The Washington Post has a story about the leader of Japan’s DPJ party that shows him to be a different sort of leader. He’s got a long family history in politics. Both his father and grandfather were leaders of the LDP, the party he ousted from power. He also started his career with the LDP, but became disenchanted.
In his campaign, he sounds to these American ears like a combination of Obama and Bill Clin…
Japanese Legislative Election
Japan’s Next Prime Minister
And the People Spoke…
As you may have seen in news-flashes on your local new source, the DPJ has pulled in a momentous victory in Japan’s Lower House elections held just yesterday. In fact it has taken a clear majority with 308 seats, 319 if you include prospective coalition partners such as the Social Democratic Party, People’s New Party and New Party Nippon. The LDP on the other hand has seen its coalition majority with the New Komeito dwin…
Guest: DPJ Wins
As expected, the Democratic Party of Japan won big. Here’s some interesting analysis:
Interesting blog post from Observing Japan. Key quote :
Hatoyama Yukio and the other DPJ leaders plan to move quickly in preparing the party to take power, and the Japanese people will be watching to see what the party does with its new majority. The party has about a year until it will have to go be…
Policy, Policy, Policy
Election-day is all but upon us in the Land of the Rising Sun but before we get all philosophical about a new era dawning with the forecast change of government, it’s time to take a look at the nuts and bolts of this ballot. This isn’t junior high school and we aren’t running a popularity contest, though some may beg to differ on the latter, so what exactly are the Japanese public faced with in terms of policy and political pr…
Winds of Change
Times of economic depression or instability (I will leave it to your discretion to choose a word you feel comfortable with) typically drive constituent interest in who their political representatives are and what precisely they are doing to help ”me” out of said economic situation. Another trend often attributed to difficult economic times is a look to change, a change of government to be precise. Both of these tre…
The Curtain Goes Up for Japanese Election Drama
In our previous post about the Japanese general elections we spoke of the theatrics of this year’s ballot. Well the show has officially begun, the campaigning period starting this very day, August 18th. With a variety of restrictions on the use of media and promotional materials, including online tools such as Twitter, candidates and party leaders are hitting the pavement and holding street-side addresses in an e…
An Initial Look at Japan’s Elections: Drama, Manifestos, and Political Apathy (No More!)
Japan is renowned for its Noh and Kabuki theatre, but this year it is the ‘drama political’ that has the people’s devout attention. The incumbent Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is faced with loosing the lead in Japan’s political drama, a role it has played almost uninterrupted for the last 54 years. Standing in the wings as favored successor for the lead is the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), a little green some may sa…
Lead Blogger
Akihiro Nojiri
Akihiro Nojiri is a senior vice president at Fleishman-Hillard’s Tokyo office. He focuses on public relations, government relations as well as crisis man…
Useful Links
Major Parties
- Liberal Democratic Party (LDP): The LDP is a center right, conservative political party and currently holds an outright majority in the Japanese Diet’s Lower House. The party has enjoyed almost uninterrupted rule since its founding in 1955 and draws a strong powerbase from rural areas of the country.
- Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ): The DPJ is Japan’s second largest party and forms the main opposition to the LDP. Founded in 1998 through the merger of several smaller parties, the DPJ is a social liberal party that draws the majority of its powerbase from blue-collar workers and the liberal middle class in urban areas.
Goverment Structure
The National Diet of Japan (Kokkai) is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally responsible for selecting the Prime Minister. The Diet was first convened as the Imperial Diet in 1889 as a result of adopting the Meiji constitution. The Diet took its current form in 1947 upon the adoption of the postwar constitution and is considered by the Constitution to be the highest organ of state power.