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Views from Japan

February 2005

[Politics]

POLITICS / "The End of the Postwar Period Is at Hand,"

In "The End of the Postwar Period Is at Hand," Hokkaido University Professor Jiro Yamaguchi states that a battle is looming that will decide the course of what he refers to as the "post-postwar period." Yamaguchi posits that the practice of marking time from the conclusion of World War II will likely end with the sixtieth anniversary of this event and that the "postwar era" that people have become accustomed to in such areas as politics, local government, security and foreign policy, and the economy will pass into history. Many things have changed rapidly in the past 10 years, says Yamaguchi, including the politics surrounding the Constitution; while debate over the Constitution is not yet fully matured, it is true that there are an increasing number of voices making vague statements to the effect that changing it would be acceptable. Yamaguchi further states that the decline of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the nation's bureaucracy is striking. Prime Minister Jun'ichiro Koizumi, he says, who rejects Japanese-style equality, has won the support of the people by taking on corruption and vested interests.

Based on this analysis, Yamaguchi argues that in order to bring about innovative policies while preserving the spirit of the postwar era, the opposition parties should focus on three issues: (1) reducing dependence on the United States, (2) reconstructing Japanese-style equality, and (3) drawing out the latent potential of local areas. Because the unified local elections and election for the House of Councillors scheduled in 2007 will mark a major turning point in the future direction of the nation's politics, he says, now is the time for all of the political parties to formulate their policies and strategies for the upcoming battle. ("Sengo no owari ga miete kita," Ronza, February 2005.)