Frozen bluefin tuna ready for auction at Tsukiji Market. Photo: Flickr user Hashashin

Japan says it will defy any ban on trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna. Conservation groups say the fish is at risk of extinction if current catch rates continue.

While the U.S. announced its support of a ban this week, the fish is prized for high-end sushi in Japan, where 80 percent of the fish ends up.

An international conference on endangered animals and plants will vote on giving the tuna endangered status at a meeting that begins next weekend.

If Japan defied a ban on trading an endangered species, what would be an appropriate international response?

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A famous American adage states, “As General Motors goes, so goes the nation.” In Japan, many are wondering if the same principle applies to Toyota, which has recently recalled more than 8 million vehicles.

Our German partner Deutsche Welle reports from Japan.

Has Toyota done enough to restore customer confidence in the safety and quality of its cars?

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Mostly living in the northern island of Hokkaido, Ainu are believed to descend from people who lived in Japan as early as 13,000 years ago. Their culture is distinct from mainstream Japanese society.

In the 19th century, Japan banned the Ainu language, seized their land, and outlawed their hunting and religious practices. Today the Ainu language is almost completely extinct.

Just under 24,000 people identified themselves as Ainu, in a 2006 study by the Hokkaido prefectural government. However, many of those included were of mixed blood. Also, it is not known how many Ainu live outside Hokkaido.

In June 2008, Japan’s parliament passed a resolution that formally recognized the Ainu as an indigenous people with a distinct language, religion and culture. Today, the Ainu have their own cultural institutions and are working with the Japanese government to maintain their unique heritage.

Harry Fawcett of Al Jazeera English reports from Hokkaido on the struggle to save their way of life.

Global Voices blogger Scilla Alecci writes about the extinction of indigenous languages in Japan, including the Ainu language:

In February UNESCO presented the Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, giving an accurate and worrying description of the languages considered endangered (about 2,500). Among these eight belong to the Japanese archipelago. Not a big surprise if we think about the severe policies of linguistic and cultural assimilation carried out by the Japanese government until the end of the WW2, after completing the annexation during the 19th century of the Ryukyu reign (now Okinawa) and the island of Hokkaido inhabited by the Ainu people.

Scienceblogs.com contributor Razib Khan writes about the relationship between language and genes of near extinct people’s around the world:

This is a case where the preponderance of evidence seems to be that the Yayoi rice-culture bearers arrived from the continent and predominantly replaced the indigenous post-Jomon culture. The Ainu may be a residue of the Jomon natives, and a non-trivial, though minority, component of the Japanese ancestry can be traced back to the Jomon.

The Ainu Museum in Hokkaido explores the history of the Ainu people:

“Ainu” means “human.” The Ainu people regard things useful to them or beyond their control as “kamuy” (gods). In daily life, they prayed to and performed various ceremonies for the gods. These gods include: “nature” gods, such as of fire, water, wind and thunder; “animal” gods, such as of bears, foxes, spotted owls and grampuses; “plant” gods, such as of aconite, mushroom and mugwort; “object” gods, such as of boats and pots; and gods which protect houses, gods of mountains and gods of lakes. The word “Ainu” refers to the opposite of these gods.

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History held an exhibition dedicated to exploring the ancient origin of the Ainu, their evolving relations with the Japanese, and the 20th century Ainu cultural renaissance.

As the company continues to grapple with the fallout from its recent recalls, we look at the likely effect on Toyota sales and the wider implications for the Japanese economy.

Edward Lincoln, Director of the Center for Japan-U.S. Business and Economic Studies and Clinical Professor of Economics at New York University Stern School of Business, joins Daljit Dhaliwal to discuss the issue.

He estimates the debacle may cost Toyota one billion dollars. Lincoln says the company can probably weather the crisis — but not without some damage to its reputation.

Behind the scenes, American diplomats were working feverishly to preserve an agreement that would allow the troops to remain by moving them to a less populated part of the island.

As Tom Metcalf of Al Jazeera English reports, the future for U.S. troops in Japan is uncertain.

For more about U.S. troops in Okinawa, Daljit Dhaliwal interviews Weston Konishi, an adjunct fellow with the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation.

Do you think it is essential to American security that U.S. troops stay in Japan?

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Marcus Mabry, international business editor of The New York Times, and John Authers, the investment editor for the Financial Times, join Daljit Dhaliwal to discuss the impact of U.S. economic policies overseas, the risk of inflation in China, the fate of Japan’s economy and recovery efforts across Europe.

For more on the Obama and the World series click here.

It will cut almost 16,000 jobs, reduce pensions and cut routes. The airline will also be removed from the Tokyo Stock Exchange next month, wiping out investors.

Here’s how Deutsche Welle, our German partner, covered the demise of a Japanese giant.

Hillary Clinton meets with S. Korean military officers in February 2009. Photo: Flickr user IMCOMKorea

Hillary Clinton is off to Asia, her second trip there since she took office. Right away, she became the first Secretary of State in four decades to go to Asia before Europe. The Obama Administration is playing its cards well on Asia so far.

Despite the contentious issue of the location of the American military base at Futenma, the Administration has forged solid ties with a brand-spanking-new government in Japan, which came to office having very public doubts about the alliance.

Relations with China now have a set structure, with the annual Strategic Economic Dialogue, Presidential summits and formal bilateral talks on a whole host of subjects, terrorism recently included.

The Administration is pushing China to play a constructive role on global challenges, with some results in climate and on Iran.

Rough patches are coming up, however, on trade, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, President Obama’s upcoming meeting with the Dalai Lama and China’s recent crackdown on dissidents.

And the harsh sentencing of democracy activist Lu Xiabo is a depressing sign of the times.

The U.S. has signed ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, allowing the U.S. to appoint an ambassador and formally tying the US closer to SE Asia. President Obama was the first U.S. president to attend an ASEAN summit. As China’s courting of SE Asia has been in overdrive in recent years, this is a welcome symbol of U.S. engagement in the region.

North Korea’s nuclear program continues to vex, but the Administration persevering. China actually enforced sanctions against its neighbor last year, and the Obama Administration can take some credit for that.

We’ll see whether the Obama Administration’s willingness to talk bilaterally will succeed in the end. The U.S. does not seem willing to give any additional concessions to get North Korea back to the negotiating table.

The Administration certainly breathed new life into the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement.

And they checked the box on a “strategic” relationship with India, though the relationship needs deepening.

Secretary Clinton is going to visit Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea — and then give a major address on Asia policy during her trip.

One major theme will be: America is back.

- Nina Hachigian

Cars on a Shanghai highway. Photo: Flickr user Desoumal

Toyota, the world’s biggest automaker, says its top-selling car in Japan last year was the Prius — the first time that a hybird vehicle gained that distinction.

More than 200,000 Prius cars were sold in Japan, three times the number from 2008. Hybrids account for 10 percent of automobile sales in Japan, compared to 3 percent in the U.S.

And in 2009, China surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest car market. American auto sales dipped 21 percent to about 10.5 million.

Will the United States ever regain its stature as an auto industry powerhouse?

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Breath Palette toothpaste

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

Christmas is in the air, but Japanese salarymen see no reason to celebrate. Recent statistics said the average year-end bonus at major Japanese companies this year plunged by 15.01 percent to 755,628 yen, or around $8,400. It is also the first double-digit decline for winter bonuses and the sharpest year-on-year drop since the records began in 1959.

But even in slow times like this, the market manages to react fast. With personalized campaigns featuring lower prices, greater variety, and– perhaps most important of all– a sense of optimism, retailers in Japan are successfully attracting customers who have limited budgets.

For instance, Prince Hotel in Tokyo recently launched a special offer called “My X’mas.” Unlike traditional campaigns that target couples during the holiday season, the “single youth plan” allows single customers to put aside their daily routine and indulge in a personalized getaway. For $70, customers can enjoy 5-star services, including a Japanese traditional meal and a bonus “Christmas cake for one.”

Meanwhile, the fashion business adopts the “sensation” strategy to make their customers feel special. Breath Palette, a new line of boutique toothpastes, has become the recent must-have for Japanese celebrities. With 31 flavors such as L’Espresso, pumpkin pudding, cola, and Indian curry, (and who doesn’t love curry?) each flavor represents a day of the month so customers can change their mood on a daily basis.

For those who are not satisfied with only 31 choices for one product, Hoya recently introduced a digital SLR camera that features a total of 100 colors. Described as “geeky tech gifts for 2009 ” the product immediately became the most eye-catching item on the shelf.

As long as the recession continues, the unconventional campaigns will go on. In fact, psychologists said that such strategy–namely the “lipstick index“– works well in tough times. With the suggestion that lipstick sales go up during bad economic times, the index refers to consumption that helps consumers feel better about themselves when they face a dismal financial outlook.

Decorated by smart businessmen, winter in Japan seems less dull. After all, in the holiday season, what people want is actually quite simple– a way to have themselves a merry little Christmas.

Hsin-Yin Lee

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.”

Susumu Awanohara, an expert on U.S.-Japan relations with Medley Global Advisors, joins Daljit Dhaliwal to discuss the challenges Japan’s new leadership faces and the evolving relationship between Japan and the U.S.

Tokyo’s neighborhoods straddle between the need for modern development and the desire to maintain historical buildings and structures.

For instance, Fujiizaka, affectionately named “the slope for seeing Mount Fuji,” in the Nippori neighborhood, has been increasingly blocked by tall buildings that obstruct its view. Residents have banded together to push for preservation. The neighborhood cause is slowly gaining support as a growing desire to preserve historical places takes hold in Tokyo, reported the New York Times.

The city of Tokyo is geographically complex, with 8.5 million people living in 23 districts that span 620 kilometers.  The history of the city’s development is characterized by a continual process of restructuring and growth. It is a city that is renewed on average every twenty years, with few buildings surviving from the past.

This is due in part because as the capital of Japan since 1868, it has been used as a showcase for the Japanese modern age. It has also seen major development because of the need for new construction after World War II, earthquakes and the Olympics, according to the Goethe-Institut.

Chris Salzberg, a writer/translator living in Tokyo, Japan discusses the reaction to the recent development plan for the neighborhood of Shimokitazawa for Global Voices Online.

Tokyo has no lack of small, winding streets. Shibuya has its maze of criss-crossing shōtengai, Roppongi its club-lined back alleyways, Ueno its open-air street markets. But no neighborhood in Tokyo packs more complexity per square foot than Shimokitazawa, a neighborhood whose layout bears closer resemblance to a ball of thread than to anything an urban planner would come up with.

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Shimokitazawa’s spaghetti-like mess of streets and train lines evoke passion among some, frustration among others. The area has earned a name for itself as a breeding ground for creative young artists with its dozens of small theaters, art galleries and music venues. While eccentric characters like Rikimaru Toho fit perfectly into this urban environment, others see the maze of narrow streets as a dangerous fire hazard and a giant urban congestion knot in need of unwinding.

The entire area happens to lie in the path of a would-be thoroughfare running through Shimokitazawa to Shibuya, originally set forth in a “War damage revival plan” drafted all the way back in 1946. After several changes, that plan was brought back to life in 2003 and demolition and construction work has been slated to start in 2010. Should it be executed, the plan will split Shimokitazawa apart with a 26-meter wide expressway, Subsidiary Route 54 (補助54号線).

While the basic shape of those redevelopment plans had been known for some time, it was only a few weeks ago that the first glimpses of the new design finally emerged on the blog of Kuniyoshi Yoshida, a local landowner and head of the Shimokitazawa South [ja] shopowners’ union. Comments which began to appear on the blog, blasting the new design for its failure to respect the Shimokitazawa atmosphere, were swiftly deleted, but hostility against the plans only grew.

See this video of the streets of Shimokitazawa neighborhood below:

Kay Shimizu, a visiting assistant professor at Harvard University, joins Daljit Dhaliwal to discuss why the presence of 47,000 U.S. troops in Okinawa is causing controversy and why the new Japanese government may pull out its naval support of the war in Afghanistan.

Hsin-Yin Lee, a former associate producer at Worldfocus,  is a news editor at the “China Times” in Taipei.  She blogs here about an unusual proposal by the Japanese foreign minister, and the roadblocks to pan-Asian unity.

During a lecture at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan last week, Japan’s Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada suggested that China, Japan and South Korea write a common history book.

The proposal set East Asian nations buzzing.

Japan has been notorious for its distortions of the historical record - propagated in the Japanese education system -  that whitewash the war crimes of Imperial Japan before and during World War II.

The  Japanese approach to history has caused turmoil in the region for decades.  According to a survey conducted by Chinese media,  Twenty-three percent of respondents said the biggest obstacle preventing trilateral cooperation among the three nations is “dispute over history.”

But after Japan’s general election in August,  the country seems to be at a turning point in many ways.  New Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is endeavoring to fix fragile trilateral relations by introducing the concept of “Yuai,” the Japanese term of fraternity.

China and South Korea apparently were pleased with the idea of a common history book.  “It is a good idea to make a textbook based on a common recognition of the past histories of the three East Asian nations,” a presidential spokesman in South Korea said, “however, it will be a long-term and painstaking project.”

Indeed, in Japan, conservative nationalists have already held several rallies, accusing Okada of being a “madman” or a traitor.”  The road to consensus building doesn’t look so smooth.

Still, there have been precedents for former foes sitting down to write history textbooks together. In 2006, France and Germany co-authored the textbook in response to calls from high school students of both countries. The history textbook not only touches on the arduous reconstruction during the post-war era but also examines the war crimes of Nazi Germany.

François Fillon, the then-French Minister of National Education, noted, “We have lived through centuries in which the interpretation and writing of history nourished a ferment of bitterness between us.  We are now seizing the opportunity to make it the bond that unites us.”

Can we Asians apply the European model here, despite the fact that hatred, mistrust and animosity have kept us apart for centuries?

To me, the answer is yes.

I believe the concept of “Yuai” is the first step in reaching out to one another. I believe there is something shared by all mankind — something strong enough to break the boundaries of time and space, gender and race — that could bring us together once again.

Kenji Kohno is the Washington bureau chief of the Japanese television network NHK and discusses what this historic election means for Japan and U.S. relations.

Garrick Utley, president of the Levin Institute of the State University of New York and a former NBC News correspondent and anchor and Rana Foroohar, senior editor of Newsweek’s international editions overseeing coverage of business and economics, join Martin Savidge to discuss the top stories of the week.

Steve Chao reports for Al Jazeera English.

Prime Minister Taro Aso.

Japan is set to head to the polls for parliamentary elections on August 30, and polling suggests Prime Minister Taro Aso’s conservative party will lose power after ruling for most of the past 54 years.

Some analysts suggest that this election may herald an era of a two-party political system.

Yoichi Funabashi is the editor-in-chief of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. He writes at the “East Asia Forum” about changes ahead for the Japanese political landscape.

Halfway through the 2004 U.S. presidential primaries, a taxi driver engaged me in conversation as he drove me from a hotel in Qingdao, in the eastern part of China’s Shandong province, to the airport.

‘In the United States, the Republicans and the Democrats appeal to the public by highlighting the differences in their policies. That is why there is dynamism in their politics,’ he said. ‘In China, with the Kuomintang in Taiwan becoming more realistic, what would happen if a two-party system was set up with the Communist Party and the Kuomintang and have the two alternate in government? By the way, what is the situation in Japan? Are there two major parties in Japan like in the United States? Are they competing with each other? What are the choices presented to the people?’

Reflexively, I responded: ‘Of course they are competing,’ I said. ‘In Japan, it comes down to a battle between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan. Like the United States, Japan has free elections.’

However, I soon caught myself pondering the issue more deeply as I began to realize that it was not entirely obvious what it is that the LDP and the DPJ are competing over.

What, in fact, are the choices that are being presented to the Japanese public?

There are other questions facing Japan right now. Will it have a two-party system like the United States? Is such a system even desirable? Will the Lower House election on August 30 be a choice between promoting that trend or not?

Five years down the road, has the time finally come when I can proudly respond to that taxi driver’s question?

[...] Scrutinizing the policies presented in the campaign manifestoes of the LDP and the DPJ, there is a blurring of the differences because the LDP appears to have come up with measures that simulate those of the DPJ in areas such as child-rearing support and education policy.

In addition, the record-level economic stimulation measures taken to address the global economic crisis have led to a confrontation between ‘big government’ and ‘big government.’

[...] If an age of two-party politics is to emerge in Japan, it should be one that pits a conservative force against a liberal one.

However, it remains to be seen if a two-party system in which both parties are capable of handling government will actually emerge.

The range of alternatives before the public will only expand if opposition parties present counterproposals to policies presented by the ruling party, and if the ruling camp subsequently presents even more counterproposals.

There can be no choice without alternatives. Alternatives must involve decisions on what should be changed as well as what should not be changed.

One reason for the current confusion in Japan is its failure as a nation to respond to questions such as whether it wants to continue to depend on exports or move toward a domestic demand-based economy, whether the environment and the economy are mutually exclusive, whether it seeks to become a multiethnic society and whether it will push reform or return to square one.

To read more, see the original post.

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Photo courtesy of Flickr user World Economic Forum under a Creative Commons license.