{"id":123,"date":"2015-07-06T04:48:31","date_gmt":"2015-07-06T04:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/?p=123"},"modified":"2015-07-06T04:48:31","modified_gmt":"2015-07-06T04:48:31","slug":"a-return-to-blogging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/a-return-to-blogging\/","title":{"rendered":"A Return to Blogging"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>To say that I have been lax about updating my blog would be an insult to people everywhere who are merely lax. I have been downright neglectful; the last post on this journal was made in 2012, just before the election which brought the LDP back into power in Japan. (I predicted that the LDP would win, but would still need Komeito to govern, lacking the super-majority predicted by some commentators; this was correct. I also predicted that Abe Shinzo would be gone within a year as Japanese politics returned to its merry-go-round of disposable prime ministers; this was completely incorrect, with Abe turning out to be incredibly resilient, not least thanks to the lack of any credible alternative either within or without the LDP.)<\/p>\n<p>I need an outlet to talk about politics &#8211; both personally and professionally. This blog ought to be that outlet, and thus, the neglect stops here. Obviously, a blog last updated three years ago has no readers, so this post is more a pledge to myself, to be witnessed by any souls who stray across my writing in the coming weeks and months; I&#8217;m going to update more often, at least a couple of times a month. If I don&#8217;t, please call me rude names.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To say that I have been lax about updating my blog would be an insult to people everywhere who are merely lax. I have been downright neglectful; the last post on this journal was made in 2012, just before the election which brought the LDP back into power in Japan. (I predicted that the LDP &hellip;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/a-return-to-blogging\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meta"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/cup-mug-desk-office.jpg?fit=593%2C301","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p71QYy-1Z","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":701,"url":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/trump-is-no-gift-for-abe-and-the-ldp\/","url_meta":{"origin":123,"position":0},"title":"Trump is no gift for Abe and the LDP","author":"Rob Fahey","date":"11\/11\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"As Japan's establishment and observers start to come to grips with\u00a0the implications of a Trump administration for the country, one comment I've heard a lot\u00a0is that this is a gift for Shinzo Abe and his inner circle. It clears the way for them to enact their long dreamed-of reforms, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;japan&quot;","block_context":{"text":"japan","link":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/category\/japan\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Abe-Shinzo.jpg?fit=592%2C281&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Abe-Shinzo.jpg?fit=592%2C281&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Abe-Shinzo.jpg?fit=592%2C281&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":160,"url":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/abes-reshuffle-gun-is-firing-blanks\/","url_meta":{"origin":123,"position":1},"title":"Abe&#8217;s Reshuffle Gun is Firing Blanks","author":"Rob Fahey","date":"19\/10\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Cabinet reshuffles are a big deal in Japanese politics. Where in other nations a reshuffle is generally of interest only to those with skin in the game and those desperately afflicted with a fascination with politics (it\u2019s no way for a person to live, I assure you), in Japan reshuffles\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;japan&quot;","block_context":{"text":"japan","link":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/category\/japan\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Abe-Shinzo.jpg?fit=592%2C281&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Abe-Shinzo.jpg?fit=592%2C281&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Abe-Shinzo.jpg?fit=592%2C281&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":277,"url":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/japans-boring-boring-election\/","url_meta":{"origin":123,"position":2},"title":"Japan&#8217;s Boring, Inconsequential Election","author":"Rob Fahey","date":"08\/07\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Politics is boring, according to many of my friends and acquaintances. They will acknowledge that it is important and worthy of attention - if only to head off the impending argument implied\u00a0by my skyrocketing eyebrows - but it's\u00a0boring. All that debate over minutiae, all that light and heat generated in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;japan&quot;","block_context":{"text":"japan","link":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/category\/japan\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":279,"url":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/abe-struggle-constitution-revision\/","url_meta":{"origin":123,"position":3},"title":"Abe&#8217;s Uphill Struggle for Constitutional Revision","author":"Rob Fahey","date":"11\/07\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2003, when US president George W. Bush and his advisors were preparing the case for invading Iraq, they announced to the world that they had assembled a \"coalition of the willing\" who backed military action against Saddam Hussein. The term has become widely reviled, as\u00a0many of the countries in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;japan&quot;","block_context":{"text":"japan","link":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/category\/japan\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Could Yamaguchi side with Abe on constitutional revision?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Yamaguchi-Abe.jpg?fit=594%2C270&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Yamaguchi-Abe.jpg?fit=594%2C270&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Yamaguchi-Abe.jpg?fit=594%2C270&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":146,"url":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/security-bill-passes-what-next-for-japanese-politics\/","url_meta":{"origin":123,"position":4},"title":"Security bill passes; what next for Japanese politics?","author":"Rob Fahey","date":"20\/09\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Japan\u2019s controversial and widely disliked new security bill was passed into law early on Saturday morning, as the LDP, their coalition partner Komeito, and a handful of smaller parties pushed the bill through the Upper House following weeks of protests both outside and inside the Diet. It\u2019s been a messy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;japan&quot;","block_context":{"text":"japan","link":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/category\/japan\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/National_Diet_Building_-_Tokyo_Japan_-_DSC06736.jpg?fit=593%2C284&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/National_Diet_Building_-_Tokyo_Japan_-_DSC06736.jpg?fit=593%2C284&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/National_Diet_Building_-_Tokyo_Japan_-_DSC06736.jpg?fit=593%2C284&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100,"url":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/japan-in-2012-anger-apathy-and-the-ballot-box\/","url_meta":{"origin":123,"position":5},"title":"Japan in 2012: Anger, Apathy and the Ballot Box","author":"Rob Fahey","date":"15\/12\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Tomorrow, Japan will hold a general election for the first time since 2009. A lot has changed since 2009. At home, the impact of the 2011 Touhoku Earthquake is still felt, especially in the area of nuclear power policy; abroad, Japan has ended up in unwelcome territorial disputes over a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;japan&quot;","block_context":{"text":"japan","link":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/category\/japan\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Japanese_diet_outside.jpeg?fit=729%2C316&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Japanese_diet_outside.jpeg?fit=729%2C316&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Japanese_diet_outside.jpeg?fit=729%2C316&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Japanese_diet_outside.jpeg?fit=729%2C316&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124,"href":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions\/124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.robfahey.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}