Even if you are not a supporter of the LDP, you should at least understand that at this moment it is a very unfavorable situation for the entire country. The uncertain global circumstances and Japan's isolated position in the Far East actually call for stability and cohesion, but there is little sign of that at present.
What follows now are likely to be new turf wars within the LDP, as candidates position themselves for the party leadership and thus for the office of prime minister. This will probably be followed by new elections, which are unlikely to be received with much enthusiasm by the election-weary Japanese. It is doubtful whether the LDP will emerge stronger after that, but as everywhere else, in Japan too, everyone is only looking out for themselves.
I myself would have liked to see a little more stability, but as a tolerated foreigner, I of course have no say in the matter. On the one hand, it is sometimes quite relaxing not to be exposed so much to the political drama, but in the end, it does affect the individual as well.
The next few weeks and months will remain rather intriguing, even if I don't want to concern myself too much with this topic. We all have enough tasks and problems of our own, and sometimes it's quite pleasant not to be too aware of the whole circus that is going on around us....
Sunday's news come like a deja vu, so often have we heard it before in Japan. And once again, it was no great surprise to many that the incumbent Japanese prime minister pulled the ripcord and announced his decision to step down and leave office.
In recent decades, this has happened quite often and is not unusual for the people of the Land of the Rising Sun. Since the end of World War II (1945), more than 20 Japanese prime ministers have resigned prematurely, i.e., not left office regularly through election or the end of their term. Japan is known for a high turnover in the office of head of government – often due to internal party power shifts, scandals, political crises, or declining approval ratings.
And so it was again this time. The Japanese people had just gotten used to the name of their current prime minister, and now Shigeru Ishiba's short term in office is already over. Ishiba came into office because the previous head of government, Fumio Kishida, also had to resign prematurely.
The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP, also known as Jiminto), which has ruled almost continuously since World War II, and a year ago, a change in the party leadership and thus also in the office of prime minister took place. Now it was to be Ishiba who had to lead the Japanese island nation through the current global turmoil.
As usual, the first thing that happened was a general election for the Japanese House of Representatives, in which the LDP lost its majority and now heads a minority government. This summer the LDP also failed to impress in the elections for the House of Councillors, losing its majority there too, which was mainly blamed on the new prime minister.
Well, to be fair, he was actually left to clean up the mess that his own party had created in previous years. And in the relatively short time he was in office, he was clearly unable to deliver, but that didn't stop his party from forcing him to resign.
Even if you are not a supporter of the LDP, you should at least understand that at this moment it is a very unfavorable situation for the entire country. The uncertain global circumstances and Japan's isolated position in the Far East actually call for stability and cohesion, but there is little sign of that at present.
What follows now are likely to be new turf wars within the LDP, as candidates position themselves for the party leadership and thus for the office of prime minister. This will probably be followed by new elections, which are unlikely to be received with much enthusiasm by the election-weary Japanese. It is doubtful whether the LDP will emerge stronger after that, but as everywhere else, in Japan too, everyone is only looking out for themselves.
I myself would have liked to see a little more stability, but as a tolerated foreigner, I of course have no say in the matter. On the one hand, it is sometimes quite relaxing not to be exposed so much to the political drama, but in the end, it does affect the individual as well.
The next few weeks and months will remain rather intriguing, even if I don't want to concern myself too much with this topic. We all have enough tasks and problems of our own, and sometimes it's quite pleasant not to be too aware of the whole circus that is going on around us....
