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Japan Ruling Party's Ozawa Says Americans Are `Single-Celled Organisms'
By Takashi Hirokawa and Sachiko Sakamaki - Aug 25, 2010 2:43 PM GMT+0800
Ichiro Ozawa, who quit as the No. 2 official in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan in June after coming under fire for campaign finance scandals, said that while he likes Americans, they are simple.
Ozawa, who is considering whether to challenge Prime Minister Naoto Kan in next months election for party leader, praised U.S. democracy in a speech to DPJ lawmakers today in Tokyo. He said the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American U.S. President was a historic event.
Its very admirable that people exercised their freedom of choice and free will in such a time of crisis, he said. I like Americans but theyre somewhat like single-celled organisms.
Ozawa said he dislikes the British for conduct he considers hypocritical. At the same time, he said he sometimes asks Americans why theyre so simple and if they shouldnt learn from the British.
The 68-year-old Ozawa stepped down as DPJ Secretary- General in June along with then-Premier Yukio Hatoyama as the partys popularity plunged due to a dispute over U.S. troops in Japan and funding scandals. Ozawa is still under investigation in connection with the indictment of three former aides for violating campaign finance laws.
Ozawa is a long-time political powerbroker who engineered the DPJs August 2009 electoral victory that ousted the Liberal Democratic Party after 50 years of almost uninterrupted government, and heads the DPJs largest faction. Kan is under pressure after the party lost elections in the upper house of parliament in July.
Ozawa didnt say whether hell run in the Sept. 14 race to head the DPJ, which would also make him prime minister. Hell decide in a day or two whether to challenge Kan, Nikkei English News reported today, citing former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano. Ozawa last night told Hatoyama that he would make a decision soon, Nikkei quoted Hirano as saying.
Almost 61 percent of voters support Kans re-election as head of the party while 79 percent disapprove of Ozawa gaining an important position in the DPJ, according to an Aug. 22 Nippon Television Network survey. The broadcaster polled 2,029 people and didnt provide a margin of error.
To contact the reporters on this story: Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo at thirokawa@bloomberg.net; Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at Ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net.
Are Americans simple mind or are the Japanese complicate mind?
By Takashi Hirokawa and Sachiko Sakamaki - Aug 25, 2010 2:43 PM GMT+0800
Ichiro Ozawa, who quit as the No. 2 official in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan in June after coming under fire for campaign finance scandals, said that while he likes Americans, they are simple.
Ozawa, who is considering whether to challenge Prime Minister Naoto Kan in next months election for party leader, praised U.S. democracy in a speech to DPJ lawmakers today in Tokyo. He said the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American U.S. President was a historic event.
Its very admirable that people exercised their freedom of choice and free will in such a time of crisis, he said. I like Americans but theyre somewhat like single-celled organisms.
Ozawa said he dislikes the British for conduct he considers hypocritical. At the same time, he said he sometimes asks Americans why theyre so simple and if they shouldnt learn from the British.
The 68-year-old Ozawa stepped down as DPJ Secretary- General in June along with then-Premier Yukio Hatoyama as the partys popularity plunged due to a dispute over U.S. troops in Japan and funding scandals. Ozawa is still under investigation in connection with the indictment of three former aides for violating campaign finance laws.
Ozawa is a long-time political powerbroker who engineered the DPJs August 2009 electoral victory that ousted the Liberal Democratic Party after 50 years of almost uninterrupted government, and heads the DPJs largest faction. Kan is under pressure after the party lost elections in the upper house of parliament in July.
Ozawa didnt say whether hell run in the Sept. 14 race to head the DPJ, which would also make him prime minister. Hell decide in a day or two whether to challenge Kan, Nikkei English News reported today, citing former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano. Ozawa last night told Hatoyama that he would make a decision soon, Nikkei quoted Hirano as saying.
Almost 61 percent of voters support Kans re-election as head of the party while 79 percent disapprove of Ozawa gaining an important position in the DPJ, according to an Aug. 22 Nippon Television Network survey. The broadcaster polled 2,029 people and didnt provide a margin of error.
To contact the reporters on this story: Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo at thirokawa@bloomberg.net; Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at Ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net.
Are Americans simple mind or are the Japanese complicate mind?
