I really do like reading the various columns over at the Asia Times Online website.
I first encountered the website a few years ago (way back in 2004, I think) by random chance. I think I was looking for an article or something. Regardless of how I found the website, the Asia Times does feature some first rate commentary and editorials about what is going on in Asia. One of my favorite areas to read is the columns about Japan (and, to a lesser extent, South Korea).
A few days ago, I found two rather interesting columns on the website.
The first column was about the retirement of Junichiro Koizumi from politics. It was a sad day for Japanese politics when Koizumi-sama announced his retirement. Japanese politics will never be the same. The column, written by Kosuke Takahashi, is an interesting read, but I disagree with several points. [Granted, I've never met Koizumi-sama. For now, I'm just a nobody. A piece of shit, basically.] Personally, I think Koizumi's legacy is mixed. On the positive side, he held the job of Prime Minister of Japan for more than a year (five years, in fact); he had his own individual style and flair (unlike the dour and drab Yasuo Fukuda); and, he seemed to be the first Japanese political leader (that I can think of, at least) to realize that Japan desperately needs to reform and clean up it's act. On the negative side, the effort to reform the Japanese Post Office was a mess. Reforming the Post Office was to have been a cornerstone of reforming Japan's criminally bloated public sector by making the Post Office a private institution. What began as a noble idea rapidly became twisted and contorted (in the all too often Japanese way) as those Japanese politicians who opposed the reform process were initially kicked out of the party (the LDP, or Liberal Democratic Party) only to be welcomed back by Koizumi's successor, Shinzo Abe. Reforming the Japanese economy is now in shambles. Koizumi's legacy is also sullied as his successors, Shinzo Abe and Yasuo Fukuda, were wimps. Shinzo Abe's turn as PM was a disaster, IMHO. Fukuda was just the wrong man for the job. Plain and simple. I could go on and on, but I won't. However, I do highly recommend the column about Koizumi's retirement over at the Asia Times.
Lastly, I didn't mind that Koizumi went to Yasukuni Shrine. It didn't bother me. From what I've read about his biography, he has very valid reasons for visiting Yasukuni Shrine. If you don't like his reasons for visiting the shrine, then you'll have to just suck it up. Before he became Prime Minister, Koizumi said that he would visit Yasukuni Shrine. It's not everyday that a politician actually fulfills his promises. [I'll go into further detail about Yasukuni Shrine very soon. Promise.]
The second column from the Asia Times that caught my interest also involves Koizumi-sama. This article is about how many seats of Japan's Lower House of government, the Japanese equivalent to the House of Commons in the UK, are basically hereditary seats. According to the article, a whopping 12 of the 18 ministerial positions in the new Japanese government under new Japanese PM Taro Aso have had either fathers or grandfathers who were elected politicians. That's quite a number.
Koizumi-sama figures into this problem since he has appointed his second-eldest son, Shinjiro, to succeed him in running for his Yokosuka seat during the upcoming general election in Japan. Shinjiro is only 27 years old.
The article mentions the so-called three bans: jiban (electoral power base), kanban (name recognition), and kaban (political donations). With these advantages, it's no wonder that many constituencies in Japan are basically handed down like family heirlooms from one generation to the next.
This system creates politicians who are quite removed from the day-to-day troubles and problems that most Japanese face, since these political families are actually quite wealthy (more or less).
It's interesting to note that the Democratic Party of Japan has adopted a different system for attracting candidates. Instead of hereditary politicians, the DPJ has an open application system where just about anyone can run as a DPJ candidate (according to the article).
Also according to the article, there are some within the LDP who are aware of the Japanese public's dissatisfaction with hereditary politicians and now see the hereditary system as a liability. Whether this thinking will have any effect on the LDP or on the upcoming general election in Japan, we'll just have to see.
It's going to get interesting.
Comments