Last week President Bush went traveling on a nine-day, three-country tour of Asia. His first stop was Japan, where he met with Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. President Bush was in Japan from Feb. 17 to Feb. 19, with three major points to discuss. First was to show concern for Japan’s continuing recession, which is also causing a record high, 5.6 percent unemployment rate. He also went to discuss ways in which the weak yen could be turned around since it is now starting to hurt US exports into the country. The last big subject was to show U. S. gratitude for Japan’s decision to participate in the ‘War against Terrorism’ as a noncombatant.
Bush’s trip to Japan was also to show support for Hong Kong. He expressed great confidence in Koizumi’s abilities and urged him to continue pushing for his economic reforms. Bush called Japan, “One of America’s truest and greatest friends.”
Many of us here at Guilford may not even know that Japan is in the middle of a terrible recession, and unlike our recession in America, which is already starting to turn around, there is no immediate end to the Japanese recession. Koizumi who was elected on the Liberal Democratic ticket in 2001, has been working very hard to push through new reforms to turn around the economy.
Koizumi’s economic reforms will hopefully help reduce the high unemployment rate and help stabilize the bank system in Japan, which is on the verge of collapse. Koizumi wants to put 10 trillion yen (roughly $75 billion) towards the recapitalization of the national banks and plans to use 4 trillion-yen ($30 billion) for bank shareholding purchase corporations.
Koizumi responded warmly to Bush’s support, saying that “President Bush has shown support and understanding of my policy.” He hopes that Bush’s support may give a slight advantage in getting his reforms passed.
It was short visit and although Bush’s agenda was business, he also had a time to do some sightseeing. He visited the famous Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Bush hoping it would symbolize his desire to help Koizumi implement his new reforms.
Not everybody in Japan was happy at Bush’s appearance. Over 15,000 protesters showed up to protest his arrival. Many Japanese still feel resentment towards Bush because of the way he backed out of the Kyoto treaty, which would have worked to solve global warming issues. People were lined up in the streets carrying signs that read, “Bush don’t ruin my world.”
Japan feels far away from the bubble of Guilford College and it is hard to bring a connection to our lives. Yet as Japan continues to struggle, it will hurt the global economy. This in turn will only hinder America’s emergence out of its own recession. The longer it takes for the U.S. to get back on its feet, the harder it is for young college students and college graduates to get good jobs in the marketplace. With Bush’s support and Koizumi’s hard work, Japan might be able to turn itself around.