Word: ozawa
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...players are working hard on their revised scripts. The major parties are all centrist, but some policy distinctions are becoming clear, even though they cut across current party lines. Within the L.D.P., for example, many endorse the carefully articulated demands of Hosokawa's main strategist and political ally, Ichiro Ozawa, for a more "normal" Japan, meaning a country that can participate readily in military actions mandated by the United Nations or its own allies. Within the Hosokawa coalition, on the other hand, many, including the Prime Minister and chief Cabinet Secretary Masayoshi Takemura, are more at home with Japan...
...Ozawa too followed his father's footsteps into politics. Unlike Hata, he had a taste for the backrooms of the L.D.P., where power was divided among the factions, and where men like Kanemaru allegedly collected huge pay-offs from businessmen grateful for favors. Because there is widespread suspicion of Ozawa's close links to Kanemaru, he tends to stay out of the limelight, while Hata holds the press conferences. Nonetheless, Ozawa has both a stronger intellect and the more forceful personality. "Ozawa is quite rare among Japanese politicians because he speaks clearly and identifies problems," says Kensuke Watanabe, author...
...Ozawa got the reform fervor during the Gulf War, when the U.S. demanded at least token participation in the coalition by Japan. Tokyo was paralyzed by indecision, convincing Ozawa that his colleagues were too deep into the pork barrel to take on the challenges facing modern Japan. He believes government must play a more active role in international peacekeeping efforts, and that Tokyo must sweep away the economic regulations and other barriers that play havoc with trade relations and keep consumer prices and taxes artificially high at home. "In our current political setup," says Ozawa, "you don't have...
...announcing that it will not argue with traditional L.D.P. economic and foreign policies, but at least in theory it still opposes nuclear power, the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, the existence of the Self-Defense Forces and the elimination of certain trade barriers -- all policies Hata and Ozawa favor. Miyazawa has already zeroed in on this contradiction. "I am not ready to leave politics up to the opposition," he said in an interview last week...
...Ozawa and Hata's best prospect, however, may be to bring over more supporters from the L.D.P., where there is still considerable unhappiness with Miyazawa, 73, and worry about the voters' wrath on the reform issue. Former Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu announced a 105-member group of L.D.P. legislators who favor reforms. If the Hata group does well, they may just defect...