Post-crash Japan of 2006

[thomas]

Book Review: Japan's right rising from Koizumi's ashes



Dragon Dance

Set in post-crash Japan of 2006, Tasker's fourth novel centers on veteran rock idol and Upper House member Tsuyoshi Nozawa, described variously in the book as "a cross between Bruce Springsteen and Benito Mussolini" and Japan's Eva Peron. Backed by disciples of industrialist Suichiro Morikawa's shadowy postgraduate institute, Nozawa stands on the verge of the toppling the political orthodoxy with his new ultranationalist party.

Popular songs advocating his Japan-first policies power Nozawa's mass appeal. Followers burn their passports and eschew imports. Nozawa advocates nuclear arms for Japan in place of its alliance with the US. A string of "accidents", created by Japan's most wanted terrorist of the Red Army Faction era and her daughter in cahoots with Beijing, blast Nozawa's pet issues on to the front pages.

=> http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/DL07Dh01.html