Japan Election: the LDP Came Back

It was a very important day for Japanese people to decide the future of Japan; the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won a decisive majority in Japanese parliamentary elections today. On the other hand, the current dominant party, the Democratic Party (DP) lost most of its seats. Some people may feel a sense of deja vu from the election in the summer 2009 but the situations of the LDP and the DP were altered. There should be a lot of opinions, but I would like to welcome the comeback of the LDP led by Mr Abe.

Perhaps the interesting thing for people outside of Japan may be the fact that the LDP is actually not a liberal party like the LDP in the UK. They are rather conservative. I read several BBC articles about the election, and most of them seem to be very anxious about Japan's turning to the right. However, I would strongly argue against that claim.

In Japan, people can be easily labeled a nationalist with a negative connotation just by hanging the flag. So, we rarely see our flag in schools or work places except on a very special occasion. At school, children are usually taught only the bad things we had done in the past especially when talking about the war. Also, many teachers, who are supposed to be models for children, refuse to stand up when singing the National Anthem and to bow to the flag. How the children who grow up in such country could ever learn affection for Japan and work hard for the future of Japan? I just think these things have been insane.

In 2006, Mr Abe of the LDP became the prime minister of Japan. He claimed that he would lead the country "Towards a Beautiful Country (美しい国)". This did not mean that Japan was not beautiful, but he wanted to make people in Japan proud of being Japanese by making them realize the many beautiful aspects of the country. That was the time when I first went to the US, and I still remember the day I bought his book in Seattle and dreamed of the graceful future of Japan. However, Japanese media made fun him instead. Some people even read the phrase in backward, "憎いし苦痛", meaning "hateful and painful", and laughed at him. Due to a health problem seemingly caused by the stress from the nonsense criticisms, he had to resign the position only in a year. And, in 2009, the LDP recorded a historical lost by giving away the majority of the seats to the DP.

I would never say that there was nothing to blame for the LDP, but the incapability of the DP was so obvious from the beginning as they had long been the opposition party, always just rejecting the policies that the LDP proposed and never really coming up with alternatives. But it was the choice that Japanese people made to give it a try with the DP.

As a result, that became the three-years and three-months long nightmare for Japanese people. This view seems to be a consensus as the DP lost 2/3 of its seats at today's election. At least the good thing was, the LDP learned from the lost and now are more refined than before. Mr. Abe had been expressing his remorse over having thrown in his role in 2007, which he believes eventually resulted in causing this nightmare. This became the reason he challenged this role again. He sincerely promises that he will never give up again. I trust such people. I hope he can really make changes for the country.