Word: koizumi
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...knew it would face a tough fight-the Upper House members whose seats are in contention were elected in 2001, when an unusually large number of LDP candidates rode the coattails of popular Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi into office. But no one could have predicted the litany of disasters that have beset Abe over the past two months, including the suicide of one minister under a cloud of corruption (Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka), the resignation of another (Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma) for a foolish remark on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings, and worst of all, the pension crisis...
...spoke of boosting Japan's role abroad and revising the country's pacifist constitution, the public was focused on bread-and-butter economic issues. "When Abe talks about the constitution, people think, 'What about my salary?'" says the DPJ's Yamaguchi. Abe seems incapable of reading the public-Koizumi excelled at that-and can't shake impressions that the economy bores him. "When anyone within 50 meters of him starts talking about foreign policy, his eyes sparkle-he cares," says Jesper Koll, president of Tantallon Research Japan. "But anything else, that's just not the case...
...change began with Abe's own surprise trip to Beijing last October, which established lines of communication that had been all but ruined by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated trips to the Yasukuni Shrine, a Shinto memorial to Japan's war dead viewed by many nations as an irredeemable symbol of Japanese imperialism. For Abe, who had a nationalist reputation as a legislator, the move assuaged worries that ties with China would further degrade under his administration. For the leaders in Beijing, Abe's visit was an opportunity to show that China could be forward thinking...
...Mutual interest may not be enough. Though China has downplayed Abe's recent attempts to rewrite Japan's wartime history, Yasukuni remains a redline for Beijing. Eventually Abe will come under pressure from his conservative base to stand up to China, as Koizumi did, and visit Yasukuni. At the same time the Chinese government could face anger at home should it be seen as playing too nice with Tokyo. The past is never really past in Asia, but Japan and China have enough genuine challenges in front of them without being weighed down by what's behind...
...have been living in Japan for about 20 years. At one time I believed that whoever became Prime Minister would make no difference-until Junichiro Koizumi came to power. He is a man who can make the difference, a man with a clear vision that the majority of Japanese can readily understand. Bring Koizumi back. Steve Ko Tokyo...