The LDP presidential campaign is proceeding apace, with substance occasionally intruding into the discussion.Mr. Fukuda's remarks on North Korea policy — discussed here — have apparently triggered rumbling on the right, if Sankei's editorial today is any indication. Mr. Fukuda is obviously not a favor of Japan's right wing, not being one of their number …
Tag: LDP party presidential election
Observing Japan in audio
Yesterday I met with Garrett DeOrio of the always useful Trans-Pacific Radio project to record an episode of Seijigiri, TPR's political analysis program.Listen in here to the first part of an interview that (I think) covered most of the important issues involved in forthcoming LDP presidential election. A second part will air soon on the …
LDP-lite?
Apparently Fukuda isn't just sounding like the DPJ — he's actually using slogans that DPJ leaders used sometime ago.At a press conference on Tuesday, Ozawa Ichiro joked about Mr. Fukuda's "self-reliance and harmony" slogan, saying that he had been using it from years before, back in 1993 when he left the LDP to create the …
It’s all about Koizumi
It is impossible to talk about the LDP today without acknowledging that the party — and thus Japan's political system — stands in the shadow of Koizumi Junichiro.For his enemies in the party, branded by Mr. Koizumi as "opposition forces," he is the symbol of everything they loathe, enabler of what the French call "Anglo-Saxon" …
Fukuda the conciliator
The campaign is well under way, and Fukuda Yasuo is starting to sound like, well, the DPJ just a few short months ago in its campaign for the Upper House.He has emphasized the need for a "self-reliant and harmonious" society and talked of fixing broken institutions and ease the insecurity of dispossessed portions of the …
The battle for rural Japan
The campaign for the LDP presidency officially opened on Saturday, and its contours are already apparent.As now widely acknowleged, Fukuda Yasuo enjoys a commanding position thanks to support of every LDP faction but Aso Taro's.Mr. Aso, therefore, will be campaigning as a rebel. Thanks in part to the rapid commitment of the factions to Mr. …
"Perhaps not"
Fukuda Yasuo was asked whether he would visit Yasukuni Shrine as prime minister. His answer: "Perhaps not."It's certainly better than committing to visit, and considering that China was content with Mr. Abe's "neither confirm nor deny" approach to the Yasukuni problem, undoubtedly Beijing is preparing a little party to celebrate if and when Mr. Fukuda …
Who is Fukuda Yasuo?
Another day has passed, and it looks ever clearer that Fukuda Yasuo has cemented enough support to ensure his victory in the Sept. 23rd LDP presidential election. As this Asahi article notes, Mr. Fukuda has apparently gained the support of 298 Diet members, which is well over the necessary 264 votes he needs to win. …
Two horse race
Nukaga Fukushiro, finance minister and member of the Tsushima faction, the LDP's second-largest, has reportedly abandoned plans to run in the party presidential election, due to pressure from his own faction. This means, of course, that Mr. Fukuda is the undisputed "anybody-but-Aso" candidate — and now the undisputed front runner, having sewed up the support …
Mr. Aso and the Fukuda headwind
The official campaign period for the LDP presidential election begins today, and the situation is extremely fluid due to the entrance of Fukuda Yasuo into the race, which Mainichi describes as having attracted an instant majority of Diet members thanks to support of the Machimura faction (80 members total) and some members in the Koga …
Tobias S. Harris 