https://watcher.guru/news/brics-japan-dumps-63-billion-worth-u-s-bonds
The Central Bank of Japan is following the footsteps of BRICS and dumped $63 billion worth of U.S. and European sovereign bonds.
After BRICS, Japan is now dumping U.S. bonds and mitigating the losses it incurred from adverse interest rate bets. The latest data shows Japan has offloaded $63 billion worth of U.S. and European sovereign bonds by March 2024. The U.S. bonds sale represents nearly one-sixth of the Central Bank of Japan’s portfolio.
Japan is following in the footsteps of the BRICS alliance, which has been dumping U.S. Treasury bonds for more than a year. Offloading the bonds was the only way for Japan to reduce their losses on the interest rate cut bets.
Freakin emphasis freakin added.
The article explains later that Japan expected the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates much sooner. But that hasn't happened, hence the need to sell.
Critical support to the Federal Reserve in their apparent quest to destroy the United States
Like I feel like everyone, both pro-capitalist and anti, have been screaming for months that they need to lower interest rates because it’s ruining everything and they simply refuse
It's because inflation isn't under control. I've been waiting for this moment to come for a while.
Which to me seems to say “High interest rates have little impact on inflation and if anything make it worse” but I’m a scientist not an economist so I like to make decisions based on observable reality instead of vibes
this is a real mixed message, considering all the joint military operations Japan has been conducting with the US and occupied S. Korea recently. I wonder if it's even possible for Japan to decouple itself from the US at this point in history.
It’s possible, but our current leadership couldn’t be anymore a US lapdog so it’s hard under them. That same leadership has basically controlled Japan since ww2 by the way, outside of one very short period. That party is increasingly dropping in popularity though. We have a large “communist” party, but after the red purges they’ve become basically socdems at the national level (I am involved in some local activities with them though and there’s good folks there).
There’s definitely areas/leaders that are pushing back more and more against that, especially any area that has to deal with the US military bases and all the problems they cause. The governor of Okinawa in particular.
With some radical shifts of leadership and maybe a couple more doohickeys, it’s possible. Maybe I am optimistic though.
That's interesting, I rarely ever hear about marxists in Japan. What would you say the general social awareness is of Japan being a client state and attitude toward that fact? Is there a significant movement toward a new independence from the US?
We exist! With the disclaimer that while I am not natively from Japan, I've lived here virtually my entire adult life, over 20 years now, and am naturalized. I am involved with local marxist groups.
Interestingly, Marxism had and continues to have immense influence on intellectual traditions here. It really first came to Japan through universities, and a lot of that continues today. At least at the university and graduate level. A lot of the MEGA project work was done out of Japan, surprisingly enough. If the puppet government and the US hadn't come down hard on post-war communists in Japan (see: Red Purge), I think it is very likely we would be a socialist state today.
There is definitely a lot of resistance towards US influence that has grown in recent years, I won't say it all comes from socialists as much as it comse from people who have just been disenfranchised with the US. This is especially true, unsurprisingly, in regions that are directly hosting military bases, particularly in Okinawa/Ryukyu. Which is basically double occupied by Japan and the US. Theft, sexual assaults, drunk incidents are all pretty common side effects. A helicopter actually lost pieces of the helicopter while flying over an elementary school not that long ago. These are all things that have a lot of people really fed up. All the hot dog and hamburger "Friendship Days" they host can't really make up for these things.
A big issue recently is the relocating of a US base closer to residential areas in Okinawa. Okinawa governor Tamaki refused, so Tokyo courts mandated that he had to approve the permits. The deadline came and went and the governor has refused to do so. While the permits did get rammed through eventually (the governor never caved, Tokyo just went over his head) he delayed everything about four years and significantly eroded public trust in Tokyo.
I don't necessarily think this is a sign of a full decoupling from the US, but it is definitely an element that has significantly impacted the public perception. I think the average person here would still consider the US an ally, but wants to be less reliant on the US economically and militarily.
Thanks, that's very cool to learn.
In my limited interactions with citizens of Japan, it feels like there's little interest or willingness to express political opinion. Or maybe just not to an outsider like myself. Finding a pulse for "left" politics there has been even harder. Are there any marxist / leftist resources you would recommend to learn about Japan's internal and geopolitical currents?
If you don't mind, I have been wondering a few things and your insight would be appreciated:
You're not wrong, there is a LOT of political apathy from folks. Especially younger working age people who are just determined to get a job and keep their head down. If you join politically active groups that is obviously not the case, but those can be smaller.
Do you mind if the resources are in Japanese, or is English preferable? I have more of the former, but some of the latter.
However, there is a really encouraging silver lining here. While the older generations almost uniformly hate China, the younger generations increasingly say they have a positive view/affinity for China. I think a recent survey had something like 10% of the older generations had a positive view of China, while 40% of younger generations did. Especially among anyone that has traveled there. It's a trend I hope continues.
The Red Purges were so effective that there really isn't much socialist ideology at a national level right now, even in the socialist and communist parties.
English is easier for me. Japanese is fine, but I'd need to run it through a translator.
You gotta love how western powers want to take on Russia and China while constantly looking for opportunities to stab each other in the back. 🤣
Don't want to get ahead of myself but Japan is one of the three/four major strategic pieces of US Pacific control, so it's good to see cracks forming.
And of those, it's such a huge piece that if the US could no longer control it (Japan), then the entire US strategy is basically undone and holding other places is kind of pointless.
This news is actually a little hard to interpret.
To quote the article: " The amount will now be diversified into corporate assets "
Japan's central bank does bailouts of the capitalist class by purchasing stock. It owns 4.7% of all public stock in all of Japan.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-06/boj-becomes-biggest-japan-stock-owner-with-434-billion-hoard
So this may not be them moving toward abandoning the dollar (the watcher.guru article mentions that they are selling US and EU bonds but no percentages).
