{"id":24869,"date":"2012-05-01T13:45:07","date_gmt":"2012-05-01T17:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=24869"},"modified":"2012-05-01T13:45:07","modified_gmt":"2012-05-01T17:45:07","slug":"wit-life-199-young-japanese-politician-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2012\/05\/01\/wit-life-199-young-japanese-politician-power\/","title":{"rendered":"WIT Life #199: Young Japanese Politician Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

WIT Life<\/a> <\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em>is <\/strong><\/em>a periodic series written<\/strong><\/em> by professional Writer\/Interpreter\/Translator <\/strong><\/em>Stacy Smith<\/strong><\/a> <\/em>(Kumamo<\/a><\/strong><\/em>to-ken<\/a> CIR, 2000-03). She starts<\/strong><\/em> her day by watching Fujisankei\u2019s newscast in Japanese, and here she sha<\/strong><\/em>r<\/strong><\/em>es s<\/strong><\/em>ome of the interesting<\/strong><\/em> tidb<\/strong><\/em>its and t<\/strong><\/em>rends together with her own observations.<\/strong><\/em>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I am currently in DC interpreting for a six-person delegation that is here on a two-week program with the\u00a0American Council for Young Political Leader<\/a>s (ACYPL).\u00a0 Group members represent both the DPJ and LDP, as well as one participant from the New Komeito Party.\u00a0 Our other destinations are Tennessee and Washington State, so despite their short stay my group will have the opportunity to experience different parts of the U.S.<\/p>\n

Speaking of young politicians, last week the New York Times profiled Japan’s youngest mayor<\/a>, 31-year old Naomichi Suzuki of Yubari, Hokkaido.\u00a0 Yubari is known for its expensive melons, as well as being Japan’s only bankrupt city and also its most elderly.\u00a0 So far during our trip the declining birth rate and increasing aging population are two of the main domestic issues the delegates keep highlighting, and Yubari is facing the same challenges.\u00a0 It will be interested to see if the injection of Suzuki’s youthful energy and innovation can turn things around in this northern town.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer\/Interpreter\/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei\u2019s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations. I am currently in DC interpreting for a six-person delegation that is here on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[18,36,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-translatinginterpreting","category-wit-life","category-writers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t