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April 20, 2011

[SSJ: 6635] [Fondation France - Japon de l'EHESS] "An assessment of the Kan Government", conference by Arthrur Stockwin, 3. May 2011

From: Fondation France-Japon
Date: 2011/04/20

Dear friends and colleagues,

La Fondation France-France Japon de l'EHESS is pleased to invite you to the conference that Arthur Stockwin (Oxford University) will give on:

"Stability and instability in Japanese politics: an assessment of the Kan government"

3. May 2011 (Tuesday), 7 pm - 8:30 pm
At EHESS, 105 boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris (salle 1)

The conference will be in English. Please find attached a presentation of this conference.

We higly recommend you to register at : ffj@ehess.fr

Moreover, please note that Atsushi Seike, President of Keio University, will give a conference on May 4th (11 am - 1 pm),
entitled: "Towards a Life-long Active society"

Finally, may we invite you to visit our website to read the research note writtent by Mary Brinton (Harvard University), entitled:
"Measures to adress current youth labor market issues"

In looking forward to seeing you soon again,

Sebastien LECHEVALIER

Fondation France-Japon de l'EHESS
105 bd Raspail 75006 Paris FRANCE
sebastien.lechevalier@ehess.fr
Webpage: http://ffj.ehess.fr/


Stability and Instability in Japanese Politics:
An Assessment of the Kan Government
Arthur Stockwin (Oxford University)

SUMMARY
Instability in political leadership has been a serious problem in recent Japanese politics, as indicated by the fact that the present Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, is the sixth person to hold the office since 2006. When the Democratic Party was elected to power in September 2009, ending the long rule of the Liberal Democratic Party, many expected that the cycle of short-term prime ministers would end. Top leadership, however, remained unstable and Mr Kan began 2011 in an extremely vulnerable position. The triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis that began on 11th March 2011, nevertheless placed confrontational politics on hold and gave the embattled Prime Minister an opportunity to show his leadership abilities. How far the system will allow him to rise to the occasion will be the principal topic of this paper.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Arthur Stockwin has degrees from Oxford University and the Australian National University in Canberra. Between 1964 and 1981 he taught in the Department of Political Science at the Australian National University. Between 1982 and his retirement in 2003, he was Nissan Professor of Modern Japanese Studies and Director of the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies at Oxford University. His principal publications are: The Japanese Socialist Party and Neutralism (1968); Japan and Australia in the Seventies (1973); Dynamic and Immobilist Politics in Japan (1988); Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Japan (2003); Collected Writings of J.A.A. Stockwin (2004); Governing Japan: Divided Politics in a Resurgent Economy (4th revised edition, 2008).

Approved by ssjmod at 11:35 AM