Japan on The Huffington Post

Michael Moore To Japan: "Don't Be Like Us"

2009-12-03T15:35:51Z

TOKYO (Reuters) - Firebrand director Michael Moore is in Japan to promote his latest documentary on the global economic meltdown, which he says should resonate in a nation that has already seen the dark side of capitalism.

Edward Harrison: What About China's Exchange-Rate Protectionism?

2009-12-02T21:35:16Z

This article originally appeared on my site Credit Writedowns

As I indicated earlier today, I generally see protectionism not as a second-best argument like Paul Krugman, but as something to avoid entirely. Nevertheless, calls for more protectionism are being heard everywhere. Gregory Clark, an Australian Professor who is a vice president at Akita International University in Japan, has made the case for protectionism against China in the English-language Japan Times. He says:

It's time to start getting tough on Beijing...

Where China is at fault is in a very different area. It complains bitterly about Western, U.S. mainly, tariff/subsidy protectionism. But China itself indulges in a much worse kind of protectionism -- exchange rate protectionism. If China's currency is undervalued by around 20 percent, as many estimate, that is equal to a 20 percent tariff on all goods entering China, and a 20 percent subsidy for all exports. Tariff/subsidy protectionism in the West never gets as wild as this.

True, China is not entirely to blame. It has simply been taking advantage of an extraordinary lacuna in orthodox Western economic thinking -- the idea that tariff protectionism is evil but exchange rate protectionism can be ignored. We saw a good example at the recent APEC summit conference in Singapore. APEC repeated its ritual calls for free trade. It had almost nothing to say about the 800-pound elephant at the conference table -- the controls that Beijing uses to keep its currency consistently undervalued.

Orthodox Western economists are like the man who cannot walk and chew gum at the same time. They are obsessed about the way tariff protectionism raises costs to consumers. But handled well, tariffs are simply a tax on consumers to assist producers whose new or continued existence is crucial to the growth of the economy. There can easily be a net gain for the entire nation, including consumers. There can also be a net gain for the world economy if the strategic use of tariffs helps create vibrant economies able eventually to help expand world trade. Japan was but one example.

Exchange rate protectionism, by contrast, protects all import-competing industries, across the board, whether they deserve protection or not. True, it too can have net beneficial effects; quite a few Asian economies owe their growth to keeping their currencies undervalued for long periods. But the suffering of consumers is greater. And those economies gain at the expense of others. The distortion to world trade is far greater than that caused by tariff/subsidy protectionism.

History is part of the reason for this strange weakness in economic thinking. The 1930s Great Depression saw harmful beggar-thy-neighbor tariff policies as nations competed to protect domestic industries and employment. So the textbooks on which the current generation of economists were raised concentrated almost entirely on the evils of tariff protectionism. Meanwhile, the Cold War and other ideological factors made them favor anything tagged with the word "free" -- free trade, free markets, free enterprise, and allegedly freely fluctuating exchange rates despite the ease with which those rates can be manipulated or controlled.

Before I send you off to the rest of the article, I should clear up one thing; it is patently false that APEC said nothing about China's own exchange-rate protectionism. I wrote about it at the time. Read the article here.

In any event, you can see that not everyone is against protectionism. In fact, the argument that it is China which acted in a protectionist manner first makes sense. It has fixed its currency to a plummeting dollar and that makes the Yuan artificially weak to everyone else's detriment. This is one reason the Europeans are starting to make protectionist noises too.

I see a protectionist response in retaliation as a likely outcome unless China changes its tune -- not that I favour that outcome. We will soon know if protectionism works.

The rest of the article is at this link here.

Read more: Protectionism, China, Trade, Japan, Business News

New EU leader inspired by traditional Japanese haiku

2009-12-02T15:45:05Z

A ceramic frog dedicated to the Haiku poet Basho, at Basho Inari Shrine in Tokyo. Photo: Flickr user Maynard

Hsin-Yin Lee, a former associate producer at Worldfocus, is a news editor at the "China Times" in Taipei.

With all eyes on the Wall Street crisis and China’s rise, it’s rather refreshing to see the first EU president being elected — not to mention that he is also a haiku poet.

Herman Van Rompuy, the future head of the EU, is probably best known for his low profile. However, his passion for haiku has helped him build up a reputation in Japan.

Described as the “EU’s gentle leader” by the Japanese media, Van Rompuy’s charisma seems to lie in both his discreet political philosophy and his pleasant personality. In his personal blog, Van Rompuy played a little joke with himself by writing about his baldness:

“Hair blows in the wind / After years there is still wind / Sadly no more hair.”

Not as welcoming as the Japanese media, the Europeans are more critical about Van Rompuy’s leadership. The Independent, ridiculed him in an article “Meet Haiku Herman, Will Europe make him a very famous Belgian?”

The newspaper also held a friendly competition on Brussels-themed haiku. Although the satire is truly funny, somehow I felt that people have a misconception of haiku and take it as doggerel or merely as a practice of broken grammar. Look at the works by the Independent staff and you might agree with me:

“He writes poems! / That should cheer dull hours / Of talks on iron ore tariffs.”

“Vintage wine at lunch: / Expensed. At least it’s not / American, you claim.”

To better understand Van Rompuy, I’d suggest that we begin with haiku — the traditional wisdom of Japan. Consisting of 5/7/5 syllables respectively in three metrical phrases, each haiku attempts to reveal a moment of insight.

Such a moment was best illustrated in a famous haiku written by the 17th-century poet Matsuo Basho:

“Old pond / A frog leaps in / Water’s sound.”

(Original: 古池や furuike ya / 蛙飛込む kawazu tobikomu / 水の音 mizu no oto)

This haiku was carefully created so as to lead to a splash that sets off ripples of thought for the reader. In addition, you can probably feel the late-summer nostalgia here–which is why each haiku contains a kigo, or seasonal reference, to touch off the seasonal miracle of mother nature. In the case of Basho’s haiku, the kigo is “frog”.

What haiku shares with people, in my opinion, is appreciation of the present. Unlike the Christian tradition of questioning our lives “out there,” haiku focuses on “just this” — just this moment, no more nor less. In times of turmoil, it might help people slow down, take a deep breath and start out once again.

While some haiku followers try to engage the material life as little as possible, others argue that a true haiku mind is oriented to the world and people must learn how to work in harmony. Now, does it sound more like an idea the world leaders can apply in the Copenhagen Summit?

Whether Van Rompuy can borrow haiku’s wisdom in political affairs remains unclear. Perhaps not surprisingly, he had already made a first step. At a press conference in October, Van Rompuy read one of his haiku works that explained how Belgium, Spain and Hungary will cooperate on EU policy issues in 2010:

“Three waves, / Roll into port together, / The trio is home.”

Hsin-Yin Lee, a former associate producer at Worldfocus, writes about the new EU leader’s hobby. With the international community focused on the Wall Street crisis and China’s rise, Lee blogs that it’s refreshing to know that the first EU president is a haiku poet.
http://worldfocus.org/files/2009/12/th_belgium_rompuy.jpg

Yukio Hatoyama, Japan's New Leader, To Face Donations Inquiry

2009-12-02T11:22:12Z

TOKYO -- Tokyo prosecutors will ask Japan's prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, for a written explanation of his role in millions of dollars of improperly reported political donations, major Japanese newspapers reported on Wednesday, expanding a scandal that has dogged his fledgling government.

Toyota SAI Hybrid Pre-Orders 5 Times Higher Than Expected

2009-12-01T05:45:20Z

According to Toyota, the company has received around 14,000 pre-orders for their new SAI hybrid sedan that is scheduled to go on sale in Japan early next month. Toyota did not anticipate a sales volume of this magnitude. According to the company, they had set a sales target of only 3,000 units per month, but pre-orders are nearly five times...

Read more: Japan, Home News

Nail Queen 2009 Awards Held In Tokyo (PHOTOS)

2009-11-30T15:37:54Z

And now, the pageant you've been waiting for all year! The Nail Queen 2009 Awards Ceremony took place on Monday at the Tokyo Nail Expo. The annual event attracts 50,000 visitors.

See some of the Nail Queen contests below and vote for your favorite!

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Toyota Considering Reviving MR2 Hybrid to Compete With Honda CR-Z

2009-11-28T06:30:17Z

Though Toyota has not confirmed anything officially, Japan's Best Car magazine is reporting that the company plans to reintroduce the Toyota MR2 as a hybrid model called the MR-S to compete with Honda's upcoming CR-Z hybrid. As Best Car reports, the vehicle will go on sale sometime after the CR-Z is released in 2010. According to the report, the...

Read more: Japan, Home News

Asia's Obsession With White Skin

2009-11-25T11:30:18Z

HSINCHU, Taiwan -- Walking along a rushing stream in Hsinchu, Hilda Chu balanced an umbrella in one hand and textbooks in the other. Her skin was ghostly white. "I try hard to make my skin white," said Chu, 18, a student at National Tsing Hua University. "If my skin is lighter, I will be happier because I think I look good. It makes my emotion better, yes."

Japan Says It Will Soon Release Details Of Nuclear Pact With U.S.

2009-11-25T10:43:16Z

TOKYO -- Japan's new government, already bickering with the United States about the location of a Marine air station on Okinawa, appears intent on revealing evidence of a decades-old secret pact between Tokyo and Washington that allowed U.S. ships and aircraft to carry nuclear weapons on stopovers in Japan.

Leon T. Hadar: Obama, the Teabaggers and Foreign Policy

2009-11-23T13:57:48Z

If you have been following what America's right-wing bloggers and radio talk-show hosts have been saying about President Barack Obama's just-concluded trip to the Asia-Pacific, you would be under the impression that Obama was not treated by officials in that region as the leader of the world's only remaining superpower and the largest and most advanced economy.

The neo and ultra-conservative pundits recalled the good-old-days when former American presidents were supposedly treated with so much respect in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing as they used American economic and military might to compel leaders there to bow to Washington's dictates. But as the right-wingers see it, Obama acted as though he was the leader of just another normal nation and not that of the great power that had won the Cold War not so long ago, projecting a certain level of timidity during his East Asian tour which might explain why he was cold shouldered by the East Asians. And that was such a humiliating experience for proud Americans like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.

Indeed, according to these and other nutty loud-mouths, Obama had disgraced his country by having taken a deep bow at the waist while meeting Japan's Emperor Akihito. Hey, remember how former US vice president Dick Cheney, greeted the emperor in 2007 with a firm handshake -- but no bow - just the way a real American Man would conduct himself.

American historians were quick to note that Obama was not the first U.S. President to take a bow, following the rules of diplomatic etiquette when meeting with foreign kings, queens, and other heads of state. In fact, former President Richard Nixon - you know, that lefty peacenik --- bowed to Akihito's father in Japan in 1971. And he was the same Japanese emperor who had led his country to war with the U.S. in 1941.

The notion that Obama didn't get any R-E-S-P-E-C-T in the Asia-Pacific during his visit and that his "wow bow" in Tokyo reflected a supposedly spineless diplomacy of kowtowing to China and capitulating to other rising powers in the region over security and trade issues is probably just another example of the kind of hysterical Obama bashing that has engulfed America's flagging political right since last November.

In the right-wing alternate universe Obama is seen as being responsible for the Great Recession, the mess in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now also for the economic and military rise of China, the changing Japanese attitudes towards America and the other challenges facing American power in East Asia. According to the members of the non-reality-based community the suggestion that the China may be less willing to play ball with Obama has nothing to do with America's real weakened economic and military position in the aftermath of the financial meltdown in Wall Street and the War in Iraq. Nope. It all has to do with the perception of American weakness that has been produced by Obama's more conciliatory approach towards China (dubbed by officials in Washington dubbed as "strategic reassurance"), his willingness continue negotiations with the Japanese over the status of U.S. military bases Okinawa and his engagement with the military regime in Myanmar.

But in reality, this kind of more conciliatory approach that have been embraced by Obama in his dealing with China, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is part of an effort to adjust American position in the Asia-Pacific in response to the very real changing geo-strategic and geo-economic balance of power, and in particular to the shifting balance of power between America and China.

Indeed, the transformation of the post-Cold War unipolar U.S.-dominated international system into a looser multi-polar system was inevitable. From that perspective it is quite possible that historians in the future would contend that the most important event that had taken in place in 2001 was not the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington but what happened exactly two months later - the accession of China into the World Trade Organization (WTO) which marked the start of its full integration into the global economy.

That this process of diminishing unipolarism and increasing multipolarism has accelerated under Obama's predecessor has to do with the costly policies at home (irresponsible fiscal and monetary policies) and abroad (military unilateralism and the war in Iraq) that have weakened U.S. status around the world, including in East Asia, and provided the Chinese with even more opportunity to exert their economic and diplomatic influence while America continued sinking into the many military quagmires in the Greater Middle East.

Taking into consideration that what Obama has been trying to begin reversing the trend towards American retreat from Asia that took place under President George W. Bush, one could argue his East Asia tour was certainly a good start. America and China are not about to form a permanent "Group of 2" forum. But during the talks in Beijing that covered currency, climate change, tariffs, Iran and Afghanistan - the American and Chinese leaders took the first steps in a long road in which each side will have to provide strategic reassurances to other. It would a process involving reciprocity under which the Americans will not be anymore in a position to deliver sermons and dictate outcomes to the Chinese.

That could be certainly a humbling experience for the right-wing critics and the neoconservatives who seem to operate under the illusion that America is still Number One and that it can still continue cutting taxes, expanding the deficit, fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while defeating terrorism, containing China and Russia, punishing "rogue regimes" and spreading democracy and human rights around the world.

But one of the main reasons why America has less leverage in its dealing with China is fact that the Chinese are playing now the role of America's banker as they continue financing the growing U.S. deficits. And in order to reduce these deficits, Americans will have to cut spending, which should include reductions the same U.S. military commitments abroad that right-wing critics would actually like to see increased.

Indeed, the same teabaggers who in the name of conservative values of limited government and fiscal restraint have been clobbering Obama and the Democrats for expanding the power of the federal government to promote a domestic liberal agenda, including $787 billion economic stimulus and his health-care reform proposals, seemed to have become born-again government interventionists, progressive internationalists and social engineers when it comes to Iraq and Afghanistan and to millions of foreigners and other distant societies whose values are alien to most Americans. Many of our irate anti-statist conservatives want to see the same U.S. government whose power they decry when tries to manage the school system in, say, Lebanon, Ohio, managing lots of stuff in, say, Lebanon. Help build the health care system in Afghanistan -- but not in America.

In fact, according to most public opinion polls the majority of American conservatives support increasing U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. The same teabaggers who are bashing Obama Administration as "socialistic" and "fascistic" seem to be quite enthusiastic about an Obama doing more national building in Afghanistan, which is bound to help raise the U.S. deficit into the stratosphere and expand the power of the federal government.

As Obama and the Democrats contemplate a new strategy for Afghanistan they should consider integrating the conservative values of fiscal discipline and limited government into their decision-making on this central foreign policy issue. After all, reducing and not expanding U.S. military in Afghanistan (and Iraq, and Korea, and Japan, and...) would help control the spending by the federal government and reduce the ballooning deficit. And that, after all, is exactly what our teabaggers are demanding.

Patrick Takahashi: How Serious Is Our National Debt?

2009-11-23T11:37:35Z

Maybe not as serious as you might think. Let me tell you why, looking at three sources, beginning with the October 24, 2009 issue of The Economist. The issue shows a projected American government debt as a percentage of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of about 100% in 2010. However, Japan will go to 230%!

Interestingly enough, the CIA Factbook has a table of essentially the same international comparison, but for 2008, with Zimbabwe at the top with a debt percentage of 266%. Japan is listed #2 at 172%. However, I couldn't find the USA until I reached #61 at 38%.

So what's going on? Let's do a simple calculation. Our national debt is just over $12 trillion. Our GDP is $14.4 trillion, which results in a figure of 83%. What is the CIA trying to do? Certainly, I would tend to believe The Economist, as confirmed by Wikipedia, which gives the 2008 national debt at about $10 trillion and % of GDP at 70%, with a 2010 estimate of $16.6 trillion and 98.1%.

Thus, yes, the American debt as a percentage of GDP is at around 100%, which is expected to edge up to 101% in 2011, then begin to drop. The expected continued low interest rates can only help a debtor, our government.

Expect, though, a policy uptick, for the health care measure will initially add more debt (just plain old common sense as 35 million or so more people will now need to be covered), but within the decade, when the public option finally kicks in to truly compete, the unacceptable growth rate of our national medical bill should be checked. If you're rich, you'll be hit twice: you'll subsidize much of this, and, so that you can cut in line for service, you will buy supplemental insurance.

Oh, by the way, also from Wikipedia:

The debt limit was most recently raised to $12.104 trillion by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R.1), which was signed into law on February 17, 2009 (P.L. 111-5).[11]

Is there a check and balance system in place or can our national debt keep going up forever? The answer is yes, for Congress needs to approve it, and yes, again, because it always does when asked by the President.

To go on, a look at a historical graph (from zFacts) shows that the all-time national high of 120% was attained at the end of the Second World War, but the current exponential slope looks damning. However, 83% or 100% is still nowhere close to Japan, which appears to be surviving at double our rate. I should mention without going into details that the Gross Domestic Product is about 10% lower than the Gross National Product, and the reason why we don't have exact agreement among sources is because of this discrepancy and the year being cited. Not sure about the CIA, though.

This same graph shows that the Reagan-Bush (Senior) reign showed a doubling of our national debt/GDP percentage, while the Bush (Younger) years initiated the jump when Congress passed the initial bailout package in December of 2008 before Obama came into office. While we're at this, you should know that President Reagan, when he came into office in 1982 faced exactly the same predicament as Obama, for the second energy crisis in 1979 had discombobulated the economy. In 2009 dollars, Reagan got a $1.8 trillion recovery package, double that of Obama.

Finally, what about China? That same Economist article reports that China does own 24% of our foreign debt, but that Japan, a country with a 200% or so debt/GDP percentage, is at 20%. Actually, China recently dropped to 23% and Japan rose to 21%, and in 2007 this was not as bad as you might think, as foreigners only then accounted for about 25% of our national debt. 75% was owned by us. Thus, China's hold on on our economy was actually less than 6%. But foreign ownership of our national debt has doubled, so China's grip is now at 11%.

But let them them bolt and invest in Zimbabwe (remember, their debt/GDP percentage is 266% -- and China has a platinum problem with this country today) instead. Yup, it is appearing that China is contemplating moving money from the U.S. into African, South American and Indonesian resources. It's a risk, but, think about it, would you rather trust the U.S. economy or gain sure access to world resources, which will only jump in prices over the next decade?

So, be mildly concerned about our escalating national debt, but there is no need to anguish. Consider Japan. Also, mostly ignore those editorials that regularly pop up throwing fear at you about China pulling out their money, causing an American depression. They probably will reduce their trust in our economy, but could run into greater difficulty dealing with many of those developing countries that now and then tend to nationalize their industries.

Julie Farby: Liz Cheney's Solution To Bow-Gate: Choose Dick In 2012!

2009-11-23T11:00:18Z

Dick Cheney's golden-haired spawn Liz Cheney is full of great
ideas. Like how if Obama really wanted to do the honorable thing, he'd
take his farce of a peace prize
and shove it right down the stupid Nobel committee members' throats. Or
send the mother of a fallen American soldier to accept the prize just
to remind those Nobel ingrates who exactly keeps them safe and snug
every night.

Unlike NObama, Liz also knows the best way to keep America safe
isn't through silly diplomacy or cultivating strong international
allies or anything pussy like that. I mean who are we, France or
something??

Like anyone's gonna take us seriously if we stop randomly invading
sovereign nations, start adhering to international law, and suddenly
stop pissing the whole world off just because it's fun.

Perhaps that's fine for "community organizers" in Chicago, but out in the real world, Barry's way just ain't gonna cut it. The O-man is in for a big surprise!

Take his recent trip to Asia for instance, where Comrade Barry made
the unforgivable mistake of greeting Japanese Emperor Akihito with the
traditional custom of bowing respectfully while shaking hands as a sign
of honor. Gasp!

How dare he? Start with a bow and the next thing you know Obama's
thanking them for Pearl Harbor and apologizing for that whole A-bomb
thing. I mean, the past is the past people!

Liz, for one, would never endanger America by treating an important
world leader and key global ally with respect and deference. And you
know who else wouldn't? Dick, that's who!

In fact, when Dick met the emperor back in 2007, not only did
Akihito not get a bow, the little man's lucky he didn't get a swift
kick in the balls to go with it. Let alone dither around with any of this "bowgate" crap.

"You could also look at the comparison and think, Cheney 2012," Liz chimed in during a roundtable discussion on Fox News Sunday.

Which made the rest of the panelists hoot with delight!

Barely managing to contain his hysterical laughter at such sheer
brilliance (and wit!), Bill Kristol quipped that, "Sarah Palin would
never bow to the emperor of Japan. She wouldn't even curtsy to him."

Don't be silly, Bill. She doesn't even know what a curtsy is.
Besides everyone knows Japan isn't a real country. It's just a faraway
fantasy island they used for that giant gorilla movie. Donkey Kong or
whatever.

Human Tetris, Sleeping Raccoons, And Hot Sauce Endurance: The Craziest Japanese Game Shows Of All Time (VIDEO)

2009-11-23T10:03:53Z

If there are random girls in bikinis and at least one person is in excruciating pain, chances are you're watching a Japanese game show. We're in awe of the creativity of the concepts and complete lack of shame of the contestants.

Arctic Security: The New Great Game?

2009-11-22T15:00:21Z

Arctic Security: The New Great Game?

In 2007, Russia laid claim to parts of the Arctic seabeda historic first and an act that has been challenged by
Canada, the United States, and Norway. These littoral states as well as Denmark, Finland, and non-littorals such
as China and Japan, have looked at the Arctic as an area for possible new transit routes, energy supplies, and fishing
grounds. Growing fossil fuel needs and depleted national fisheries are forcing countries to look for new areas of resource wealth. Climate change and innovations in technology (including seabed mapping, GPS, and transportation) are making it easier for countries and private companies to explore the Arctic.

While many are looking at the Arctic as an area of opportunity (a "frozen Saudi Arabia" as some have dubbed it), the
littorals are concerned about the national security implications of a navigable sea lane or "Northwest Passage" through
the Arctic and northern Canada connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. Increased military and commercial
shipping traffic, environmental damage, smuggling, and trafficking, and therefore increased national expenditures
of resources for monitoring and possibly reacting to such activities in the Arctic all come into play. Arctic security has been debated more and more in recent years. NATO, numerous governments, and nonprofit organizations have held discussions on the range of issues relating to the changing dynamics in the Arctic. The upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen will be yet another opportunity for nation states and parties to raise these concerns. And while all the littorals have officially declared their goal of maintaining the Arctic as a region of peace and cooperation, to date, no clear enforceable game plan or solution has been agreed to that will actually provide for such an end state. Meanwhile, Russian officials declared in October that they would begin undertaking a three-year extensive research effortusing Russias nuclear-powered icebreaking fleetto map the Arctic seabed in order to justify its territorial sovereignty claim, something that may well encourage other nations to do the same.
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Westin Nova Scotian,

Program and discussion: http://fora.tv/2009/11/21/Arctic_Security_New_Great_Gamer

2010 Nissan 370Z Starts At $29,990, Nismo From $39,190

2009-11-19T18:17:20Z

What would you pay for a boldly styled, high-performing rear-drive sports coupe? What if that coupe is from Japan? Under $30,000? Well, Nissan has the answer--barely--in the form of the 2010 370Z. Starting from $29,990, the base 2010 370Z is just $60 more

Read more: Japan, Home News

Jesse Jenkins: Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant -- New Report on Competitiveness in Clean Tech

2009-11-18T16:46:26Z

"Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant: Asian Nations Set to Dominate Clean Energy Race by Out-Investing the United States," a major new report released today by the Breakthrough Institute and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, is the first to comprehensively benchmark the competitiveness positions of the United States and key Asian challengers - China, Japan and South Korea - in the global clean energy race.

The new report examines the competitive position of each nation in core clean energy technologies, including solar, wind, and nuclear power, carbon capture and storage, advanced vehicles and batteries, and high-speed rail, as well as the government strategies each nation hopes will strengthen their position in the competitive global clean technology sector.

To view the full report, click here (pdf).
An abridged, summary version can be found here (pdf).

Core findings of "Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant" include:

Asia's rising "clean technology tigers" - China, Japan, and South Korea - have already passed the United States in the production of virtually all clean energy technologies, and over the next five years, the government's of these nations will out-invest the United States three-to-one in these sectors. This public investment gap will allow these Asian nations to attract a significant share of private sector investments in clean energy technology, estimated to total in the trillions of dollars over the next decade. While some U.S. firms will benefit from the establishment of joint ventures overseas, the jobs, tax revenues, and other benefits of clean tech growth will overwhelmingly accrue to Asia's clean tech tigers.

Large, direct and sustained public investments will solidify the competitive advantage of China, Japan, and South Korea. Government investments in research and development, clean energy manufacturing capacity, the deployment of clean energy technologies, and the establishment of enabling infrastructure, will allow these Asian nations to capture economies of scale, learning-by-doing, and innovation advantages before the United States, where public investments are smaller, less direct, and less targeted.

Should the investment gap persist, the United States will import the overwhelming majority of clean energy technologies it deploys. Current U.S. energy and climate policies focus on stimulating domestic demand primarily through indirect demand-side incentives and regulations. Should these policies succeed in creating demand without providing robust support for U.S. clean energy technology manufacturing and innovation, the United States will rely on foreign-manufactured clean technology products. This could jeopardize America's economic recovery and its long-term competitiveness while making it even more difficult to reduce the U.S. trade deficit.

Proposed U.S. climate and energy legislation, as currently formulated, is not yet sufficient to close the clean tech investment gap. In contrast to more direct investments by Asia's clean tech tigers, current U.S. policies rely overwhelmingly on modest market incentives that are viewed by the private sector as more indirect, create more risks for private market investors, and do less to overcome the many barriers to clean energy adoption. The American Clean Energy and Security Act, passed by the U.S. House of Representative in June 2009, includes too few proactive policy initiatives and allocates relatively little funding to support research and development, commercialization and production of clean energy technologies within the United States. Including investments in clean energy R&D, demonstration, manufacturing and deployment in both U.S. economic recovery packages and the House-passed climate and energy bill, the United States is poised to invest $172 billion over the next five years, which compares to investments of $397 billion in China alone, a more than four-to-one ratio on a per-GDP basis.

If the United States hopes to compete for new clean energy industries it must close the widening gap between government investments in the United States and Asia's clean tech tigers and provide more robust support for U.S. clean tech research and innovation, manufacturing, and domestic market demand. Small, indirect and uncoordinated incentives are not sufficient to outcompete China, Japan, and South Korea. To regain economic leadership in the global clean energy industry, U.S. energy policy must include large, direct and coordinated investments in clean technology R&D, manufacturing, deployment, and infrastructure.

See also: "Asia Beats U.S. 3-1: Major New Report on US vs. Asian Competitiveness in Clean Energy Technology"

Media coverage of "Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant"

Financial Times: "Asia set to overtake US in green technology"

Wall Street Journal, Environmental Capital: "Flying Tigers: More Reasons to Worry About Asia's Clean-Tech Push"

Stanford Review: "Winning the Clean Energy Race: A New Strategy for American Leadership"

SolveClimate.com: "Made in America by China: New Turbine Factory Offers Glimpse into the Future"

David A. Love: Will Obama Help Change Asia's Racism?

2009-11-18T14:39:22Z

For the
nations that were a part of President Obama’s recent Asian tour, surely this
was a new experience for them. For the first time, they greeted and hosted the
most powerful person in the world, one of the most brilliant people they’ve
ever met. And for the first time, that
person is a man of African descent. It
has been a long journey since the 1955 Bandung Conference, that historic
meeting of African and Asian states striving for self-determination and against
colonialism. Meanwhile, black people today are often stereotyped in Asian
countries as dirty, violent, mentally deficient and otherwise inferior—not
unlike the ways in which the West has portrayed people of color for years.

Although
symbolism has its limits, surely, it means a lot for international relations to
have a fresh face on the scene in the form of Obama, a leader of the world who
has lived in the world. Obama was born
in Hawaii and lived in Indonesia. His
half sister is Asian American, and one of his half brothers is an African American
living in China. No other president has had such an international background,
or such potential to make a difference on the world stage.

But for
Asian nations, white skin was the traditional standard of beauty and
prosperity. In the old days, the poorer folks were darker because they had to
work in the fields, where they were exposed to the sun.

As China
welcomes Obama, the nation is forced to deal with its long-standing
prejudices toward black people. But the discrimination is
internal as well. The Chinese government
has been heavy-handed in its treatment of the country’s aggrieved Uighur Muslim
minority, and has waged cultural genocide against the people of Tibet.

In India,
the caste system, although officially banned, still lives on. Brown and black faces predominate in this
nation of over 1 billion people.
However, white skin is desirable, and skin
whitening creams are popular.

And Japan
has had a longstanding problem with racism and xenophobia. Even today, one can find signs that say “No
Foreigners Allowed” and “Japanese Only”, or a recent TV commercial depicting
President Obama as a monkey. In 2005, Doudou
Diene, special rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights, found that
discrimination in Japan is “deep and
profound.” He added
that “This xenophobic drive is expressed by associating minorities, certain
minorities, to crime, to violence, to dirt.”

These
Japanese sentiments do not apply solely to foreigners and foreign workers. Despite its self-portrayal as a homogeneous
society, Japan has its own minority groups that historically have been regarded
as inferior. For example, the Ainu, an
indigenous ethnic group, has suffered from displacement and cultural
assimilation, higher levels of poverty and unemployment, and lower levels of
health and education. Over 1 million Japanese
of Korean descent— products of Japanese wartime colonization and forced
labor—are treated as foreigners in the country of their birth. They face a “hidden apartheid”, in which they
face discrimination in housing and employment, and feel pressure to change
their Korean names and blend in society.
Further, the Burakumin are an
outcaste group similar to the untouchable caste in India. They face discrimination because their feudal
ancestors held occupations such as butchers, tanners and gravediggers—
death-related jobs that were considered tainted and unclean under Buddhist and
Shinto practices.

The topic
of racial attitudes in Asia has fascinated me for a long time. In
high school, I traveled to Japan as an exchange student and lived with a family
in Tokyo. I majored in East Asian
Studies in college, and wrote my thesis on Japanese perceptions of foreigners. After
college, I worked as one of a handful of gaijin
(foreigners) in a Japanese bank, and later for the Tokyo office of a major U.S.
advertising agency. Living in Japan was
a life-altering experience for me, and in a good way. Being a true foreigner in another culture
provided me with a broader world perspective, and helped me deal with
adversity.

Overall,
my Japan experience was positive. It took some time to get used to the stares,
or the occasional child who wanted to touch my skin or hair. Then there were
the people who assumed I was a hip-hop entertainer, or a baseball player, or
some other racial stereotype of a black man in Japan. Clearly, there was an
embrace of black culture in Japan. The music and swagger of black people
permeate international popular culture.
And as I went to work in my business suit on the Tokyo subway, I
couldn’t help but laugh to myself as I passed by Japanese teenagers sporting
their dreads, hip-hop gear and Afrocentric t-shirts. But at the same time, I
had to endure my fellow employees at the company dormitory. Some employees at the bank had the idea to
throw a party, in which everyone would come dressed in blackface. After I protested, they cancelled their
plans, but only after lecturing me about the need for foreigners to understand
Japanese culture.

I believe
that as time passes and the world shrinks, it becomes more difficult for
discrimination to find a safe harbor.
Modern technology serves to eliminate borders and expose our activities
before the light of day. The nations of
Asia, like the U.S., have a long way to go before they eradicate racism. And yet, despite its legacy of slavery and
institutionalized racism, America elected a man by the name of Barack Obama as
president. The leaders of Asia now must
deal with a man of African descent as the leader of the American empire. And he isn’t a racial stereotype, for
whatever that is worth. Certainly, that
alone must give them pause.

David A. Love is an Editorial Board member of BlackCommentator.com, and a contributor to the Progressive Media Project and theGrio. He is a writer and human rights advocate based in Philadelphia, and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. His blog is davidalove.com.

The 11 Craziest Japanese PSAs Ever (VIDEO)

2009-11-17T14:21:57Z

We're not the only ones with crazypants public service announcements, Japan is also home to bizarre ads meant to keep us safe from ourselves. We have one question: Are the PSAs more or less terrifying than these Japanese commercials?

"Tokyo Vice" Author Goes To Japan Seeking Enlightenment, Ends Up Writing About Organized Crime (VIDEO)

2009-11-17T11:10:56Z

Author Jake Adelstein was on Jon Stewart last night talking about his new book, "Tokyo Vice," and the crazier-and-crazier story of how he got mixed up with Japanese crime lords which forced him to write the book in order to protect his own life.

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2011 Toyota Prius Station Wagon To Feature Lithium-Ion Battery

2009-11-16T12:45:19Z

We've known for a while that Toyota plans to introduce more Prius body styles to expand the reach of its most recognized and iconic hybrid car. Now, images of a possible 2011 Toyota Prius station wagon have hit the media. At least in Japan. Woody Thompson, proprietor of Woody's Car Site, points us to an image he reproduced from BestCar, a...

Read more: Japan, Home News

Obama Loses Face at Home and in Japan With Awkward Bow

2009-11-16T11:15:46Z

Obama's bow to Emperor Akihito is criticized from a variety of fun angles.

Read more: Japan, Home News

Copenhagen Goals Scaled Back: World Leaders Put Off Climate Change Treaty

2009-11-15T17:18:01Z

Confirming doubts that had been growing for months, the world leaders in attendance at APEC -- along with Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen -- announced on Sunday morning that a legally binding deal on climate change would be impossible to achieve at the U.N. summit on global warming in Copenhagen next month.

Obama Bows In Japan To Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

2009-11-15T02:36:21Z

In a scene that will likely be replayed on Sunday's political talk shows, President Obama bowed deeply to the Emperor and Empress of Japan on Saturday. The president's kowtow to the royal couple came on the second day of his Asian tour and before a private lunch with the pair in Tokyo.

An unnamed, senior Obama administration official told Politico Saturday that the president was observing protocol, saying, "I think that those who try to politicize those things are just way, way, way off base." During his speech in Tokyo, President Obama reaffirmed the United State's alliance with Japan and called himself America's first Pacific President.

In April, the president was criticized by the National Republican Senatorial Committee for bowing to Saudi King Abdullah at a G-20 meeting. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs declined to call Obama's gesture to Abdullah a bow, instead saying Obama "bent over" to shake hands with the king.

Anticipating drama, the Los Angeles Times wrote a blog entry Saturday about the bow. The LA Times detailed former Vice President Dick Cheney's (non-bow) handshake with the Japanese emperor and pointed to the "comedic" drama surrounding former Presdient Clinton's bow to Akihito.

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PHOTOS:

Obama speech on Asia well-received in region

2009-11-14T07:15:28Z

US President Barack Obama's first big speech on Asia had a little something for just about everyone. He was tough on North Korea and Myanmar, but offered a way back to the fold. He was big on Japan and on China, whose rise, he said, should be welcomed, not feared.

Read more: Japan, North Korea, Myanmar, China, Home News

Full Show: November 13, 2009

2009-11-13T18:15:04Z

Please view the original post to see the video.
Watch the full show from Friday, November 13: President Obama visits Japan; the British government deals with a growing immigration backlash; Pakistan suffers another deadly attack; and, Iraq tries to attract tourists.
http://worldfocus.org/files/2009/11/th_091113_fullshow.jpg
http://worldfocus.org/files/2009/11/th_091113_fullshow.jpg

Read more: Japan, Iraq, Pakistan, Home News