Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's decline is reviving an old question about Japanese politics: why does the world's second-largest economy produce such lackluster leaders?
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Newsweek columnist Takashi Yokota
JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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Daily life in Japan is punctuated by mind-boggling encounters with gross inattention to or tolerance of clearly excessive, unnecessary, easily reducible costs that are, in any case, being incurred and must at some point be paid for.
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Japanese politicians cannot decide on anything. Without an overhaul of the way the nation’s government is structured, Japan will sink within three to five years.
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We, as a creator of images, should not edit our publication in a way that would reinforce the ideal image of beauty built on lopsided ideas. We will make suggestions also for diet and health.
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Who wants to be the first judge to order a crying child to be taken away from a crying Japanese mother and sent overseas? Nobody. When we talk about family law in Japan today, there really isn't any.
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I'll seek the public's judgment after completing what I have to do.
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9 Comments
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CoolCali
1)Too much emphasis on preserving the 'wa' and not enough stones to tackle the tough issues with the forethought that not everyone will be happy.
2)Too many backroom dealings instead of transparency or at least the illusion thereof.
3)Too many unelected, over privileged wankers in the bureaucracy.
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kyoken
Excellent question!
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ben4short
In addition to "lackluster leaders," why does the world's second-largest economy produce such a lackluster populace?
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ben4short
Nisegaiji:
"Free markets and less government" in Japan? Are you joking? In which cave have you been living the past 30 years?
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nisegaijin
Maybe because Japan has such lackluster leaders, it has such powerful economy. Economy made by free markets and less government. If only this lackluster government wasn't such a spendthrift, Japan would be in a lot better shape.
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mareo2
Because we keep voting people that dont do the reforms that we need for get out of the continue decline of our country.
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Kronos
Because they are just figure heads. The power behind the throne - so to speak - are the bureaucrats in the government. The same logic as traditional Japanese companies.
Remember head of Toyota when the recalls happened and what was said in the press about how in a Japanese company the head of the company is just a figure head? Same thing.
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tmarie
Because it is a family thing. Great thinkers and leaders aren't given the chance here because everything seems to get passed down - see Koizumi and his slimy son who people think are wonderful because of his dad yet has done NOTHING himself.
That and people who are sheeple scare everyone else. Yukio started so well but wasn't able to do much because the public and his party won't let him do anything different than those in the past. It seems Japan still wants to spend money it doesn't have and anything to do with cutbacks scares folks.
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