DPJ is having an election for the party representative on September 14. The candidates will be announced on September 1. "Dirty" Ichiro Ozawa seem to have shown the willingness to run, and some are much concerned about the possibilities and even the collateral damage that might be caused by his running. Ozawa nowadays is openly declaring that he believes the time is on China's side and not on the United States'. He went as far as to say Americans are "simple", as if he does not know how Japanese are being considered as. People seem to regard unknown as simple -- but difficult to understand.
Japan is a nation, by the way, where "simpleness" is considered as a virtue. In Japanese, they call it "sunao", which literally means exposed-straight. If you show some sorts of human emotion straight away in such a manner as to match the mood of the person who is with you, you are "sunao", or goodhearted. Say, people look at things and say "cute" and if you think it is rather silly, then you are not "sunao". You are hard to get along with, and should be considered as dangerous. Indeed, Ozawa calls it too "cute" to go along with the United States. Ozawa seems to insist that the US is not to be trusted. I believe, though, that Ozawa himself is the most untrusted figure in today's politics.
The party-representative election will be held among the party and the voters are the lawmakers, local representatives, and party members and supporters who registered before May this year. The poll says, at this moment, that more than 80 % are opposing Ozawa to run. Ozawa just recently quit the post of kanjicho of DPJ because of the corruption cases. Three of his secretaries were arrested and indicted. Ozawa might be arrested and indicted if the committee decides so. Ozawa is known to manage public grants for construction works and reportedly demanded briberies from the companies who gets the works.
Ozawa's assets probably would be in the amount of money he can move. That practically has meant the public money for the Gulf war and construction works. The amount of money, together with that from the former prime minister Hatoyama, an extremely rich heir of Bridgestone company founder, is such that Ozawa seems to have the reputation of "not having to care about ideals, theories, reputations", which indeed is the worst part of Ozawa's tactics. Hatoyama quit his post along with Ozawa for his unpopular "equal and deepened" anti-US policies, especially that regards the Okinawa base problem.
The base problem was fatal. The former PM tried to use the anti-US sentiments in Okinawa for the election and could not cope with the US demands for relocation. The administration collapsed when the coalition with Social Democrats fell apart. PM Naoto Kan took office then and the popularity of the administration dramatically went up, welcoming his pro-US stance. The upperhouse election was held right after and DPJ ended up with some seats lost but not as much as supposed to under Hatoyama-Ozawa rule.
Like it or not, the election is there. Japan and other nations must deal with the election results. The votes might mean Ozawa making deals with Okinawans and buying US bonds, all by the public money. They might show our "morals" that can move things forward, in denuclearization, in the security of the region where the US presence is vital, in human rights which are of particular concern on Tibet, Uighur, Burma and North Korea, and in true prosperity that should not be marred by the compromises that are made between the people up there in Japan and China. Let us hope there will be fair discussions on the matter and "common sense" will prevail.
Japan is a nation, by the way, where "simpleness" is considered as a virtue. In Japanese, they call it "sunao", which literally means exposed-straight. If you show some sorts of human emotion straight away in such a manner as to match the mood of the person who is with you, you are "sunao", or goodhearted. Say, people look at things and say "cute" and if you think it is rather silly, then you are not "sunao". You are hard to get along with, and should be considered as dangerous. Indeed, Ozawa calls it too "cute" to go along with the United States. Ozawa seems to insist that the US is not to be trusted. I believe, though, that Ozawa himself is the most untrusted figure in today's politics.
The party-representative election will be held among the party and the voters are the lawmakers, local representatives, and party members and supporters who registered before May this year. The poll says, at this moment, that more than 80 % are opposing Ozawa to run. Ozawa just recently quit the post of kanjicho of DPJ because of the corruption cases. Three of his secretaries were arrested and indicted. Ozawa might be arrested and indicted if the committee decides so. Ozawa is known to manage public grants for construction works and reportedly demanded briberies from the companies who gets the works.
Ozawa's assets probably would be in the amount of money he can move. That practically has meant the public money for the Gulf war and construction works. The amount of money, together with that from the former prime minister Hatoyama, an extremely rich heir of Bridgestone company founder, is such that Ozawa seems to have the reputation of "not having to care about ideals, theories, reputations", which indeed is the worst part of Ozawa's tactics. Hatoyama quit his post along with Ozawa for his unpopular "equal and deepened" anti-US policies, especially that regards the Okinawa base problem.
The base problem was fatal. The former PM tried to use the anti-US sentiments in Okinawa for the election and could not cope with the US demands for relocation. The administration collapsed when the coalition with Social Democrats fell apart. PM Naoto Kan took office then and the popularity of the administration dramatically went up, welcoming his pro-US stance. The upperhouse election was held right after and DPJ ended up with some seats lost but not as much as supposed to under Hatoyama-Ozawa rule.
Like it or not, the election is there. Japan and other nations must deal with the election results. The votes might mean Ozawa making deals with Okinawans and buying US bonds, all by the public money. They might show our "morals" that can move things forward, in denuclearization, in the security of the region where the US presence is vital, in human rights which are of particular concern on Tibet, Uighur, Burma and North Korea, and in true prosperity that should not be marred by the compromises that are made between the people up there in Japan and China. Let us hope there will be fair discussions on the matter and "common sense" will prevail.