The Democratic Party of Japan Ends the Year With a Wimper

Japan’s Diet adjourned for the year last Friday after the passage of the fiscal 2011 budget following several acrimonious months of misguided policy decisions and an inability to come to terms with a divided Parliament. Following the sudden resignation of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatayama in June for among other failures to resolve the issue of U.S. military bases on Okinawa he was replaced by Democratic Party Secretary (DPJ) General Naoto Kan. Senescing a change the public gave it’s over whelming support to the new government. But, like unaware bubble dweller and with Upper House elections due in August Prime Minister Kan decides that this is a good time advocate for an increase in the Consumption Tax. Unable to articulate exactly what he wanted the Democratic Party of Japan lost its majority in the Upper House to the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) now in opposition after more than fifty years in power.

September brought no relief for the DPJ as its party leadership election was to be held. Instead of rallying behind Naoto Kan the party was split when former DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa announced his intention to challenge Kan for the parties’ leadership in spite of his involvement in a political funds scandal. Naoto Kan was able to retain his parties’ presidency overwhelming Ozawa in the final vote count.
Then a Chinese fishing trawler rammed two Japanese coast guard vessels. What followed was more of the “What am I doing here” rather actually showing true leadership. Arresting the captain of the Chinese trawler for violations of Japanese territorial waters and the deliberate ramming of the coast vessels this was somehow turned an international incident even though the Japanese coast guard had video evidence of the encounter. The incident was reported by the broadcast and print media including the revelation that video of the encounter was in the hands of the coast guard.
Once again showing all the backbone of an invertebrate the government refuses to release any portion of the video, which that had been allowed it would have clearly strengthened Japans position in its dispute with China. Naturally, the public perception was that of a weak and ineffectual foreign policy. On November 4 video of the ramming was leaked through posting on YouTube which clearly showed the incident as described by the government as being true. Dawning, its dunce cap the Japanese sets out on a witch hunt to find, prosecute and imprison the person who leaked the video which turned out to be a member of the coast guard. Remember the public already knows of the videos existence yet the Japanese government for reasons only they understand believed its citizens were incapable of handling something as mundane as this.