Posted on: Saturday, April 14, 2001

Things look bleak for Japan politics

Things are looking bleak for the Japanese man in the street these days. His savings account generates essentially no interest income, his job prospects have never been worse, his house has lost as much as half its value — and there's no sign of relief.

Hawai'i residents should have no problem sympathizing, not only because our own economy hasn't performed much better, but because a lot fewer Japanese are likely to be planning Hawai'i vacations any time soon.

Japan has had a dismal experience at the hands of unpopular and ill-starred Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who heard little argument when he finally offered to step down.

Four candidates from Mori's party, the Liberal Democrats, are signed up to replace Mori. The favorite is Ryutaro Hashimoto, whose best selling point is that his unpopularity the last time he was prime minister didn't reach the epic proportions Mori's has. But in plunging Japan into recession with an unpopular tax hike, Hashimoto arguably did even more harm than Mori.

With the LDP's popularity tanking, one would hope to look to opposition parties for new leadership blood. No such luck.

In other words, the LDP is more bankrupt than Japan's ailing banks, but no better alternative has been presented. Things look bleak indeed.