on a crucial area of submarine design to ensure the navy’s new boats are the world’s quietest and stealthiest.

An announcement in Japan by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Defence Minister David Johnston and their Japanese counterparts, Fumio Kishida and Itsunori Onodera, is the first public confirmation that the two nations will share sophisticated research and technology.

While there has been speculation that Australia might seek Japanese help with its plan to design and build a fleet of new submarines, negotiations have been kept largely under wraps.

Japan’s Soryu-class submarines are the world’s biggest and probably best diesel-electric subs, and Senator Johnston will tour one today.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nationa ... 6952498528#

member_23370 · Post by **member_23370** » 12 Jun 2014 21:43

Has anyone in IN ever shown interest in Soryu? They are excellent if you don't ever intent to use nuke subs and are stuck with diesel electric subs. They have no VLS tubes and will require extensive modification to fit them. Their speed is slow compared to most nuke subs. They cannot fire Brahmos or Klub missiles and need a crew twice the size of Scorpene and larger than Kilos. I would rather churn out the Arihant follow on and more scorpenes with Indian AIP. The only advantage I see is in size since it can carry 30 torps instead of 18 for scorpene. But hopefully Indian scorpenes will be able to fire Nirbhay later.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 17 Jun 2014 06:16

Japan, India near carbon offset deal - Reuters

Japan plans to agree a carbon offset deal with India, Japanese media reported, citing unnamed government sources, potentially making the south Asian country the largest economy yet to sign up to cut greenhouse gas emissions under a Japanese scheme.

The two are expected to announce plans to accelerate negotiations over Japan's bilateral carbon offset mechanism when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Tokyo in early July for annual talks, the Nikkei news agency reported on Monday.

A deal would allow Japanese companies to install carbon-cutting technology in India and in return receive carbon credits under the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) that can be used to offset their own carbon footprint under the country's emissions target or be sold to the Japanese government.

Japan has already signed bilateral agreements with 11 countries including Costa Rica, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya and Mongolia, effectively allowing Japan to outsource its emissions cuts to countries where reducing greenhouse gases is cheaper.

Japan has been increasingly relying on fossil fuels to generate electricity after idling all 48 of its nuclear plants in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and has found it hard to rein in its carbon emissions.

As a result, Tokyo last year watered down its 2020 emissions target, saying it would allow its greenhouse gas output to grow 3 percent from 1990 levels by the end of the decade, instead of cutting them by a quarter during that period.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 20 Jun 2014 10:36

Japan disappointed as Modi postpones visit - Suhasini Haider, The Hindu

In another example of his “direct letter diplomacy”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday to express his regret over having to put off his visit scheduled for July 3 to 5 due to the budget session.

In the letter, that was handed over personally by Indian Ambassador to Japan, Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, Mr. Modi spoke of India and Japan’s “shared interests” as two “Asian democracies” and looked forward to visit Japan at the “earliest opportunity”.

The postponement of Mr. Modi’s visit was one of two disappointments to the government’s plans for a big splash in Japan. The India-U.S.-Japan trilateral meeting, that had been scheduled for June 23-24 was also postponed until further notice because of last-minute scheduling issues with the Japanese delegation.

Preparations under way

Sources in Japan say discussions on preparations for Mr. Modi’s visit to Tokyo, as well as Kyoto were already under way, and Ms. Wadhwa was expected in Delhi for consultations ahead of the visit this weekend.

The decision of Mr. Modi to call off a visit that requires considerable arrangements, given Japanese penchant for meticulous attention to detail, has been received with some disappointment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in Tokyo.

The decision also contrasts with Mr. Abe’s decision in a similar situation in January this year, when he visited India as the chief guest for the Republic Day parade. At that time the Japanese Diet (Parliament) was about to start its annual budget session (on January 24), and Mr. Abe had to take an all-party consensus in order to excuse himself from the first few days of the session. As a result, his visit to Delhi was very short, and could only be confirmed at the last minute, but he ensured that he kept his Delhi commitment, an aide of Mr. Abe told The Hindu at the time, “It was because the majority was in favour of him visiting India.”

However, the government has decided that it would not be possible for Mr. Modi to return the gesture ahead of India’s Budget session. However, sources said, the Prime Minister’s Office is hopeful of rescheduling the visit after the Parliament session in July.

Brazil visit

Mr. Modi’s visit to the BRICS summit in Brazil, is still on schedule for July 15-16. “The change of date cannot affect broader ties that the two countries and the two leaders share… As Modi and Abe will together announce a paradigm shift in India-Japan ties when the visit does take place,” said one of the team members working on advance arrangements.

On the anvil for discussion are a possible agreement on nuclear energy cooperation, India’s pitch for high-speed trains and infrastructural investment on industrial corridors.

Very disappointing indeed. Modi should have returned Abe's gesture by squeezing three days in his tight schedule somehow. That would have been wonderful, especially when Abe and his government are keen to host our PM.

Sumeet · Post by **Sumeet** » 20 Jun 2014 12:01

SSridhar I am posting this post of yours in Modi Govt policies and implementation thread with due credit to you.

ashish raval · Post by **ashish raval** » 20 Jun 2014 13:08

^^ to expedite Japanese investment and projects, India should have a special Japan desk under modi which can serve as single window of clearance. I think Japanese will appreciate these real actions more than visits and chai biscuit sessions. University research collaboration and knowledge transfer too. We should also have Japanese culture organisations set up in metro cities so that Indian people could learn more about the japanese art, language etc which helps in bilateral strengthening of relationships between nations. These artists serves as great ambassador between nations. I don't see any effort or enthusiasm from Indian people to reach out and learn from others (I.e. how many people in India learn Japanese dance, art style, ceramic art etc or have even made an effort ?). While on the other hand you will see many people in both east and west learning about Indian dance forms, Indian style of art and even language. By learning good things from other cultures is both enlightening and changes your world view positively.

satya · Post by **satya** » 20 Jun 2014 14:25

Something is not right in newsstory of PM NaMoji not travelling to Japan due to 'budget session' . Japan visit was planned even before budget session dates were announced . Either there's a pressing 'security' situation that requires 'hands on' approach or budget being prepared in PMO with FM acting as 'mukhota' only .

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 20 Jun 2014 16:24

The unravelling of Iraq will has some impact where Indians are kidnapped and trapped, also an unexpected increase in the oil import bill will impact the budget. NAMO needs to be home right now to get the budget right. The Japs must understand this.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 20 Jun 2014 20:41

satya wrote:Something is not right in newsstory of PM NaMoji not travelling to Japan due to 'budget session' . Japan visit was planned even before budget session dates were announced . Either there's a pressing 'security' situation that requires 'hands on' approach or budget being prepared in PMO with FM acting as 'mukhota' only .

The fact that the budget session was not announced at the time the Tokyo visit was announced, makes it clearer why the PM postponed the trip. Domestic matters like the budget are more urgent than a foreign trip. Modi clearly intends to announce significant budget time initiatives, and therefore needs to be present in New Delhi. Further, the Iraq hostage crisis remains unresolved.

His regard for Abe is demonstrated by the fact that he wrote an explanation by hand, and had it hand delivered to the Japanese PM by the Ambassador in Tokyo.

member_23370 · Post by **member_23370** » 20 Jun 2014 21:07

Hopefully he will visit tokyo soon.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 Jun 2014 08:42

Japan asks Modi to clear policy hurdles for companies - Dilasha Seth, Economic Times

Japan, the fourth largest foreign investor in India, has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to clear policy hurdles faced by some of its companies and fast-tracking of a few projects that it is backing in the country.

Japanese ambassador to India Takeshi Yagi recently raised the matter in a letter to the prime minister, mentioning companies including Eisai Pharma, Mitsubishi, Honda and Toyota that faced some issues in India. The prime minister's office has asked the departments concerned to look into the matter, a government official said on the condition of anonymity, adding, "There are a number of policy related issues that have been raised.

Mainly they are to do with tax-related concerns. Views from various departments are being compiled to sort these out to the best ability, which will help improve the bilateral ties and investment."

Japan has also raised these issues separately with the ministries of finance and commerce. For instance, drugmaker Eisai Pharma, which has invested $50 million in India for a manufacturing unit in Vizag special economic zone or SEZ, has put its expansion plans on hold due to the minimum alternate tax announced in the 2011 budget.

The original scheme provided for a complete tax holiday to SEZs. The government had in 2011-12 budget imposed minimum alternate tax at 18.5% on the book profits of these developers and units located inside.

Such units were also levied a dividend distribution tax of 10%. Japan also raised the tax issues affecting its automakers Mitsubishi and Honda which are faced with a demand of $2 billion and $600 million respectively.

Toyota, on the other hand, has been facing labour unrest that hit production at its plant in Bidadi, about 30 km from Bangalore. The company had to hire 1,000 contract workers to restart production after its employees refused to return to work.

The Japanese ambassador had last month met the department of industrial policy and promotion secretary Amitabh Kant to discuss future course of investment plans in India's industrial corridors to begin with.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 03 Jul 2014 18:38

Japan to issue multiple entry short-term visa to Indians - ToI

Starting today, Japan will issue multiple entry visas for short-term stay to Indians.

This was announced by the Japanese embassy here today. The decision was taken following the announcement by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when he visited here this January that his ''government would introduce multiple entry visas based on the recognition that enhancement of people to people exchanges is important to further broaden relations between Japan and India," the embassy said.

The multiple entry visa will be issued not only at the Japanese diplomatic missions in India but also at all the Japanese embassies and consulate generals overseas in light of a large number of Indian nationals living outside India, it said in a release.

It is expected that this will help increase the number of Indian tourists to Japan and improve convenience in business activities, thus further developing bilateral exchanges between the two countries.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 05 Jul 2014 04:17

NASSCOM eyes Japanese market to expand - Business Line
Excerpt

Indian IT and IT-enabled services industry is setting its eyes on the Japanese market, the second biggest IT market after the US.

Heavily depended on the US and European markets for long, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) is now looking at the Japanese market that holds a lot of promise for the Indian industry.

“It is a very big IT market, second only to the US. But it comprises only two per cent of the total revenues of our total IT revenues. We have decided to focus on this market. We are going to build bridges to tap the opportunity there,” R Chandrashekhar, President of Nasscom, told Business Line.

The IT-ITeS industry generated revenues of $118 billion last year, with exports contributing $86 billion and domestic market $32 billion.

The industry generates more than 50 per cent of its revenue from the North American market followed by the European Union market.

Biz team to visit Tokyo

With the US and European markets facing challenges in the last few years, the industry has been planning to open up other global markets. In order to crack the new market in the Far East, the Nasscom will lead a high-level business delegation to Tokyo and other top cities in Japan to hold one-one-meetings with top firms there to explore opportunities.

“The Prime Minister is going there this month. And it will be followed by our delegation. We think it is the right time for both sides to explore markets in the two countries,” he said.

In association with Japan, the IT industry body launched Nasscom-Japan Council in April to focus on the interests of Japanese global in-house centres (GICs) based in India and address the challenges they faced.

India is a major GICs destination, with a share of 30 per cent of all new set-ups globally. The GIC exports are pegged at $17 billion by the end of 2014.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 11 Jul 2014 08:28

Japanese firms near crisis point as labor shortage deepens

Japan’s labour shortage is nearing crisis in some key industries as it spreads from construction to services, curbing companies’ operations, pushing up wages and potentially crimping a tentative recovery in the world’s third-largest economy.

Airlines, retailers, truckers and restaurant chains are being forced to rethink expansion plans and, in extreme cases, shut up shop because they cannot fill jobs at any wage.

Peach Aviation Ltd, a joint venture backed by Japan’s largest airline, ANA Holdings, said last month it would cancel more than 2,000 flights this year, 16 percent of its planned total. Budget carriers Jetstar Japan and Vanilla Air have also canceled hundreds of flights this summer, a government report on pilot shortages showed.

“There aren’t enough captains and training one takes time and money,” said Peach Aviation spokesman Hironori Sakagami.

“We wanted to increase the number of flights, but we had to delay that.”

Peach’s predicament underscores a broader problem facing the world’s fastest-aging country. Jolted out of two decades of deflation by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s reforms, many Japanese companies are struggling to secure workers due to minimal immigration, inflexible hiring laws and a working age population that is expected to shrink by 13 million people by 2030.

The problems facing companies in their bricks-and-mortar expansion come just as doubts arise about the prospect for business investment to drive the recovery. Machinery orders, a key gauge of plans for manufacturers’ capital spending suffered a record plunge in May, data showed Thursday, prompting the government to say the trend of rising orders was stalling.

“There’s a high risk of labor shortages causing a growth bottleneck particularly if the labor market remains rigid,” said Yasuo Yamamoto, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute. “More efforts are needed to enhance liquidity in the labor market to shift more workers to growth sectors while increasing the number of workers, including immigrants.”

Japan’s deepening labor shortage has led it into uncharted territory among its developed nation peers, but is little surprise given its rapidly aging and shrinking population. It has done itself few favors by so far resisting calls to open its doors wider to long-term immigration or dismantle strict employment laws.

A proposal floated among Abe’s advisers to increase the number of immigrants to 200,000 a year by 2050 was recently rejected. Instead, in his growth strategy unveiled in June, Abe expanded a foreign trainee scheme, which accounts for less than 0.3 percent of Japanese workers. He is also encouraging greater workforce participation by women and the elderly, but critics say these measures will never be enough.

Japanese employers were offering 109 jobs for every 100 job seekers in May, the 18th consecutive rise in the ratio, government data show. Job advertisements were up sharply in manufacturing and services.

Especially hard-hit are low-wage, low-margin firms that sprang to prominence during deflation, from discount furniture outlets like Nitori Holdings Co to restaurant chains like Sukiya, which serves cheap bowls of rice and beef.

Zensho Holdings Co, which operates Sukiya, last month apologized to shareholders for temporarily closing some 200 stores as the chain failed to secure workers ahead of spring when many seasonal workers quit.

Japanese-style pub chain Watami Co will close about 60 less-profitable locations, 10 percent of its total, this business year, partly because it can no longer afford enough part-timers.

The labor crunch began in construction, where demand for rebuilding after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami has combined with the start of preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. In May, there were eight times as many job offers for highly qualified workers putting together steel construction frames as there were workers.

“The lack of construction workers has pushed up the costs of new stores by 20 to 30 percent over the last year,” said Manabu Sasaki, investor relations officer at Komeri Co, a hardware and furniture chain that opened just 30 of its 40 planned stores last business year.

“We are trying to offset the hike in costs by modifying the design and the materials we use to build the stores.”

York Benimaru, a supermarket chain controlled by Japan’s largest retailer, Seven & I Holdings Co, and discount clothing chain Shimamura Co have been forced to open fewer stores than planned due to the higher construction costs.

Trucking is also feeling the crunch.

Because of a lack of drivers, Taiho Transportation, which operates about 400 trucks in the industrial heartland of Nagoya, had to keep one-tenth of its fleet idle during a spike in demand before April. A transport ministry survey released on Monday found 55 percent of trucking firms experiencing a labor shortage in the first quarter and 60 percent forecasting a squeeze.

“The shortage is so deep and the market so inflexible that whenever there’s a busier period the companies can’t keep up, causing delays in transport and putting a strain on businesses,” said Hiroaki Oshima, analyst at Nittsu Research Institute and Consulting based in Tokyo.

For a few companies, Japan’s labor shortage is more dire.

Ten companies failed in the first six months of the year because of the cost of higher wages, up from four during the same period last year, said Tokyo Shoko Research.

The credit research firm predicts such bankruptcies will continue to rise, citing construction, distribution and service industries as the most vulnerable.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 11 Jul 2014 13:12

Indians should explore this opportunity. Unlike Araps, there would be no jihad encouragement here or pressure to convert and so on.