Lost in the Milieu

According to political commentator Tahara Sōichirō, the meagerness of meaningful political discourse in Japan is the result of the growing complexity of social issues. “Politicians today wrestle with such intricate problems that there is a tendency to gloss over the more complicated issues,” he explains. “Many voters have grown weary of trying to decipher a coherent message from the political chatter and have given up listening altogether.”

Tahara contrasts the situation today with the early years of the Cold War, when Japan’s economy was rapidly expanding. At that time the country was focused entirely on rebuilding from its defeat in World War II. Prime ministers like Yoshida Shigeru (1946–47, 1948–54) and Ikeda Hayato (1960–64) won support by talking to the nation in terms of economic growth, an issue everyone could relate to.

Tahara recalls how Prime Minister Takeshita Noboru (1987–89) glibly dismissed a question about the purchase of advanced equipment for Japan’s Self-Defense Force as “no big deal since it’s a neutered military.” In today’s political climate, a similar statement would almost certainly be met with immediate and intense backlash. “It shows the degree to which the government at the time drew on the diplomatic leverage of the economy,” explains Tahara.

Tongue Tied

Since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and bursting of the bubble economy and subsequent downturn in 1991, Japan has struggled to redefine itself in a shifting world. The growing complexity of charting a precise course has worsened the communication gap. “Politicians are unable to wrap their minds around all the issues and have stopped working to understand their repercussions on the nation,” sighs Tahara.

He points to the issue of US military bases on Okinawa as an example. While there is an obvious overconcentration of bases in the prefecture, politicians are baffled about how to alleviate the burden. Building new bases in other parts of Japan would raise defense spending, an unsavory prospect for voters. Without a viable way forward, politicians continue to kick the can down the road. “Legislators don’t know where to begin, so they turn a blind eye to the issue,” says Tahara. “The media is no better, either. They have the responsibility to summarize issues and offer criticisms, but they are being remiss in their duties.”

The situation has even begun to affect how legislators communicate with their colleagues, as illustrated when the Diet passed the controversial anticonspiracy legislation in June 2017. During deliberations, Justice Minister Kaneda Katsutoshi drew the ire of opposition parties for his incoherent testimony on an especially contentious point of the bill. According to Tahara, the ruling party was in such a hurry to push the proposal through parliament that it neglected to inform the minister until the last minute that it was scheduled for debate.

Returning to the Moritomo Gakuen affair, Tahara decries Abe’s attempts to downplay the seriousness of the matter. He describes the prime minister’s vow to resign from politics if he or his wife are found to be directly involved in the matter as empty, saying it does nothing to move the conversation forward. “It’s typical for Abe to talk without saying anything of substance.”