I talked to a Japanese woman who was afraid of this very thing happening. She felt bad for what happened to Abe, but hated his policies and was afraid that in death he’d end up becoming a martyr and sympathy votes would boost his platform.
Abe also has a huge fanbase in America, people here loved him.
My wife said she wanted to vote for someone young, and when came out I asked if she did. She said yes, and I asked, “How old were they?” and she said “IDK, 50-something.”
I find it unsettling that close associates of Abe are posing for photos smiling and celebrating so soon after his death. like literally only a few days after. if I were to make a prediction I expect that they’ll probably push for constitutional reform by declaring it as Abe’s legacy to gain more support. if this happened in the US the conspiracy theories would be running rampant.
Right now all the talk is about how this makes constitutional revision possible, but it might not be that bad. From what I’m seeing support for the revision is very narrow and specific, not the full rollback of the constitution that the far right wants:
>The different stances are evident in arguments made by four parties–the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, junior coalition partner Komeito, and opposition parties Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) and the Democratic Party for the People–about pacifist Article 9.
>Both the LDP and Nippon Ishin want to maintain the current wording in Article 9 about renouncing war as a sovereign right. They also want to leave intact the wording that prohibits Japan from maintaining land, sea and air forces.
>But the parties do want to add wording to the article to make clear the legal existence of the Self-Defense Forces.
>Komeito has not gone that far and is only calling for more discussions about whether the extra wording about the SDF is necessary.
So even if they have the votes to over-ride Komeito’s moderating influence on this now, it looks like the revision would be restricted to a fairly specific and narrow change to article 9. No word on any consensus to roll back individual rights, press freedoms, etc.
Hell, the party could even wind up moving further left. Abe remained the LDP’s kingmaker even after he left office and did a lot to ensure that Kishida only became PM on the condition his people from Nippon Kaigi got key cabinet positions. But his death leaves a huge vaccuum in the party. It’s possible that his successor in his faction is even worse. But it could also give more moderate people in the party like Kono a chance to step up.
As someone who isn’t well-versed in Japan’s politics other than knowing the LDP has been in power for a long time, does this pose any significance for the future? It seems like nothing major will change one way or the other, but again, I’m not well-versed.
*”‘The one in front the gun lives forever”*
Yeah, this is exactly what happens.
Yes…it goes without saying. Shinzo Abe’s unexpected death promoted most Japanese voters’ wake-up moment, so those citizens wished to vote for Abe’s ruling party emotionally. Thus, Shinzo Abe became a hero who made the ruling party’s huge victory in Japan’s politics.
The fact that the LDP won has nothing to do with his assassination. The voter turnout rate was 52%, just a little higher than the record low turnout from a few years ago. The result is exactly the same as it would have been with or without his assassination.
Ugh… Kishida sucks… I just hope the economy turns around soon.
Kishida will be crying in public for Abe’s death but pretty sure he is laughing and cheering in private with his LDP buddies.
Hashtag Japanese democracy.
Bring back the 90s when at least people tried to break the malaise.
Does anyone have any insight on whether the election result will have any bearing on relaxing tourism restrictions?
The 悪魔 you know wins again.
What does this mean for economic policy, lending, and the strength of the yen in the near future?
It’s not that the LDP is great.
It’s the other parties that are absolutely terrible despite how they still get a few seats.
17 comments
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I talked to a Japanese woman who was afraid of this very thing happening. She felt bad for what happened to Abe, but hated his policies and was afraid that in death he’d end up becoming a martyr and sympathy votes would boost his platform.
Abe also has a huge fanbase in America, people here loved him.
My wife said she wanted to vote for someone young, and when came out I asked if she did. She said yes, and I asked, “How old were they?” and she said “IDK, 50-something.”
I find it unsettling that close associates of Abe are posing for photos smiling and celebrating so soon after his death. like literally only a few days after. if I were to make a prediction I expect that they’ll probably push for constitutional reform by declaring it as Abe’s legacy to gain more support. if this happened in the US the conspiracy theories would be running rampant.
Right now all the talk is about how this makes constitutional revision possible, but it might not be that bad. From what I’m seeing support for the revision is very narrow and specific, not the full rollback of the constitution that the far right wants:
>The different stances are evident in arguments made by four parties–the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, junior coalition partner Komeito, and opposition parties Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) and the Democratic Party for the People–about pacifist Article 9.
>Both the LDP and Nippon Ishin want to maintain the current wording in Article 9 about renouncing war as a sovereign right. They also want to leave intact the wording that prohibits Japan from maintaining land, sea and air forces.
>But the parties do want to add wording to the article to make clear the legal existence of the Self-Defense Forces.
>Komeito has not gone that far and is only calling for more discussions about whether the extra wording about the SDF is necessary.
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14663330
So even if they have the votes to over-ride Komeito’s moderating influence on this now, it looks like the revision would be restricted to a fairly specific and narrow change to article 9. No word on any consensus to roll back individual rights, press freedoms, etc.
Hell, the party could even wind up moving further left. Abe remained the LDP’s kingmaker even after he left office and did a lot to ensure that Kishida only became PM on the condition his people from Nippon Kaigi got key cabinet positions. But his death leaves a huge vaccuum in the party. It’s possible that his successor in his faction is even worse. But it could also give more moderate people in the party like Kono a chance to step up.
As someone who isn’t well-versed in Japan’s politics other than knowing the LDP has been in power for a long time, does this pose any significance for the future? It seems like nothing major will change one way or the other, but again, I’m not well-versed.
*”‘The one in front the gun lives forever”*
Yeah, this is exactly what happens.
Yes…it goes without saying.
Shinzo Abe’s unexpected death promoted most Japanese voters’ wake-up moment, so those citizens wished to vote for Abe’s ruling party emotionally.
Thus, Shinzo Abe became a hero who made the ruling party’s huge victory in Japan’s politics.
The fact that the LDP won has nothing to do with his assassination. The voter turnout rate was 52%, just a little higher than the record low turnout from a few years ago. The result is exactly the same as it would have been with or without his assassination.
Ugh… Kishida sucks… I just hope the economy turns around soon.
Kishida will be crying in public for Abe’s death but pretty sure he is laughing and cheering in private with his LDP buddies.
Hashtag Japanese democracy.
Bring back the 90s when at least people tried to break the malaise.
Does anyone have any insight on whether the election result will have any bearing on relaxing tourism restrictions?
The 悪魔 you know wins again.
What does this mean for economic policy, lending, and the strength of the yen in the near future?
It’s not that the LDP is great.
It’s the other parties that are absolutely terrible despite how they still get a few seats.