Opinion

Japan'S Quirky Democracy

By SCOTT T. HARDS

Well, the election is over and almost everything is the same. Isn't that the way it always works here in Japan?

As a foreigner, I of course don't have the right to vote in this country. But I still find myself interested in Japanese politics and I watch elections very closely. And although I've lived in Japan for nearly 15 years, even now I sometimes find myself scratching my head at the choices of Japanese voters.

There were plenty of puzzling examples this time: Yuko Obuchi, who until her father's untimely death had never shown any special interest in politics and who has zero experience, was elected with an astounding 76.4 percent of the vote in her district, utterly crushing the opposition, primarily one experienced politician who had been elected 11 times during his career.

Were these just sympathy votes? Or do the voters of Gunma believe her to be that much better than anyone else? Likewise, voters in Shimane elected the brother of the late former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita by a landslide, despite a lack of any experience on his part.

Voters in Mie and Ibaraki de cided that they wanted to be represented by convicted criminals. Takao Fujinami and Kishiro Nakamura won re-election, despite the fact that they have been convicted of bribe-taking. It was just last fall that the opposition parties in the Diet were attempting to pass legislation to force Fujinami to resign his seat. Perhaps voters believe those men will now put their money-collecting skills to work for their home constituencies.

In the United States, it would be virtually unthinkable for someone to be elected to public office under circumstances like these. Experience and morals are generally highly regarded by voters. Family ties are not.

Maybe U.S. voters are a bit more careful whom they vote for because their representatives actually do some representing! In the U.S. political system, members of Congress are more able to act on behalf of their home districts than in Japan.

Here, party members are simply expected to cast their votes as directed by their party's leaders. To do otherwise risks punishment and expulsion from their party. They almost never draft legislation. Under such con ditions, how can a Diet member possibly make independent decisions on behalf of their home district?

And then there's the proportional representation system — people casting votes for parties instead of individuals. Just who are these people that the parties are sending to the Diet? Frankly, anybody they want to. Entertainers or other famous people are not unusual.

Worse, there have been cases where it appears wealthy individuals were essentially able to purchase a seat in the Diet through hefty campaign contributions. Nobody has voted directly for these faceless politicians, yet they function with as much power in the government as those directly elected by the public. This concept is utterly alien to Americans.

But you know what the most perplexing thing about all of this is? Somehow, despite all of these seeming problems, Japan's democratic system manages to produce a group of leaders who generally get the job done. Sure, this country has a lot of things that need to be fixed, but what country doesn't? It's a great place to live and I'm not going anywhere!

Shukan ST: July 14, 2000

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