This was written in September 1997. It will be updated soon.
This has been a transitional but not very tumultuous year in Japanese politics. ThatÕs true even though the country had its first election since 1993 when the LDP stranglehold on power was apparently ended and moving to a German-style combination of single-member districts and proportional representation.
|
Party |
% Vote |
Seats (n=500) |
|
LDP |
32.8 |
235 |
|
New Frontier |
28.1 |
156 |
|
Democratic Party |
16.1 |
52 |
|
JCP |
13.1 |
26 |
|
Social Democrats |
6.4 |
15 |
|
Others |
3.5 |
16 |
The election did not restore the LDP to its previously dominant position. However, it once again became the leading party again even though it fell slightly short of an absolute majority of seats. That said, it reinforced Hashimoto RyutaroÕs (remember, family names come first in traditional Japanese usage) influence as prime minister. Meanwhile, the New Frontier and Democratic parties, both of which were essentially LDP splinters, reinforced their positions as #2 and #3, thereby solidifying the influence of their leaders, Ozawa and Hatoyama respectively. In late July 1997, there were signs that the LDP would actually regain its majority as a group of Dietmen from the New Frontier Party defected back. Meanwhile, the left was reduced to just short of 20% of the vote and an even smaller proportion of the seats in the Diet.
These shifts were confirmed in JulyÕs election to TokyoÕs city assembly. In a record low turnout, the LDP saw its share of the vote increase while OzawaÕs New Frontier Party and its 1996 allies, the Komeito, suffered serious reverses. While the communists scored minor gains, the social democrats were all but wiped off the electoral map.
In other areas, the economy has begun to recover. Growth in 1996 rebounded to 3.6%, the highest total since 1991. Meanwhile, the declining value of the yen made it easier for Japanese corporations to export their goods. That said, the economy remains quite fragile, and most observers are convinced that a return to a "Japan, Inc" that seemed close to global domination is out of the cards.
Indeed, there are signs that the Prime Minister Hashimoto wants to move in a different direction by opening the economy up more to market forces both at home and abroad. In a 21 January speech to the Diet, he announced plans to reinvigorate the economy by cutting the deficit and, with it, explicit and implicit subsidies to corporations. The last remaining controls on foreign exchange have been lifting, and the government announced it planned to be fully integrated into the world market economy by 2001.
There is even serious discussion about diminishing the role of the bureaucracy in policy making. During the election campaign, all parties attacked what they called the excessive power of the civil service (from which, of course, many politicians came). Hashimoto pledged to cut the number of ministries and agencies by half.
It should be noted that the government's proposals have been met with at best lukewarm support even from within the LDP. Other parties in the governing coalition are even more skeptical.
A number of scandals continued to plague Japanese politics. The most prominent of these in 1997 was the trial of Yasuo Hamanaka who pled guilty to embezzling billions of dollars from the Sumitomo Bank's copper futures funds. The Japanese government also made its first compensation payments to South Korean "comfort women" who were forced into prostitution by the Japanese occupation forces during World War Two.
And, a new issue (for Japan that is) gained added prominence--the economic and social status of women. Opportunities for Japanese women to advance in major corporations have always been limited by very strong glass ceilings and by a tradition that has middle class women leaving the work force after they marry and have children. Now, there is growing demand for change in a country in which less than 10% of middle and upper level managers are women (compared to over 40% in the US) and, by one calculation, women only make 60% of what men (in the US itÕs about 75%).
One thorny issue was resolved, at least for the medium term. The Japanese and US governments announced an agreement whereby the United States could continue leasing some of the bases it uses on the island of Okinawa. The US military presence has always been a controversial issue in Japan as a whole and Okinawa in particular. The issue gained new prominence in 1996 after a group of US soldiers gang raped an Okinawan teenager.
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Town Hall | |||