Yes and No

Is there any hope for Japan’s politics to change despite the continuing rule of the ironically hated Liberal Democratic Party? Well there is hope and several reasons that would support an affirmative answer but then again, realistically speaking, the wanted change in Japan’s politics would not surface in the near future. I would divide my blog into two parts, the first part why it could be said that the political change could happen and the second part why there is still pessimism for this change to happen.

Yes
Internationally Speaking
It could be said that the policies of the former Prime Ministers Junichiro Koizumi and Yasuo Fukuda aim to build strong ties with the United Sates of America through aiding the Bush administration in their attack against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. Koizumi deployed Japan Self-Defense Forces to Iraq and in October 2001 they were given greater scope to operate outside of the country. In relation to that, Fukuda pressed on with his promise to continue the mission of allowing Japanese oil tankers to provide fuel for American ships involved in military operations by using the LDP's 2/3 majority in the lower house to win successful passage for the bill despite the opposition and rejection of the upper house. The course of politics in Japan was changing in those instances because it showed the rest of the world that Japan was not only focusing on its domestic problems anymore but also engaging in international crisis specifically terrorism. Adding on, the main factor that could have made Japan address international problems through the use of their strong military capabilities was the expansion of Korea’s and China’s military funding. Japan was placed in a position wherein being a pacifist country had to be amended because it could actually endanger the state since her neighbors were growing militarily stronger.

Show Off
It is good to note that two candidates who won as Prime Minister were showing their personalities in public which was something not usual for the Japanese society. The former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi did not hide his huge interest on Elvis Presley and even visited his museum in Graceland together with Elvis’ ex-wife and daughter. The current Prime Minister Taro Aso showed his great liking for manga and even implemented a policy to give awards to manga artists. This showed that the Japanese politics was starting to be liberal and open minded to the outside world and politicians were starting to be open about themselves. This was good because this allowed the citizens to feel a connection with the people running their country rather than a distant feeling.

Self Destroyer
The long rule of the LDP could be broken through its own self because whenever their candidate wins as prime minister and does some drastic change, they leave him alone and the party breaks into two; those who support the prime minister and those who do not. The former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe was left alone after he appointed some people who destroyed the credibility of his rule. Despite the fact that Abe was a safe choice of the LDP compared to Koizumi, the party once again left him and found someone better to replace him with. The LDP could be said to be an ambitious party because it seems that all they care is to prolong its name to be untainted. They are good in choosing quality leaders however they are also good in dropping them when the leaders are placed in state crisis.

The Younger Generation
Whenever the younger generation is asked about their opinion about their country’s politics, they would say that they are getting sick of the long rule of the LDP because nothing seems to change in their country. These younger generation wants a better change especially since their lifestyles are becoming more materialistic and liberal so the problem of unemployment in the country definitely hits their nerve. Since the younger generation is starting to rage on the long rule of the LDP then it is possible that they are the hope for a new party’s candidate to sit as prime minister.

No
Blind Spot
For some reason Japan does not want to identify the problem in their society thus they could not fix it. The reason for Japan’s society not wanting to see the problem could be attributed to their strong pride and high belief about their nationality. They believe that they are the descendants of the Sun goddess thus they are perfect individuals living in a perfect Japan. The politics in Japan could not change if people do not want to accept that the party ruling the society for a long time is a big problem. Adding on, whenever the prime ministers had successfully identified problems in the society and would want to pass on bills that would resolve the problems, their popularity in the society decreases. It is totally absurd but true. When it also comes to voting candidates, the people highly prefer those candidates who do not address deep issues of the society such as corruption and international concern but prefer those candidates whose concern are only to make Japan look perfect. So how can there be a change in Japan politics when the people turn blind to accept that there is a big problem in it?

Playing It Safe
Voters want to play it safe when choosing their leaders so despite the imposition of the Two Party System wherein they are given the right to vote their own choice of candidate as prime minister, there is a great number of people voting the party to choose the candidate. This works to the LDP’s advantage because the people believe that the party has a better candidate compared to other’s. Japanese voters do not want to think for themselves because they believe that those in higher positions have better choices despite it not being true all the time.