This week, the DPJ’s good fortune–in the form of the hilariously politically inept Prime Minister Mori Yoshihiro–turns to disaster, as he is replaced by the charismatic Koizumi Junichiro. Facing a revived LDP, the DPJ will turn to one of the most singular (and divisive) figures in modern Japanese politics: Ozawa Ichiro.
Sources
Funabayashi, Yoichi, and Koichi Nakano, eds. The Democratic Party of Japan in Power: Challenges and Failures. Translated by Kate Dunlop.
Carlson, Matthew M and Steven R. Reed. Political Corruption and Scandals in Japan.
This fascinating bit of NY Times coverage of the 2000 general election. I find the quotes from the voters at the end particularly prescient in terms of describing the pre-Koizumi reality of Japanese politics.
Images
Mori Yoshihiro circa 2000, when he was in the PM’s office.A photo from the AFP, from one month before Ozawa Ichiro won the DPJ leadership election in May 2006. The DPJ leadership (from left: Kan, Hatoyama, Ozawa) together at a cherry blossom viewing party in Tokyo.This map is a great example of how bad a buttwhooping the 2005 election was for the DPJ. These are the single-member district results from Tokyo, traditionally a bastion of anti-LDP reformist voting. Red indicates an LDP held seat; these results are an absolute route for the DPJ in what should be one of their stronghold. Kan Naoto was the only Tokyo-based rep to hang on to his seat in 2005.Ozawa Ichiro, circa July, 2000 (back when he was still the leader of a separate, smaller Liberal Party).
