Bridge over troubled waters

The Liberal Democratic Party won 294 of the 480 seats in the Japanese parliamentary election on Dec 16. Together with its coalition partner, the Komeito (Clean Government Party), that won 31 seats, it now controls more than two-thirds of the seats, enough to amend Japan's constitution.

The LDP won a landslide victory not because Japanese voters supported it wholeheartedly but because they were disappointed with the Democratic Party of Japan, which realized a much-needed political transition in September 2009 but failed to turn its election promises into reality.

The DPJ was not only unable to fully implement its promises such as child allowance, free highways and tax exemptions, but also increased the consumption tax. In other words, the LDP won the election because the DPJ betrayed the public. Of the 180 seats for proportional representatives, the LDP won only 57 this time, similar to the number it won in the 2009 election. Thus, the LDP's resounding victory can be attributed to the small electoral system and its relative popularity vis-a-vis the DPJ.

In this sense, Japan's voters did not support the seemingly nationalistic policies that LDP Chairman Shinzo Abe talked about during his election campaign. Writing in Bungei Shunju, a Japanese monthly magazine, Abe said there was no room for negotiations with but only deterrence against China on the Diaoyu Islands (called Senkaku Islands in Japan).

The fact is the Japanese public has not paid much attention to the international side of Abe's political platform. Instead, it has focused on the domestic aspect, especially how Japan's economy will be rejuvenated.

Abe is regarded as hawkish for two reasons: Self-Defense Forces and education reforms. He has said that the Self-Defense Forces should be renamed as the "National Defense Forces". The term "Self-Defense Forces" has been interpreted as neither a military nor a police. It is because of this ambiguity that neighboring countries have reacted strongly to it.