Abe’s “Beautiful Japan” taskforce to be disbanded: Nikkei

September 22, 2007
By Ken Worsley

So much for Abe’s “Beautiful Nation” team. The Nikkei tells us this:

The government established the task force at the Cabinet Secretariat in March this year with the aim of uncovering Japan’s appeal and promoting it at home and abroad, but the group will be dissolved with little to show for its efforts.

A panel of celebrities including renowned painter Ikuo Hirayama, cartoonist Kenshi Hirokane and novelist Anna Ogino, which was set up in line with the launch of the task force, was disbanded Friday, the officials said. The members met only twice since March.

I’m not sure what a painter, a cartoonist and a novelist could do to fix the pension payment scandal and balance out the debt to GDP ratio, but apparently not much. Better luck next time!

Filed Under Japan, Politics