J-News Mini-Roundup: Aso and Hatoyama Face Off
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Scene from the movie "Faceoff"
J-News Mini-Roundup is a recurring feature written by Friend Of JET, Jon Hills, who maintains the blog for Hills Learning (www.hillslearning.com). Hills Learning is a NY-based language learning services company offering customized and personal Japanese language learning options.
Background: Earlier in the year Mr. Ozawa, the leader of the main opposition party in Japan called The Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ, resigned. Although Mr. Ozawa of the DPJ didn’t directly admit it, his resignation was probably influenced by the Nishimatsu Construction scandal, where his secretary was accused of embezzling money. Since the DPJ has elected a new leader, Mr. Hatoyama, to lead them into battle over the snap election that is highly rumored to take place this summer. The first confrontation between Prime Minister Aso and Representative Hatoyama took place last night on the floor of the Diet. Each newspaper took sides.
Asahi “Hatoyama is a Man of the People” The opening paragraph of a political article gives the background, and the second paragraph tells who the newspaper thinks was victorious. The Asahi, reporting on the commentary about “Money and Politics”, quoted Hatoyama in their second paragraph: “While Prime Minister Aso’s power is bureaucratic, the DPJ is a party where we derive our power from the national populace, the local citizen, and the everyday average person.” The Asahi doesn’t even mention Aso’s response until their third paragraph, where they claim “his response was abstract, and commented about the financial crisis and the North Korean problem.”
Nikkei “The Prime Minister Calls for Responsibility” While the Asahi focused on the articulate words of Hatoyama and his criticisms of bureaucratic power
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