Report

Shiga Governor Election Loss A Setback for Abe

posted by Richard Katz on July 14, 2014

Found in Japan, categorized in Politics

Tags: Japan Abe shiga LDP yasukuni nuclear

Report Cover

Headline

Abe’s push on Collective Defense turned the tide, as LDP Sec-Gen acknowledged

Abstract

LDP lost election it expected to win until a couple weeks ago: the governorship of Shiga Prefecture

Abe’s push on Collective Defense turned the tide, as LDP Sec-Gen acknowledged

The winner is also strongly anti-nuclear

Such defeats affect Abe’s clout within the LDP to get Diet backbenchers to go along with him on stances that are unpopular in their districts, including on “third arrow” issues like TPP

The Nuclear Regulation Authority is about to certify as safe two nuclear reactors in Fukui Prefecture, right next to Shiga

Shiga wants to right to have a say since some of its towns are within 30 kilometers (19 miles) of the reactors

Abe has tried to stay above the nuclear fray, but he may not be able to since some local leaders in Fukui want political cover from the national government

The majority of voters oppose the nuclear restarts, just as they oppose Abe on CSD

Meanwhile, Abe repudiated the statement an aide made to top Chinese leaders that Abe would not visit Yasukuni again

About Richard Katz

Richard Katz is Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics In International Affairs, the New York correspondent for Weekly Toyo Keizai, a leading Japanese business magazine, and formerly the editor of The Oriental Economist Report, a monthly newsletter on Japan.

Mr. Katz has taught about Japan’s economy as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the New York University Stern School of Business, and as a Visiting Lecturer in Economics at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook.

Mr. Katz is the author of two books on Japan's economic travails and has just finished a third book on reviving entrepreeurship in Japan.

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