060331JapanConsideredPodcastVol02No13

Friday March 31, 2006. Volume 02, Number 13Thanks for tuning in again this week. Our subscriptions numbers still are climbing steadily. But many more of you are downloading the audio file and/or the transcripts directly. That's unusual for a podcast. But, I guess, the result is the same. Glad to have you listening. Please continue to send your comments and suggestions to me at [email protected]. I'm looking into adding a resource that will allow you to submit short audio comments as mp3 files. But that will take a while. This week's events tended to pile up toward the end of the week. With important developments today, in fact. We consider first the background of Seiji Maehara's resignation today from the DPJ presidency, and its implications for national politics in Japan. Then we look at positive and less positive developments in Japan's relationship with China. And finally we consider the current legislative agenda. I'd hoped to cover recent developments in the relationship with North Korea, but that will have to wait. Last week I ran across a podcast that those of you studying Japanese language should find useful. It is called Japanesepod101. You can find it by searching on iTunes, or through a Google search. Here is their website, which, I understand, is about to go through major revisions. A group of four language specialists produce a daily program. Quite an accomplishment. So have a look at:Japanesepod101