The Bank of Japan embarks on a new era, the LDP holds a glum meeting, and the US and Japan prepare for a state visit. Plus: the kickback scandal is no longer Japan's biggest scandal.
All things considered, though, PM Kishida is in strangely good company in terms of the approval ratings of his counterparts in the G7. Per Morning Consult, Olaf Scholz is at 20%, Emmanuel Macron is at 24%, Rishi Sunak is at 25%, Justin Trudeau is at 35% and Fumio’s good pal Joe is at 37%. Only Giorgina Meloni is doing fairly okay at 44%. So I imagine the next G7 meeting will resemble a group therapy session, with Meloni and Ursula von der Leyen acting as counselors and saying, “Hey boys, it’s okay to cry a bit.”
And then we have Ishiba Shigeru, as you mentioned. His name always pops up in times like these, with people coming out of the woodworks claiming that he’ll be the Akira Toriyama (RIP) superhero who saves the day. Of course, that never happens and his presence fades back into obscurity as if he were the Stephen Strasburg of the LDP. Or Msashiro Tanaka. The problem this time around is that the PM really doesn’t seem to be the issue. And this may be the story with the other G7 members as well. It’s not so much that folks are mad at political leadership - it’s more like they’re disgruntled with everything whether it be political, financial or social. We just might be living through a societal version of long Covid
All things considered, though, PM Kishida is in strangely good company in terms of the approval ratings of his counterparts in the G7. Per Morning Consult, Olaf Scholz is at 20%, Emmanuel Macron is at 24%, Rishi Sunak is at 25%, Justin Trudeau is at 35% and Fumio’s good pal Joe is at 37%. Only Giorgina Meloni is doing fairly okay at 44%. So I imagine the next G7 meeting will resemble a group therapy session, with Meloni and Ursula von der Leyen acting as counselors and saying, “Hey boys, it’s okay to cry a bit.”
And then we have Ishiba Shigeru, as you mentioned. His name always pops up in times like these, with people coming out of the woodworks claiming that he’ll be the Akira Toriyama (RIP) superhero who saves the day. Of course, that never happens and his presence fades back into obscurity as if he were the Stephen Strasburg of the LDP. Or Msashiro Tanaka. The problem this time around is that the PM really doesn’t seem to be the issue. And this may be the story with the other G7 members as well. It’s not so much that folks are mad at political leadership - it’s more like they’re disgruntled with everything whether it be political, financial or social. We just might be living through a societal version of long Covid