General election of the upper house: beyond the policy

Today is a general election of the upper house in Japan.

The vote rate seems to be low. The NHK news reported that the vote rate would reach 32.64 % at 6 PM, lower than the last time by 6.96 %. The final vote rate will remain about 50%, which is nearly the lowest in recent years.

NHK news: vote for general election ended. (in Japanese)

My past entry: Why do we vote?

One of the reasons is that the result of this election is easy to predict. The Abe administration and ruling Liberal Democratic Party is widely supported. On the other hand Democratic Party is severely criticized because of poor administration during these 3 years. Japan Restoration Party also aroused hostility due to the comment of the leader, Mr. Toru Hashimoto, about comfort women. After all, opposite parties are too weak to compete to Liberal Democratic Party.

My past entry: Mr. Hashimoto recommend soldiers to use sex industries: true meanings and meaningless

On the other hand, some candidates belong to Communist Party seem to win the election in Tokyo and Osaka. It is rare for Communist Party to get the seat at a small electoral distinct. Not a few people begin to have doubts for the capitalism even in big cities. It is an interesting tendency.

Mr. Miki Watanabe, the founder of Watami, a huge food service company seems to lose. He is criticized as a dirty employer who operates employees just like slaves. I think this criticism is biased. Perhaps he is an excellent manager, but a successful manager is not always a successful politician.

The battle between Mr. Taro Yamamoto and Mr. Kan Suzuki in Tokyo was a close fight. Mr. Taro Yamamoto is energetic person. But I dislike him for his opinion on the atomic power plants is much warped. Mr. Kan Suzuki had contributed to the revision of election law to utilize internet activity for election. Unfortunately, Mr. Suzuki seems to lose the seat.

The term of representatives in the upper house is 6 years. And the next general election is 3 years after. The administration of Liberal Democratic Party will be stable for a while. I think it is not bad for Japan. Many prime ministers had changed again and again in recent years. However, I do not think that a strong political power will improve the situation of Japan. The thing Japan truly needs is various activities of citizens, not an absolute political initiative. It is the best that politicians have not to do anything. I shall not expect the politicians, instead concentrate to my own business.

Postscript: Mr. Miki Watanabe finally got a seat. He said he would make efforts in Japan.
The final vote rate was 52.61 %. It is the 3rd lowest in after the WW II, according to Asahi Shinbun.


(*sequel)