Japan is going to the polls on September 11, in a classic act of Koizumism. I became a bit of a fan of the Japanese PM four years ago, in spite of the fact that he heads the LDP, a conservative party. I can only say that, despite my own centre-left instincts, something about the man, his ideas and his manner, grabbed me..
In the last four years he has struggled to drag a party beholden to special interests and business-as-usual (even when the means of conducting it have been discredited), into the modern era. By Japanese standards, he has been unorthodox and controversial. But the centrepiece of his reform agenda, the privatisation of the Japanese post office and allied services, was finally defeated in the parliament a week or so ago. Hence Koizumi's crash-through-or-crash poll.
I haven't always agreed with his agenda. I think the visits to Yasakuni were needlessly provocative, even if the principle was sound enough. I think he cozied up too close to Washington (though still mildly by comparison with the sycophants in the Australian Government) and should have pushed more firmly for an opening of Japan's highly-protected agricultural sector.
But this will be an election worth watching. Oh, I wish I was in Japan right now!
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