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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · 1d

IIRC Komeito has an effective campaign operation that benefits the LDP, though the LDP standing aside for Komeito in certain constituencies also helps Komeito. If this is a lasting split then there would be significant impacts on both parties. Levi McLaughlin has a recent thread mentioning this.

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Levi McLaughlin @levimclaughlin.bsky.social · 1d

Japan, ostensibly one of the least religious countries in the world, had its political order upended by the lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai. That is THE story about Friday's epochal shift in Japanese politics (thread follows):

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · 1d

I think Komeito brought unique benefits to the coalition like the loyalty and electoral effectiveness of its voter base.

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · 1d

I think that Komeito's departure is another step in Japan's march toward multi-party politics. I doubt that any other party would structurally fit with the LDP in a long-term coalition like Komeito did. I wonder if this will promote a new system of coalition formation in Japanese politics.

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · 1d

Within the past decade the LDP-Komeito coalition has steadily declined in its control of the Diet.
2016: Supermajority
2021: Majority
2024: Minority
2025: Dissolved

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · 11d

Red Sox beat the Yankees

All is well

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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 11d

NEW: Sen. Tammy Duckworth is calling for Pete Hegseth to resign.

"If this PR stunt proved anything, it's that the best thing Pete Hegseth can do to strengthen our military is resign in disgrace immediately."

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · 11d

Another issue of the US-Japan Alliance Digest has been published! It is a privilege to research, write, and publish this update on key foreign policy, defense cooperation, and economic security issues that drive US policy in the Indo-Pacific.

Link: spfusa.org/publications...

Headlines:

- 15% US auto tariff takes effect as trade deficit w/ Japan narrows
- Allies wrap-up Resolute Dragon exercise, new missile deployments
- Nippon Steel pledges investment as US exercises “golden share”
- US, Japan launch defense AI cooperation for UAVs
- US, Japan, ROK foreign ministers meet for the fourth time in 2025

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Kori Schake @kschake.bsky.social · 11d

Thank you @cnn.com for having me on to assess the Quantico disgrace

Defense analyst on Hegseth generals’ meeting: ‘A dangerous way to politicize the American military’ | CNN

Former Defense Department official Kori Schake says US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump “did not well serve the American military today.”

www.cnn.com

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · 13d

playing the baseball off

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · 13d

Red Sox in the playoffs

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · Aug 7

Reflecting on the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, I thought of this article I wrote for the Japan Society of Boston. It is still true that amid terror and desolation, there is a hope and obligation to create peace and revitalization.

www.japansocietyboston.org/post/the-pat...

The Path Forward: Young American in the Face of Hiroshima's Legacy

A letter from our intern, Dustin Hinkley, for the 76th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiIn May of 2019, I arrived in Hiroshima with a singular purpose in mind: to learn more...

www.japansocietyboston.org

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · Jul 24

Thinking about how Marco Rubio fired a bunch of diplomats working on Southeast Asia earlier this month

Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · Jul 22

It's Asia week for the EU heads, with bost the EU-Japan and EU-China summits happening this week. Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa are visiting Osaka, Tokyo, and Beijing to meet with Shigeru Ishiba and Xi Jinping.

It is worth keeping an eye on.

Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · Jul 22

Thank you to Jim McGovern for your decades of rules lawyering

Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · Jul 21

Politico & Punchbowl report House Republican leadership is shutting down the Rules Committee - which is essential for moving party-line bills on the floor - for the week rather than vote on Democratic amendments on the Epstein files.

Dems have effectively halted Republican legislation in the House:

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · Jul 21

The urban-rural divide (notwithstanding places like Sapporo or Yamanashi) between CDP (blue) areas and DPP (yellow) areas reminds me of the old divide at the center of the DPJ during its heyday.

mathieu gallard @mathieugallard.bsky.social · Jul 21

🗳️ Le principal parti d'opposition au PLD :

🔵PCD (centre-gauche) : Hokkaido (un bastion traditionnel) et le nord du pays
🟠Sanseito (extrême-droite) : des zones surtout urbaines de la moitié sud du Japon

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Tobias Harris @tobiasharris.bsky.social · Jul 21

It's been an extraordinary long day, but I wanted to try to pull together the most important developments in an extremely significant Japanese election. Take a look here: open.substack.com/pub/observin...

System in crisis

Combing through the results of a historic upper house election

open.substack.com

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · Jul 21

A slim minority is still a minority. I wonder if he will be able to stay even after the LDP has lost its majorities in both houses of the Diet in the past twelve months.

With the LDP being squeezed on all sides, do they have a way out with or without Ishiba?

Nikkei Asia (Official) @asia.nikkei.com · Jul 21

Japan election: With the ruling coalition having lost its majority in the more powerful lower house in a election last autumn, the outcome puts PM Shigeru Ishiba in a tough spot as he tries to continue tariff negotiations with the U.S.
https://trib.al/w9CwEgH

Japan upper house election: How events unfolded

PM Ishiba vows to stay on; Opposition parties rule out coalition

trib.al

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · Jul 21

The ruling coalition reduced to a minority in both houses of the Diet and a three way tie for second in the PR block vote. The public has spoken and they seem uncertain.

Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · Jul 21

I just watched the Kpop Demon Hunter. It was well made and fun.

Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · Jun 25

Did the Secretary-General of NATO really call the U.S. President "daddy"?

Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · Jun 25

The NYC Democratic primary voters apparently do not think that Zohran Mamdani is a left wing radical.

This is good for other left wing radicals like him.

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · Jun 25

New York is always copying Boston. It seems inevitable that since Boston got a good mayor in 2021 now New York will try it out too a few years later.

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Erik Ledbetter @bandoblue.bsky.social · Jun 14

Some thoughts about the military parade in my hometown of Washington DC today -- specifically, the route. Military parades in DC are quite rare. But when they happen, they have always begun, symbolically and geographically, at the Capitol and moved outward. 1/

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Dustin Hinkley @dustinhinkley.bsky.social · May 23

today is world turtle day. it is so important to take care of our oceans and coastlines so that turtles may continue to thrive. they are such majestic creatures

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