The New Face of Japanese Politics?

1. The New Face of Japanese Politics?

2. Tanaka Makiko and Koizuimi Junichiro

3. Firebrand lashes 'indecisive' PM • Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has suffered a potentially devastating attack on his reform credentials by the woman who propelled him to power: his former foreign minister, Makiko Tanaka. • In the first interview since her dramatic midnight sacking sent the cabinet's ratings tumbling by more than 20 per cent, Ms Tanaka accused the Prime Minister of being envious, indecisive and a prisoner of the faction system he promised to destroy.

4. Firebrand lashes 'indecisive' PM • She accused Mr Koizumi of allowing his cabinet to be run by one of the most reviled faction bosses in the LDP - former prime minister Yoshiro Mori. • Her tenure in office was plagued by battles with LDP leaders and bureaucrats who were not used to dealing with a minister who did not take orders. They leaked stories about her tantrums, but when she complained, a senior figure in the Mori action told her the best way to ensure civil servants' loyalty was to do what they said.

5. Politics Democratic miracle; Tatemae: structure of government; Honne: functioning of government; Issues: from cold war to corruption and environment.

6. Japan’s Political System

7. The Parties in the System

8. The Bureaucrats in the System

9. How democratic is Japan? • Are individual rights protected? • Is the will of the people adequately transmitted through the politicians to be made into laws? • How does group orientation persist in a democratic system? • Does the the party system and bureaucratic administration support or hinder democracy? • Are the issues the Japanese are concerned about dealt with effectively?

10. Democratic Miracle Democracy was an alien concept to Japan, but it had… • Foundations of stable governance: political unity, administrative efficiency, ethical rationale. • Capacity for change: regional differences, tradition of borrowing, peaceful rotation of leadership, emperor based shift, entrepreneuralism. • Forced democratization: to repeal the unequal treaties; American constitution and institutions, entrance fee into Western alliance

11. Tatemae: the structure of the government system • Sovereign Power: from Emperor to constitution • The Diet: houses of representatives and councilors, representation for laws and cabinet appointments • The Executive: Prime Minister, cabinet and bureaucracy • The Judiciary: constitutionality of laws and investigative courts • Local Government: prefectures and municipalities, elections and local issues, taxes and central control

12. Article 9 Of the Japanese Constitution: Renunciation of War • Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. • In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

13. Generic Outline of Government Institutions Constitution Judiciary Legislative Executive Roles of Constitutions: Establish the rights and obligations of the people Separate and designate the powers of government

14. Japan’s Political System House of Representatives and House of Councillors

15. Structure of Japanese Government Institutions Constitution Emperor People Diet: Houses of Representatives & Councilors (legislative) Supreme Court (judiciary) PM & Cabinet (executive) Laws Lower Courts Bureaucracies 47 Prefectures: Governors & assemblies Municipalities: cities, towns and villages; mayors & councils

18. Government Administered Space

19. Honne: functioning of government • Elections and electioneering • Party factions • Policy formulation & legislative deal making

20. Honne: functioning of government Party factions: • The LDP’s internalized factions • leader-follower groups, • advancement ladder, • party consensus formation, • The externalized factions of the old left and the new center

21. The Political Spectrum Center: democratic, market economics, progressive social policies Old Left LDP Left Right Extreme left Authoritarian, nationalistic, capitalistic Authoritarian, nationalistic, state ownership New Center Extreme Right Old Center Right: Liberal Democratic Party Old left = Communists, Socialists, Democratic Socialists New center =Democratic party of Japan, New Komeito, Liberal Party, Social Democratic Party, 21st Century club

22. Honne: functioning of government Elections and electioneering: • The new balance between minority representation and change; • disproportional representation; • local connections (the Koenkai) and party discipline; • money needs and noise.

25. Honne: functioning of government Policy formulation & legislative deal making: • short duration ministers, • continuous bureaucracy, • bureaucratic control of Prime Minister’s Office, • bureaucratic turf wars, • business governance and quasi-business operation • interest group bargaining • political party compromise

26. Minbo no Onna (anti-extortion woman) “Minbo: criminal acts disguised as civil law actions” Abuse of the law by Yakusa (gangsters) to extort money from a hotel and use of the law by hotel staff to fight back • What expectations are both sides counting on? • How does the lawyer enlist the help of the courts and police? • How is local citizens power expressed in the movie? • Where do you see the extreme right wing?

27. Issues: from cold war confrontation to corruption and environment. • Cold war: ideological separation of parties to alignment on market principles • Corruption: transformation in perception of politician, bureaucrat and business relations; to policy based politics • Environment: central vs. local approaches, e.g. nuclear power vs. local political power • The Rise of China • Others: the American alliance, the Constitution, decentralization, deregulation, recession, education, women’s rights, aging population etc.

28. Teacher temper over Japan flag lawsSome see Koizumi's dispatch of troops to Iraq as a sign of rising nationalism in Japan. • But for some in Japan, the flag of the rising sun and the lyrics to the "Kimigayo (The Emperor's Reign)" anthem are painful reminders of the militant nationalism that led to World War II. • Now, the government says public school teachers must honor the flag, stand-up and sing the anthem at school ceremonies, whether or not they agree. • If not, they may be fired.

29. Teacher temper over Japan flag laws • In April, around 180 teachers at metropolitan senior high schools or schools for disabled children were reprimanded for behaving "unprofessionally" during graduation ceremonies the previous month, the education board said. • English teacher Toru Kondo has repeatedly refused to stand for the anthem. "Please stand up but don't force people who don't like to stand up and sing the national anthem," he said. "I will not stand up, never stand up." • Some parents fear the effect the rules will have on their children."These are my children. They are not the hostages or resources of the Tokyo Board of Education," one mother says. The enforcement of the law, which was put forth in 1999 by then prime minister Keizo Obuchi, comes at a unique time in Japan's post-WWII history. Current Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has recently sent troops from its Self Defense Force to Iraq, amid much public fear the soldiers could be drawn into conflict which would go against Japan's pacifist 1947 constitution.

30. SCMP Tuesday, May 11, 2004Japan's main opposition leader stands down • Naoto Kan has stepped down as leader of Japan's largest opposition party because he missed 10 months of mandatory pension payments, throwing his party into turmoil two months before elections. • Mr Kan's resignation after 17 months as head of the Democratic Party of Japan follows Yasuo Fukuda quitting the post of chief government spokesman on Friday after disclosing he skipped pension contributions for more than three years. • Revelations that ministers and lawmakers from at least three parties failed to pay pension contributions has sparked public discontent at a time when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government is trying to raise payments and slash retirement payouts.

31. How democratic is Japan? • Are individual rights protected? • How does group orientation persist in a democratic system? • Is the will of the people adequately transmitted through the politicians to be made into laws? • Does the bureaucratic administration support or hinder democracy? • Are the issues which concern the Japanese dealt with effectively?

32. House of Representatives as of 2004

33. House of Representatives

34. House of Councillors

35. House of Councillors as of 2004

36. How democratic is Japan? • Are individual rights protected? • Is the will of the people adequately transmitted through the politicians to be made into laws? • How does group orientation persist in a democratic system? • Does the the party system and bureaucratic administration support or hinder democracy? • Are the issues the Japanese are concerned about dealt with effectively?

37. Strong contender: prime ministerial hopeful Junichiro Koizumi accepts flowers at a reception hosted by a faction of his Liberal Democratic Party at a Tokyo hotel. Mr Koizumi quit his faction to gain broader appeal.

38. End to faction friction probably fiction • Maverick LDP leadership frontrunner poses threat to power plays but old habits die hard

39. People unfamiliar with the baffling world of Japanese politics ask one question more than any other: why is the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), so corrupt and so clearly responsible for Japan's lingering economic crisis, still in power after 45 years? • Other countries rotate their governments and as soon as one party fails, another takes over. • One answer is that the LDP is not a single party, it is more like a coalition of parties - or factions.

40. Each faction jockeys for power, and as soon as the prime minister of one faction fails, he can resign and a member of another faction take over. With the new government comes a new cabinet, and voters can be reassured that real change has taken place. • Factions are not separated by ideology, because Japanese politics is less about policies than personalities. The factions thrive on personal relationships. New members of the LDP join one of the factions and give the faction leader their loyalty and vote. In return, they are given political support and campaign funds. They work their way up through the faction until they become a senior member or even faction leader, and the name of the faction changes.