Changes

This is a boring post as I know nothing about what I'm talking about.

It seems like just yesterday we were sweltering and debating about leaving the air-conditioning on or not. I was carrying around a wet wash cloth to wipe down my sticky face, I was wearing loose dresses that made me look fatter than I am but kept me cool. Last night I pulled out the winter blanket and this morning I'm closing up windows and Tetsu and I are talking about being cold. The day will warm up but the weather has quickly changed to fall temperatures and even the air smells different. Japan's weather is very changeable.

On Japan's political front too the atmosphere is very changeable. Does anyone else but Japanese even know that Japan's Prime Minister resigned suddenly last week? It seemed to come to a surprise to everyone, even his cabinet whom he'd just chosen and shuffled around the month before. Mr. Fukuda (have you ever heard of him?) wasn't even in his office for a year I think and he only became Prime Minister after his predecessor resigned also after less than a year in office. (Abe-san. Ever heard of him? Ah well, I don't blame you. Japan's Prime Ministers never stay in office very long.)

No real reason that I can discern for resigning. The workload was hard, there wasn't much support, the Diet argued tooth and nail soooo Mr. Fukuda thought Japan would benefit from someone else being their Prime Minister. Maybe. I suppose it takes some courage to quit and some wisdom to know when you are fighting a losing battle. My foreign opinion is that Japanese politicians are giving a message that if things don't go the way you like then you just quit but as I say, I don't know very much.

And another situation that I don't understand is that since last week Japan is minus a head of State. No Prime Minister and no Vice Prime Minister either. I asked Tetsu about this.

"Who is serving as Head of State while Japan tries to choose a new Prime Minister?"

Unlike America, there is no Vice Prime Minister nor any clear (to citizens) line of command. Each time a Prime Minister resigns Japan goes into an election period and suddenly candidates are coming out of the (cabinet) walls hoping to be elected to the position.

"Um.. Well, the cabinet consists of 14 members. They're running the country in the meantime."

"But look, right now 7 of the cabinet are vying for the position of being the next Prime Minister. They hardly look like they are running the country while they go around giving speeches and campaigning. What happens to the country if some huge disaster should strike?" (Today is September 11).

No real answer for that and Tetsu just thought that Japan doesn't have a high awareness of danger so they aren't particularly worried. This strikes me as strange too since Japan is a leader in world economics.

I hope everything gets straightened out.