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Japanese Politics and the 1993 Election ISSN 1037-2938 Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 1993 cept to the extent of the us88 permitted undcf~the t Act 1968, no part of this publication may produced OT transmitted in any form or by any luding information storage and retrieval m, without the prior written consent of the Department of the Parliamentary Library, other than embers of the Australian Parliament in the couree of their official duties. Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 1993 This paper has been prepared for general distribution to mbers of the Australian Parliament. Readers outside the Parliament are reminded that this is ralian Government document, but a paper prepared by the author and published by the Par Research Service to contribute to consideration of the issues by Senators and Members. The views expressed in this Paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Research Service and are not to be attributed to the Department of the Parliamentary Library. Japan Com~unist koenkai local political support group Komei t o Clean Government Liberal Democratic Ministry of International Trade and Industry erican Free Trade upreme Commander for the Allied arty of Japan yakuza an~ster~ resulted in the including new parties establishe politicians. outcome of the election is of considerable importance to ot only is Japan our largest trading partner, but her economic an strategic roles in the sia-Pacific region i~pactsi ustralian policies. The election represented change: both of eneration and of political style. It also represented continuity. To a considerable extent Japan's political dynamics will remain the same. The structures, forces and processes will only change slowly, although the new government is committed to the rapid introduction of electoral reform. Japan is currently undergoing somethi of an identity cr seeks a new role befitting its economic wer in the post- orld. This can be se in the debates about the efense Forces and anese involvement in peace keep in^ operations. It is also apparent in the continui about revision of the Constitution. At the same time as t tates becomes less important str gically, economically, politically and culturally to Japan, China, rea and the other burgeonin economies of East and South-East ia appear natural partners. This paper examines aspects of the arty structures, electoral system hich have precipitated the mov to 'restructure' the cal system, It looks at events lea to the election, the campaign itself and the immediate outcome. the new government and the issues it faces are consi the paper deals with the implications of apan's future direction for ustralia. The newly ele coalition go~ernment not survive for long, because it appe o lack internal coh wever the reali~ment of political forces which is now unde set to continue, 1. Introduction ...................................... 1 eform .................................. Campaign............................~.......... 13 esults .................................. 1 ewGovernrnent ................................. 17 7. Key Issues in Japanese olicy ...... 8. Foreign Policy Issues and Japan's elations ............. with Australia 9. Concludin~~emar~.............................. ICES F. G. nese Politics and the 1993 July Election: Continuity an 1 outcome is obviously only is Japan a major The notion of restructuring in Ja een extensively discussed in connection with the recent election, with explanations for the turn of events being sought variously in uncertainty about the economy, frustration over Japan's inability to respond to the changing international situation, impatience with the slow pace of electoral reform and refusal by the Japanese people to put up any longer with corruption. This paper examines those aspects of party structures, the electoral system and societal influences which have given rise to moves for a 'restructuring' (risutora) of Japanese olitics and society. Events p to the election and its immediate outcome are considered in ill. The paper also looks at possible future directions Japan the implications for heralds a new ators have been writing about the possible self- destruction of the LDP, generational changes and opposition coalitions since at least the mid-1970s. However, it has now become apparent that efforts to reform the political system cannot be separated from moves to reali political forces. all of the pre-war political streams had reappeared, although generally under ne ames. The Japan Communist [JCP] was the first to be lished again when its leaders were released from prison by t preme Commander for the contains a list of the main Japanese political parties. Japanese ~oliti~and the 1993 July Election: Continuity and Change replaced by the elected House of weakened through the designation of the State' (Art. 41), while the Cabinet became accountable t iet (Art. 66(3)). The introduction of uni rsal adult suffrage in December 1945 meant that for the first time i pan's history women were allowed to vote. With the benefit of hindsight, an opportunity was lost to fundamentally reform the electoral system when SCAP converted the pre-war 3-5 member electorates into 4-15 member electorates instead of introducing single-member constituencies. lthough the purge of 'undesirable personnel' (collaborators with the military) severely affected the two main conservative parties, they nevertheless emerged on top in the April 1946 general election. Until the Democratic Liberal Party (previously Japan Liberal Party) became the dominant party in 1952, there was a good deal oft oil in Japanese politics. In part this disruption was due to the 19 and reforms, which meant that the parties had to reorganise their local power bases. However, the dissolution of large estates and the redistribution of land to tenant farmers ultimately operated to reduce rural radicalism and provide a bloc of conservative landholders. arty at first benefite 's policy in favour of the form~tionof trade unions. The the General Council of Trade Unio ay-December 1950 carried out the so-called 'Red Purge' denoted both the Allied Military Gove~~entand the person of its commander, General. Pouglas MacArthur. adoption of the ons st it it ion, because of its objection Japanese Politics and the 1993 July ~l~tion:C~nti~uity and Chang;e and advocatin~neutrality. part from a brief period from May 1947 to 48, when Prime tayama7 headed a coalition government which was conservative Democratic Par (formerly the Japan and People's Cooperative rty,8 the SDPJ has appeared incapable of forming the government in its omright. ctober 1955 the two wings of the DPJ reunited, partly under external pressure? The following month the Liberal Party (the ocratic Liberal Party) and the Democratic Party united era1 ~emo~~ati~Party. This restructuring meant that the SDPJ held roughly the number of seats held by the LDP in both houses of the Diet. pite the establishment of the Democratic Sociali 1960, following defections from the SDPJ t faction and some members of the centre faction; and the formation of the Clean Government (Korneito) as the political arm of the lay Buddhist organisation Soka Gakkai in 1964,lo this ratio of conservative-centrist to reformist 5 Actually, all parties except the JCP suffered from factionalism, which was also endemic in pre-war politics. 6 See Arima Sumisato and Imazu Hiroshi, 'The opposition parties: organization and policies,' Japan Quarterly 2 (1977), 151-152. 7 Personal names are given in ~este~rather than Japanese style, i.e., family name last. 8 The Japan Socialist Party was a minority partner in a short-lived coalition of the same parties which was headed by Democratic Party leader, Ashida Hitoshi, from March-October 1948. 9 In January 1957 the ~orker-~armerParty, which had split from the Socialist Party in December 1948, rejoined the SDPJ. 10 Komeito actually originated with the formation of the Komei Political Federation in 1961, becomin political party in Nov r 1964. It nominal1 inde~ndentof S akkai in 1970, but in ce is still closely re1 movement. 4 Japanese Politics and the 1993 July Election: Continuity and Change cline in the rural a, has pointed out, th in the consciousnes livelihood of the peop At the same time, the became dominated by its left wing. From a peak of 166 House of Representatives seats in 1958, the SDPJ 90 seats in 1969, because its policies were seen by the s irrelevant to the problems of rapid urbanisation and industrialisation.l3 Since then the SDP has revised its 196 programme quite ting the goal of ' revolution' and reeognising the changed political realities in January 1986 the models of its German and French sister parties ( nd Epinay Stat ent), and embracin 'market principles' spite this the PJ faces continui hostility from the and sections of the mass media (especially the Yomiuri S~j~~unand Sankei imbun). The structural problems also remain. The SDPJ membership base is small. Its public sector union power base in rural Japan is significant, but does not compensate for its loss of support in the cities. 11 Japanese scholars frequently use the terms 'refomist', 'centrist' and 'conservative' to describe the political complexion of Japanese parties. 12 Hidaka Rokuro, 'Personal retrospective', in Democracy in Contemporary Japan, ed. Gavan McCormack and Yoshio Sugimoto (Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1986), p. 231. 13 atsushita Muneyuki, r the Japan Socialist Party?' Japan ~ua~~rly 2 (1983), 156-159 atsushita Keiichi, 'Half democracy', Japan , 1 (1984), 6-10. 14 Fukatsu Masumi ated image change', Japan ~ua~erly , 'Doi Takako tackles the obstacles to power', i Takako tackles the obstacles , who S~i~bu~editorial staff, also tudes Japanese Politics and the 1993 July Election: Contin~ityand Chans e time, various attempts other factors enabled the LDP to maintain its supremacy fact that its leadership has been involved in one scandal after another,18 while corruption within the party has been endemic, due in no small measure to competition its factionslg and the 'pork-barrelling' which takes place the strong central government and weak local governments -- both factors connected with identified weaknesse in the election system.
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