Technically Abe's party is the 'Liberal Democratic Party'.
Far left as in American terms though not a chance in hell.
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigning due to health
- Thread starter Nahbac
- Start date
Technically Abe's party is the 'Liberal Democratic Party'.
Far left as in American terms though not a chance in hell.
Keep in mind that "declining health" is often just a code in cases like this. It gives them an out and lets them save a little face. I personally don't believe that his health is the real reason he's resigning, but of course I could be wrong. I mean, he stepped down in 2007 because of diarrhea. Really?
Not a chance in hell. Japan is an extremely conservative electorate. The conservative LDP (Liberal Democratic party) has only been out of power for about five years since 1955 - once in 1993-94, and again between 2009-2012. Their only serious opposition in recent times was the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which governed in 2009-12 but has since split.
Interestingly though they have a very high turnover of leaders. The LDP has big internal factions and there are regularly changes of Prime Minister mid-term. Most Prime Ministers are lucky to get two years.
Shinzo Abe is, believe it or not, the longest serving Japanese Prime minister ever (8 years and 8 months if you include his brief first term in 2006-07).
Good riddance.
Names don't mean anything when it comes to political parties. The LDP is pretty hard right.
In Australia the main conservative party is called the Liberal Party.
Names don't mean anything when it comes to political parties. The LDP is pretty hard right.
In Australia the main conservative party is called the Liberal Party.
That's because liberalism doesn't really have to be about social politics.
If you're a capitalist you're a liberal.
Would be great if more people knew about what they are discussing: Abe has had underlying health conditions his whole life which have already resulted in him giving up the PM role once back in 2007. This time though due to his age and the length of his role (Just over 2800 days), I doubt we will see him return.
There must have been rumours about this happening soon as the DPP have been attempting to combine with the CDP to form a larger voting block (it just needs to be approved)
It would be great to have a woman in place but Japan is worse than the UK for having old boys clubs in politics - the best you're going to get is Koike, but she just won her election for governing Tokyo, so won't be able to do it - plus she isn't all that much more different to the current style of politics at the moment.
There must have been rumours about this happening soon as the DPP have been attempting to combine with the CDP to form a larger voting block (it just needs to be approved)
It would be great to have a woman in place but Japan is worse than the UK for having old boys clubs in politics - the best you're going to get is Koike, but she just won her election for governing Tokyo, so won't be able to do it - plus she isn't all that much more different to the current style of politics at the moment.
If anything I think the new right wing populist partys will make gains at national level.
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I see you've already edited, but Abe's handling of COVID is just about the worst of any leader aside from Trump. After his stupid mask fiasco, he's basically gone into hiding, leaving the Tokyo Governor, Yuriko Koike, to be the national face for fighting COVID. He's been a coward throughout this entire ordeal.
Yes, and that's precisely the reason the Liberal Party is called what it is. We often have to distinguish between the two as capital L Liberals and lowercase l liberals.
But my point is it can be counterintuitive, so calling the LDP left wing because of the name of their party makes no sense.
I'm not defending Abe here (he can fuck off in general), but he has ulcerative colitis. As someone who also has ulcerative colitis, it's far from just "diarrhea".
Is that akin to Crohn's? If so, then yes, that shit is no joke. I still can't help but question the timing of all this.
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Abe isn't the problem. The issue is nobody really cares about or talk about politics here in Japan. It's discouraged to even bring up the subject of politics. I had a friend here once with whom I brought up some issues and he quickly got annoyed and replied "that's just how things are" and that about sums the level of political analysis that most people engage with. He was angry for the rest of the day.
People take a neutral discussion on politics personally and if you push even the slightest they'll just say something about personal values and then the discussion is over.
Another friend of mine is actually informed and very open minded, which again is super rare here. His take is that Japanese people love rules, and that systems here tend to optimize for the rules themselves rather than the thing the rules were supposed to do in the first place. I think that's true.
Overall it's just disappointing. I lived here in 2003 for a year, then 2005. Then came back in 2017. It's almost as if the country hasn't changed at all. There are many great things to love about Japan, but it's an extremely stagnant country and talking to people here they don't seem to even think about or imagine how society could be better. Things are just the way things are...
I think much of it boils down to the educational system which is great in a few areas but abysmal for creating citizens who figure out what is wrong about society and then do something about it. The educational system here if anything is optimized for the opposite. Which makes sense, considering japan is effectively a one-party state so why would the people in power want to change a single thing about it?
People take a neutral discussion on politics personally and if you push even the slightest they'll just say something about personal values and then the discussion is over.
Another friend of mine is actually informed and very open minded, which again is super rare here. His take is that Japanese people love rules, and that systems here tend to optimize for the rules themselves rather than the thing the rules were supposed to do in the first place. I think that's true.
Overall it's just disappointing. I lived here in 2003 for a year, then 2005. Then came back in 2017. It's almost as if the country hasn't changed at all. There are many great things to love about Japan, but it's an extremely stagnant country and talking to people here they don't seem to even think about or imagine how society could be better. Things are just the way things are...
I think much of it boils down to the educational system which is great in a few areas but abysmal for creating citizens who figure out what is wrong about society and then do something about it. The educational system here if anything is optimized for the opposite. Which makes sense, considering japan is effectively a one-party state so why would the people in power want to change a single thing about it?
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I don't understand what the people in this thread celebrating Abe's resignation think will happen. We're gonna get Aso and he's legitimately batshit and has diarrhea of the mouth.
At least Abe has decorum and has maintained control of the LDP for the good part of 8 years.
At least Abe has decorum and has maintained control of the LDP for the good part of 8 years.
No, you actually don't want anyone to win. The leftwing in Japan barely exists.
There's a communist party, I guess.
There's also Isshin who appeal to the younger people but its not what you think appealing to young folks means.
He's said some really stupid shit and was a laughingstock the first time around.
There's a communist party, I guess.
There's also Isshin who appeal to the younger people but its not what you think appealing to young folks means.
He's said some really stupid shit and was a laughingstock the first time around.
This mirrors 13 years of ongoing experience in Japan for me. Political discourse outside educational circles is a kiss of death to one's social life.
I mean there's bad and there's worse? Someone mentioned the populist party making inroads
No one talks about politics in Japan the same way no one talks about it in the US. Most people just don't give a shit.
I don't know what friends you have that would otherize you for doing it unless you wouldn't stop trying to bring it up or something equally socially wrong thing.
I don't know what friends you have that would otherize you for doing it unless you wouldn't stop trying to bring it up or something equally socially wrong thing.
Yep, that's pretty much my experience, too.
It's not just politics. I find that it's also the case with societal problems in general.
I agree that the education system has a lot to do with it. The crazy work lives of many people here doesn't help either.
Sanctuary is my favorite manga ever written; glad to see someone bring it up in the first time since, forever.
Abe presser in exactly one hour.
A very short summary of Japan is that its a super conservative country where the youth don't vote at all. Only conservatives win and the LDP has had a death grip on power since forever.
Being happy Abe is gone is one thing but when his replacements are probably all worse then its not really something to be excited about.
Being happy Abe is gone is one thing but when his replacements are probably all worse then its not really something to be excited about.
Seems Abe wants to prevent Ishiba succeeding him:
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