Word: okada
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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According to Japan's spring 2004 Directory of Parliament Officials, Representative Katsuya Okada's personal motto is Tai ki ban sei, a classic Japanese proverb that means "Great talents mature late." But considering that the new president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has rocketed from relative obscurity to what could be the golden era of his political career-all at the comparatively tender age of 52-he may want to revise that motto before the next guide is printed. With the DPJ's strong showing in the recent Upper House parliamentary election, Okada has cemented his position...
...This has been a surprise. When Okada became party president less than three months ago, the DPJ was in turmoil. Its two most senior members, Naoto Kan and Ichiro Ozawa, had succumbed to a far-reaching pension scandal that forced them to resign their leadership posts. With only weeks to go before the election, the nation's largest opposition party seemed rudderless and lacking a message. Political pundits predicted a thumping defeat at the hands of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's near-hegemonic Liberal Demo-cratic Party (LDP), which has had a nearly uninterrupted hold on power for almost...
...Okada-a former bureaucrat and five-term Diet member-stepped into his new role with unexpected brio. He quickly brought his party back on message and waged a confident campaign. Capitalizing on an unexpected drop in Koizumi's popularity, Okada stoked the fires of outrage over the Prime Minister's two biggest recent missteps: his perceived mishandling of a major pension-reform bill, and his unpopular decision to keep troops in Iraq beyond Japan's original commitment date...
...With 80% of the contested seats going to two parties for the first time in 33 years, the DPJ's gains have revived talk that after several misstarts, an era of true multiparty politics is at hand in Japan-and Okada is the country's new political It Boy. In an interview with TIME two days after the election, a beaming Okada said, "I think the public is beginning to be comfortable with the idea of a two-party system." But in a wide-ranging conversation on topics such as North Korea, the U.S.-Japan security alliance, and relations with...
...Okada has a difficult task ahead of him. Many critics say the DPJ has not distinguished itself from the LDP on many key issues. And they say that the DPJ, an alliance of several previously feuding parties, is divided by ideological differences and factional infighting and could break apart as easily as it came together...