Election result could end 54-year run of Japan’s ruling party, the LDP – Times Online — This is probably one of the biggest news stories of the last few years if it goes according to plan. In a nutshell it means the entire country known as Japan, Inc. has been replaced. It should be interesting as Japan has numerous systemic and weird problems.
When the Liberal Democratic Party LDP first came to power in Japan Stanley Matthews was at the peak of his football career, Winston Churchill had recently left Downing Street and Elvis Presley was still a struggling unknown.It has given postwar Japan its most impressive, as well as its most dismal, leaders and has led the country to unimagined prosperity and then into a lingering slump. Now, after 54 years in charge of the second richest country in the world, it faces defeat.
Does that mean that they are finally going to apologize for ALL of their WWII crimes and start pay compensation to the survivors?
You never know what they are going to do. Few people realize what a major event this is.
What brought down their house?
Who will replace them and what might they do?
John is right! We need to keep a close watch on this one.
And they are probably watching what is happening here also…
We can learn from each others misery.
Sorry, but this is no big deal.
Few people living outside Japan realize how little this will actually mean. Japan’s political system is stunningly corrupt and inert, and there are very few differences between the LDP and the DJP. Despite the rhetoric, the DJP is just a different smokefilled room in the hereditary good-old-boys club that is Japanese politics.
The Japanese are children, and have no concept of democracy or of people demanding real change. People here know nothing of the issues (most of my friends cannot tell you what the DJP or LDP even claim to stand for) and vote based on which guy was born closest to them, or has the same favorite food or movies, or the best hairstyle.
Remember, almost all important civil servants (and they really run the country) will be the same guys who have been running the place all along…and a lot of politicians in the DJP used to be in the LDP.
Former PM Koizumi is considered to have been a major reformer, and in 5 years, he managed to partially reform the post office. That’s it.
Real change only comes to Japan after a massive crisis, and the current economic slump seems to be easing.
My prediction: DJP will win, everyone will trumpet the change, and in 2 years the DJP will have done virtually nothing and the LDP will flow back in like the tide, and the status quo will continue…a slow slide downward, but with enough profit for those at the top to make it worthwhile to stay in politics.
And no, no apologies.
Most Japanese consider Japan to be totally the victim, and do not beleive Nanjing and Unit 731 even happened. The Japanese view is that they were helping their neighbors get rid of the colonials when America suddenly dropped 2 atom bombs. WWII gets 3 paragraph, followed by 10 pages of the bomb aftermath.
If things get out of hand, we just paint a battleship white.
Bingo #4…Japan is a dying country that can’t even drag itself out of the way of oncoming traffic. This is a fight over who gets to steal the most whiskey from the Titanic bar before the ship goes down.
I teach at a university and 40% of my students could not name the current PM despite the fact that he’s on tv commercials day and night.
When young people are the people LEAST interested in politics, you’ve got trouble.
So yeah, no story.
Japanese just copied the idea of changing their entire form of government from us here in the good new USA.
japanisonestrangeplace, great post!
Uggh.. well it’s nice to see that our Idaho representatives aren’t dropping the ball now that Senator Larry Craig is retired!
The article said the new guy was going to provide for children’s allowances. Just what they need, train them on government dependency early.
Well, I have to say that while I still have massive doubts over whether this will change much….the LDP is getting SHIITE kicked out of it…like losing 230-35. This is indeed unusual. Dare I have a teeny hope that the govt here might start facing up to the nation’s problems? Knock on wood….
Wow, I can’t believe it, is it possible???
I hope this makes things better for Japan.