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On June 25, the third meeting of Café Democrats, a briefing and exchange forum for the diplomatic community in Japan, was hosted at DPJ party headquarters by the new International Department Director-General, member of the House of Representatives Yutaka Banno. Deputy Secretary General Goshi Hosono briefed around 70 members of the diplomatic corps, including 9 ambassadors, on the DPJ Manifesto for the House of Councillors election.
At the start of the meeting, Banno addressed the gathering, explaining that the International Department had new leadership following the appointment of Naoto Kan as party leader. In addition to announcing his own appointment as Director-General, he introduced some of the new Vice Directors-General present at the meeting: members of the House of Representatives Joe Nakano (reappointed as Vice Director-General), Kensuke Onishi, Mieko Nakabayashi, and Yukiko Miyake, and each made a brief speech explaining how they intended to contribute to the work of the International Department from now on. The DPJ’s English news webcast channel MNN (Minshuto News Network), produced by the DPJ’s Public Relations Committee, was also introduced, and the participating diplomats said that the broadcasts were very easy to follow.
Hosono introduced the main points of “The Democratic Party of Japan’s Policy Platform for Government: Manifesto 2010”, referring where appropriate to an English translation which had been distributed as a handout. He explained that the Manifesto contained detailed policies centring around the main pillars of a strong economy and foreign and security policy. Hosono cited a reduction in corporation tax as one of the concrete measures to be taken to achieve a strong economy, and stated that with regard to foreign policy, the Manifesto demonstrated a positive stance including engaging actively in promoting the signing of EPAs and FTAs.
Following the briefing, a range of comments and questions was received from the assembled diplomats, to which Hosono gave thorough responses. During the briefing and the Q and A session, the DPJ side expressed their delight at the Japanese football team’s victory in the World Cup and members of the diplomatic community also responded with their congratulations. Banno said that the DPJ would also like to create “win-win” relationships with other nations and work “to move into the final stage of the tournament”, and the gathering ended in a convivial atmosphere.
A full English translation of the DPJ’s Policy Platform for Government: Manifesto 2010 is available on the party’s website at:
http://www.dpj.or.jp/english/manifesto/manifesto2010.pdf
The DPJ’s Internet TV channel in English, MNN, can be viewed at:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dpj-channel
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