Japanese Election and Manifesto Update
The Japanese election season is in full swing, with the two major parties -- the currently ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the upstart Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) -- campaigning hard to try to win enough votes to form the next government. Unlike the U.S. with its two-party system, several of the smaller political parties enjoy quite a lot of influence for their size, and you see (and hear) candidates representing the Japan Communist Party and New Komeito (a party related to the Sokka Gakkai Buddhist religion which has nothing to do with any religious organization at all, nope) quite a lot. It's interesting to observe the election, as issues like the low birthrate and economic recession are fervently discussed. While I can't say that the LDP has impressed me with its leadership (far from it), I don't think that much good will come of the DPJ victory that everyone seems to be expecting. The party is only eleven years old, formed in 1998 by members of smaller parties, most of whom defected from the LDP at some point. The platform -- or "manifesto" -- of the DPJ was formed when the group was the minority party, and while it's easy for politicians to make statements about making all the freeways actually free, or about Japan's military relationship with the U.S., things change when you're suddenly in power. If the DPJ does win on August 30, I don't expect a lot to change, since the vast majority of Japan's bureaucracy remains in place even if the party in power changes.
Some Japanese politicians really like the word "manifesto."
posted by Peter in Japan at 7:29 PM
12 Comments:
I`ve seen all the posters about, and frankly they all look incredibly slimey.
1:19 AM
Every democratic country (even though the USA is a republic) gets torn apart during election time... This last US election was horrible! I am extremely proud and respectful to have a African American president, but he has a lot of communistic ideas. It was kind of weird because a lot of Churches were supporting Mr. Obama even though he believes in gay rights and abortion. Some people are hypocritical. I wish Mr. Obama the best because running a country is a extremely hard job.
Hey Peter are you a citizen of Japan? Just wondering because permanent residences can't vote.
8:01 AM
Joe, I am a supporter of the LDP mainly because I don't like some of the ideas the DPJ are putting forth. On the other hand, they are a bunch of really slimy old men who think that being a "thoroughbred" (which in this case means choosing your leaders from the sons or grandsons of former Prime Ministers) is a good thing.
Colby, yes politics are always a battle, but I guess it beats having actual conflict between groups. Elections are a way to fight a "war" every few years without the actual damage or bloodshed. I always have had issues with churches supporting certain things I found to be very un-Christian, and I sometimes wondered if they were reading the same Bible that I have read (unless they are trying to play the part of Phillistines, sometimes I have to wonder). When I point this out to my sister, who was unnerved enough to actually buy a gun when Obama was elected in case society dissolved into chaos, she called me quaint. ^_^ It's all so complex of course, but it's best to try to think of things from two different directions and make sure you're not believing something others are forcing on you (right or left).
I am not a citizen of Japan, I have permanent residence though,which I applied for and was granted about 6 years after arriving.
10:37 AM
I have to ask you how is Christianity in Japan recently? My church is doing quite well for Japan. We have about 6 or 7 churches, most are mainly along the east coast, but only 100 members in 東京.
"...my sister, who was unnerved enough to actually buy a gun when Obama was elected in case society dissolved into chaos..."
haha! Here in America after the election everyone bought out all of the bullets. There was none to be found anywhere. Our friends searched everywhere and they found a box and that was it! It was kind of scary...
1:05 PM
They are here, there are two Catholic churches near me, and a Baptist church that I played Santa-san at when I first got here. And there's a Mormon church in Maebashi. In general it's less a part of the culture here, but not here nevertheless. Japan is open to accepting outside ideas, but at a slow pace and always preserving the core culture (smart). I know of one Japanese man who had decided he was Christian, so he wouldn't do Pagan things like do first prayer for good luck on New Year's day at the Shinto shrine, etc., but that is honestly very rare. Usually, Japanese are flexible with outside ideas, not really caring if they had a Western Christian wedding followed by a Shinto reception, celebrated their new baby with Shinto rites then turning to Buddhism when there's a death in the family. It's one of their strengths.
2:11 PM
I'm guessing the majority of gun enthusiasts were not buying that ammo because they were afraid of Obama or riots or what have you.
They were buying that ammo because Obama claimed, as apart of his campaign, that he was goign to enact gun cotnrol measures that would make such ammo difficult to imposible to acquire legally. A gun enthusiast acquaitance once gave me a long explanation about it that I can't quite remember.
But the gist is, when Obama was elected, a lot of gun enthusiasts decided to buy what they could before laws were put in place to stop them.
4:15 PM
Timothy - that's correct - people (in the US) are buying guns, ammunition, & reloading supplies while they can, creating quite an economic boom in those industries. This also happened when Bill Clinton first took office, but shortages are more severe and lasting longer this time.
Most people who are buying believe that Democrats will eventually try to take away their gun rights, leaving only the criminals with weapons & ammunition. Based on the examples of disarmed cities like New York & Chicago, and the disarmed countries like England & Canada, this would be a very bad thing for honest citizens.
2:51 AM
What do you mean by that? I`m glad that people can`t just go and buy a gun whenever they feel like it in the UK. I don`t want to be walking past people in the street and have to worry if they are carrying. Knives are the most I had to worry about when I was back home, sure there are guns in the hands of criminals but not the average criminal on the street who`s looking to mug me for my phone.
4:34 AM
Adrian, that's interesting, but silly. Clearly guns are with us (for better of worse), as they are a part of our culture. I don't like them -- whenever my Japanese students asked me how many I owned back home, I always chuckled, since I've never owned or fired one, outside of FPS games -- but it's not very realistic to go take them away from people.
I think this might be related to the way that people always want/need to be afraid of something, for example the great fear surrounding child abductions, despite the fact that 5x as many children die in uncovered pools each year.
Joe, it's probably hard for people living outside of the U.S. to understand the culture. America's history is quite different, with our grandfathers supposedly shooting injuns on the prairie or something (mine sure didn't). ^_^ By now the issue is sewn so tightly into the political fabric of the country it'll be here forever.
7:56 AM
--"I think this might be related to the way that people always want/need to be afraid of something..."--
I think it has to do with where you live. Here in Oklahoma there is a lot of people that live in the country or rural cities, so guns are used in protection against not only man, but nature. A friend of ours that lives in the country has a Mountain Lion on his land that is stalking his family, so guns are a must. lol, I could just see him now with a knife and pepper spray trying to kill the lion. We'll see how that one goes...
Whereas Japan where people tend to live in populated areas and not in the country. Even then, Japan has a low crime rate.
The thing is if guns were illegal then only the criminals would have them. Sorry Joe, but I kind of laugh at Britian's police force because they use shields and tear gas when they could use guns that could potentially save their lives.
Haha... I had to look "injuns" on the internet. I've never heard that one before. :)
BTW Joe, guns are not that scary! You must have a license to carry a gun. I've been in tons of big cities and I've never had to worry about them, but that's just me. :)
Lol, Oh well....
1:47 PM
Well I`d rather they were pepper spraying people than shooting them down, if its a serious criminal we do have armed police.
1:54 PM
Colby, some good points. A lot of the gun debate is tied to the larger rural vs. urban America. I'm pretty sure, although not 100%, that gun ownership is much higher in more rural areas. America has a lot of romanticism of the old rural ways, going back to Jefferson, and I'll bet some of the romanticism of guns comes from that.
8:51 PM
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