Tokyo on Fire!

This week on Tokyo on Fire:

We kick into high gear with special guests Michael Penn and Glen S. Fukushima!

First up, Shingetsu News Agency President and Asia Gaming Brief Japan Correspondent Michael Penn joins us to talk about the prospect for casinos in Japan. Will Vegas-style gambling kill the already-struggling pachinko business? Next up, the discussion with our returning guest Glen S. Fukushima is about the reshuffles cabinet. Can Abe's newly-reshuffled cabinet, which includes surprise pick Taro Kono as foreign minister, help recover the PM's waning popularity?

Join host Timothy Langley and Michael Cucek in this discussion!

This week on Tokyo on Fire:

We are pleased to have Hon. Ichita Yamamoto, member of Japan’s House of Councilors, talk about Cool Japan. He is also a special advisor for IT strategy to the LDP President (Shinzo Abe.) What is the outlook on Japan’s nation branding, as seen from the Cool Japan project?

Join host Timothy Langley in this discussion!

This week on Tokyo on Fire:

The new Foreign Minister, Kono Taro attended the 50th ASEAN meeting in Manila to discuss the North Korean security issue. How will he handle Japanese diplomacy after the former Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida had been in the post for more than 4 years?

Join host Timothy Langley and Michael Cucek in this discussion!

This week on Tokyo on Fire:

This week’s Inside Baseball focuses on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet reshuffle that occurred earlier this month. With the decreased approval ratings after the Tokyo Assembly Election, what is Abe trying to accomplish with the reshuffle? Will he be able to bring back his popularity in the polls?

Join host Timothy Langley and Michael Cucek in this discussion!

This week on Tokyo on Fire:

In this week's Inside Baseball, we talk about the civil war going on inside the DP. The struggle within the DP over whether Renho should publish her family registry flared tensions in an already heated environment. What is the outlook for the DP in the future?

Join host Timothy Langley and Michael Cucek in this discussion!

This week on Tokyo on Fire:

In this week's Inside Baseball, we talk about the LDP's defeat in a local election. Kazuko Kori, a former member of the House of Representatives, won the Sendai mayoral election on an opposition-backed ticket in a major upset for the LDP. Pundits are increasingly less optimistic about the Abe dynasty's future.

Join host Timothy Langley and Michael Cucek in this discussion!

This week on Tokyo on Fire:

We start with our analysis of the plummet in the Abe cabinet's approval rating. Mired by scandal after gaffe after scandal, PM Abe's popularity has fallen like a rock. Who's going to survive next month's cabinet reshuffle? Can Abe avoid getting reshuffled himself?

Next up, TEPCO has announced that they will be releasing tritiated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant back into the ocean. Scientists say this is not cause for concern, but it has turned into a nightmare for everyone's favorite nuclear power company. Outrage has ensued from fishing associations and the general public. Is this tritium trickle PR disaster going to spell trouble for TEPCO's mission to restart nuclear power plants across Japan?

Lastly, the United States Senate has confirmed William Hagerty as the next U.S. Ambassador to Japan. A businessman with previous experience working in Tokyo, Ambassador Hagerty is set to become a key player in coming US-Japan bilateral trade negotiations. What does his appointment mean in the greater scheme of things?

Join host Timothy Langley and Michael Cucek in this discussion!

This week on Tokyo on Fire:

We start with the discussion about Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's victory in Tokyo Assembly Election. Her Tokyo-based party Tomin First achieved a huge win, which damaged badly the opposition LDP. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been heavily blamed for the defections and complacency within his own camp. Will Koike keep on rising? And who exactly are those responsible? How will the national politics change after the defeat of LDP?

Join host Timothy Langley and Michael Cucek in this discussion!

This week on Tokyo on Fire:

We are pleased to welcome Dr. James Brown and his expertise on Russian relations with Asia back to our show. In this episode of Tokyo on Fire, host Timothy Langley, Michael Cucek and Dr. Brown try to decipher the enigma which is the North Korean regime. While North Korea is going against the international community, what is Russia’s approach to find a solution to the rising tensions in the Korean Peninsula? Will we see the regime change in our lifetimes?

Join host Timothy Langley and Michael Cucek in this discussion!

This week on Tokyo on Fire:

Are you ready for our second Inside Baseball espisode? For those of you who thought that the Moritomo Gakuen scandal could not be beaten (we sure did) - here is a new contestant! Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is again in boiling hot waters as this new scandal emerges. Nongovernment parties started questioning if the Cabinet Office encouraged METI to create a new department in Kake Gakuen, which holds PM Abe's friend as Director. How closely was he involved in the creation of this new school? Will this be the scandal that takes him down?

Join host Timothy Langley and Michael Cucek in this discussion!