Saturday, September 30, 2006

Japan Ichiban

In pure nihonjinron style, Abe finished his policy speech in the Diet with the following words, according to the Mainichi:
"In his conclusion, Abe called for people to maintain Japanese traditional virtues by quoting the famous physicist Albert Einstein: "I wish they don't forget to keep those treasures pure which they have in excellence over the west: their artistic building of life, the simplicity and modesty in personal need, and the pureness and calmness of Japanese soul."

Abe uses inaugural policy speech to call for flexing of Japan's military muscle (Mainichi - 2006/9/29)

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Nieuwe regering

Het actualiteitenprogramma 'De Wandelgangen' van Radio 1 heeft me dinsdag vlug enkele vragen gesteld juist na de samenstelling van de nieuwe Abe-regering: Audiobestand (mp3 – 965kb).

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Wereldnet 25 september

Gisteren Wereldnet. Drie correspondenten in Canada (Westkust), Rusland (Moskou) en Japan.

Voor Japan heb ik gesproken over: 1. De vereniging van chauvinistische mannen; 2. De strijd tegen dronken rijden in Japan.

Audiobestand via de Wereldnetsite (of download hier – 5285kb)

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Wa

You can agree or disagree the legacy of 5 1/2 years Koizumi reign, but one thing he certainly did:
"In Japan, the wa surrounds you. You can feel it in the priciest sushi bars and lowliest noodle parlors. Call it the particular Japanese way of looking at the world; of harmony, of collectiveness with a do-not-rock-the-boat spirit. In the mythology of "Star Wars" movies, the wa is like the Force. To mess with the wa is a cardinal sin.

Junichiro Koizumi messed with the wa. (…) But most Japanese discovered a shocking truth: Maybe the wa needed to be messed with."

Exit Koizumi, Japan's Relentless Jedi Knight (Washington Post - 2006/9/23)

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Radio-interviews over Koizumi, Abe

Dinsdag en Woensdag heeft het nieuwsprogramma 'Voor de Dag' van Radio 1 me geïnterviewd over het einde van het Koizumi-bewind en het aantreden van de nieuwe leider, Shinzo Abe:

Terugblik op het Koizumi-bewind (mp3 - 1070kb)
De verkiezing van Shinzo Abe (mp3 - 1244kb)

Luister ook naar de analyse van Prof. Dimitri Vanoverbeke van de KUL in 'De Wandelgangen' en 'Lopende Zaken':
Waarom stopt Koizumi ermee (mp3 - 1381kb)
Wie is Shinzo Abe (mp3 – 834kb)

Friday, September 08, 2006

Old & New

A bicycle tour with Stefan from London last Tuesday. Waterfront area near Yokohama Station and Higashi-Kanagawa Station: the latest new buildings and an old neighborhood nearby.

  
Flickr set : 20 foto's

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Prinselijke geboorte

Het VRT-Radionieuws heeft me woensdag enkele vragen gesteld over de geboorte van de prinselijke baby voor het programma 'Voor de Dag' en het ochtendnieuws:
Audiobestand (mp3 – 1005kb).