CIAO DATE: 01/04

What's at Stake in Japan's Elections?

Takao Toshikawa and Richard Katz

The PacNet Newsletter 2003
November 6, 2003

The Center for Strategic and International Studies

 

Abstract

In a series of newspaper advertisements, a few of Japan's more cosmopolitan business leaders, including Kazuo Inamori, founder of Kyocera, pointed to what's really at stake in the November 9 elections for the Lower House of Japan's Diet. "We support a nation where a change of government is possible," they wrote.

They're right. Will this election produce a great leap forward toward contested elections by creating a closer balance between the ruling Liberal Democrats (LDP) and the main opposition party, the Democrats (DPJ)? Going into the election, the LDP held 246 seats, just five more than a majority. By contrast, the DPJ had only 137. Most forecasters believe the LDP will lose some seats and the DPJ gain a fairly large number—with no change in government. But can the DPJ gain enough seats to create the sense among voters that, some day, it could actually take power?

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