Japan Goes to the Polls

...The Socialists oppose these talks on the ground that the present South Korean regime is unstable, and that they are, in any case, illegal because North Korea is excluded...

...Periodically the truck halted, Okazaki climbed out, bowed in all directions, and begged for the constituents' votes...

...He has also promised a tax cut which he claims will benefit small enterprise...

...These negotiations have dragged on for 12 years and now face further delay due to the campaign...

...But with the U.S...

...urging Japan to assume greater responsibility for its own defense, this matter has become an increasingly thorny one for the government...

...Although the opposition Socialists also favored dissolution to test their strength and to air disagreements with the Liberal Democrats, they had not forced the issue...

...They are concentrating their attacks on the plan to double national income, which they argue is the direct cause of rising consumer prices...

...Ikeda dissolved the Lower House October 23, fully a year before the date set by law and at a time when his party was riding near the crest of its postwar popularity...

...In the past year, homeowners have been startled to discover that the daily wage sought by carpenters has climbed from $4.16 to $5.56...

...The LDP, however, wants to enlarge and modernize the army...

...and Bamoku Ohno, 73-yearold party vice-president who represents the Tammany element in Japanese politics...

...In addition, the capital will be busy hosting the delegates of the International Monetary Fund next September 7-11...

...Ichiro Kono, 65, Sato's chief rival for the next Premiership and currently Minister of Construction...

...The real reason for elections being called this month, however, was Ikeda's desire to reinforce his position as leader of the Liberal Democrats—a fact that can be understood only when viewed against the background of Japan's outmoded, faction-ridden political system...

...Zengakuren, the Left-wing student organization which was chiefly responsible for the cancellation of President Eisenhower's visit here three years ago, is now so badly split between pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese factions that it has lost all its effectiveness as a political force...

...Others argue that support for the Socialists stems largely from protest votes which would quickly desert them if the party ever came close to winning an election...

...The political power of the Liberal Democrats lacks any genuine grassroots support...

...has borne the burden alone, laying out $1.5 billion under the terms of the Mutual Security Treaty...

...Intra-party factions compete for the financial backing of big industrial enterprises, which funnel money back to their supporters to pay for increasingly expensive election campaigns...

...The 62-year-old Liberal Democratic party (LDP) incumbent, who is seeking his fourth term in the Lower House of the Diet, then boarded the truck and braced himself for a long day of campaigning...

...The Socialists complain that even the present establishment is illegal...

...Matsujiro Ishii, 74, former bureaucrat and businessman...

...They ascribe changes in voting habits partly to a shift of rural population to more lucrative jobs in the cities, partly to the growth of a new middle class...

...During the past decade, the opposition Socialists, Democratic Socialists and Communists have increased their vote in each election by 3-5 per cent...

...The system is experiencing some difficulties at the moment because of a stockholders' suit against the Yawata Steel directors asking that they be forced to return funds to the company that they had contributed to political factions without the stockholders' authorization...

...Furthermore, he said, after three years in office, "I decided to ask the people to judge my policies...

...This coming election also lacks the excitement usually provided by two notorious extremist groups, the Zengakuren and the Soka Gakkai sect...

...Once the election was called, of course, the politicians had little choice but to cast about for issues...

...Some political observers respond that "there will always be groupings of people because this is Japanese," doubting that factions can ever be completely rooted out, or that the Japanese will ever cure themselves of their authoritarian political habtis...

...Perhaps most surprised were the politicians themselves when they returned to Tokyo following last spring's elections to find that the price of sukiyaki in the Diet cafeteria had jumped from 35 to 60 cents...

...But talk of reform within the LDP and thorough disgust with factionalism is real, and is being avidly debated by serious young voters who someday will have a profound effect on the narrowing margin between the two parties...

...Understandably, Sato opposed dissolution of the Diet, terming the move "unnecessary...

...Kimono clad housewives toting babies on their backs and aproned shopkeepers paid little attention, but Okazaki's voice was powerful enough to reach over concrete walls and into his neighbors' living rooms...

...Takeo Miki, 56, a public opponent of factionalism...

...On the other hand, it is conceivable that if the Socialists grow in popularity, they will abandon their classical Marxism to lure more voters...

...If Okazaki was largely ignored by an apathetic and somewhat puzzled public, it certainly was not his fault...

...In Japan, where parties consist of multiple groups competing for control and for top ministerial posts, the President of the ruling party automatically becomes Premier...

...Other election issues are projected port calls of unarmed American nuclear submarines, vigorously protested by the Socialists, and negotiations for the restoration of normal relations with Korea...

...But the Democratic Socialists, who held 14 seats at the time of the Diet's dissolution, and the Communists, who held three seats, have joined forces with the Socialists, who held 137 seats, on at least this issue...

...Sixteen candidates are running for the four seats in Okazaki's district, and on election day each voter may write in only one name on the ballot...

...If the Socialists capture 156 seats in the new Diet, they will succeed in blocking any government move to amend the Constitution, a maneuver which requires a two-thirds vote of both Houses...

...The major controversies that have developed are domestic and focus on rising consumer prices...

...The Soka Gakkai sect, which claims 3.7 million family members and has scored impressive victories in past Upper House elections, is not placing any candidates on the ballot, presumably because it stands little chance of winning under non-proportional representation...

...Similar scenes were taking place at that very moment across the country and will be repeated daily until November 21, the day on which 59 million voters will select 467 Diet members from 917 candidates running in Japan's ninth post-war election...

...Not only does it come without apparent reason and without critical issues, but victory for the conservative Liberal Democrats and the continuance of Premier Hayato Ikeda in office is as certain as cherry blossoms next spring...

...Ikeda has countered that his income doubling program is a resounding success...

...Continuing prosperity, combined with Ikeda's program to double national income within a 10-year period ending in 1970, have caused prices to soar...

...Continuing the pattern of the pre-war Conservative party, the LDP is still an alliance between business interests and government bureaucrats...

...Breakup of the cartels during the Occupation resulted in fragmentation of the factions, but their basic character has not really altered...

...The fee at the public bath—patronized by the vast majority of urban dwellers, who do not have their own tubs but dutifully scrub almost every night—rose against violent protest in Tokyo from five to six cents...

...This is Eijo Okazaki," went the refrain, "Eijo Okazaki, the LDP candidate from your district for the House of Representatives...

...Japan now maintains a makeshift Defense Force of 180,000 men, declared legal by the Supreme Court, which acknowledges a country's inherent right to defend itself...

...As the truck snaked its way through Shibuya's narrow winding street, two college coeds took turns blaring Okazaki's name over a loudspeaker...

...Bernard Krisher, a new contributor, frequently writes on Japanese political developments...

...Given the customary pace of Japanese justice, years will pass before final appeals reach the Supreme Court...

...But politicians report that money is still pouring in...

...Moments later, as he put on his shoes, his maid affixed a white sash that also bore his name across his chest and carefully pinned a yellow paper chrysanthemum to his jacket...

...The alternative of elections next spring also was dismissed on the ground that it takes time for administrative machinery to get into gear after general elections, and therefore passage of budget bills will be delayed...

...Ikeda was quick to explain that while the election could have been postponed until next year, this would be impractical because Tokyo is preparing for the Olympics next October 10-24...

...Through contributions to these research organizations, large business firms retain a hold on politicians...

...Unlike the general election of 1960 which toppled Nobusuke Kishi's regime, this election has not captured the imagination of the Japanese...

...The Socialists, whose main support comes from labor unions and teachers, are charging that consumer prices have spiralled upward by 20 per cent in the past three years...

...The political situation, argued Ikeda, should be settled before a large influx of visitors arrive...

...Finally, the politicians will save the near ruinous expense of year-end gifts to constituents if the election is held before January...

...Since there is no proportional representation, the four candidates gaining the highest number of votes will win...

...With Japan's prestige continually rising abroad (Ikeda proudly observes that it is now considered one of the three pillars of the free world), with the Liberal Democrats assured of the farmers' votes, with 84 per cent of families owning television sets, 62 per cent owning washing machines, and 38 per cent owning refrigerators, this has not been an easy task...

...The most prominent factions are headed by Ikeda...

...This has been responsible for much of their popular support, especially from students and women who fear a revival of Japanese militarism...

...Ikeda's leading rival within the party, and the man regarded as most likely to succeed the 63-yearold Premier one day, is 62-year-old Eisaku Sato, younger brother of former Premier Kishi...

...The LDP has been carefully soft-pedaling the issue because it knows how difficult it would be to gain popular support for revising the clause, which prohibits Japan from waging war or maintainning armed forces...

...And the Socialists, too, are split into factions ranging ideologically from Communists to Neutralists...

...Of all the questions before the electorate, probably the most important one concerns revision of the "Renunciation of War" clause in the U.S.-imposed Japanese Constitution...

...the government insists that 6.7 per cent is a more realistic figure...

...The most attentive spectators were invariably groups of kindergarten tots who would gather around Okazaki as though he were a visitor from Mars...

...Ikeda has proceeded so skillfully on everything else that inflation remains the only major issue the parties can debate...

...Sato...

...At present, foreign policy is the chief area of dispute between the Liberal Democrats and the Socialists...

...But he admits that Japan's fantastic rate of economic growth has surpassed even his expectations, and he has agreed to slow the tempo of expansion so as to eliminate some of its more inflationary effects...

...Aiichiro Fujiyama, 66-year-old businessman and former Foreign Minister under Kishi...

...In the final days before November 21, political discussion in bars and coffee houses reflects the general apathy toward this "unnecessary" election...

...Thus far, the U.S...

...A ruling against the directors by the Tokyo District Court shocked the political world, and may discourage future contributions from cautious company executives...

...Before the War there were two main conservative factions financed principally by Mitsui and Mitsubishi...

...It should further be added that November elections assure the greatest turnout of the LDP's stoutest supporters, the traditionally conservative farmers who will be relatively idle after gathering the fall rice harvest...

...Some commentators predict that if the trend continues, the Socialists may come to power by 1970...

...It is no secret that many candidates insure election by lavish gifts and the outright purchase of votes...

...Disguised as "research" organizations, the new, smaller groups have no legal basis, yet they are the lifeblood of Japanese politics...

...Please, 1 beg you, remember Eijo Okazaki...

...As Japan continues to grow economically, socially, and even physically—Tokyo, for example, is undergoing a major face-lift in preparation for the Olympics—politics, though seemingly democratic, remain essentially unchanged...

...THE QUIET ELECTION Japan Goes to the Polls By Bernard Krisher Tokyo Early one morning last week mild looking Eijo Okazaki, dressed in a black suit, was eating breakfast in the Western-style dining room of his house in the Shibuya district of Tokyo when a small sound truck with his name painted in black kana against a yellow background drove into the front yard...

...By calling for elections now, with the LDP assured of certain victory, Ikeda is re-establishing his position as party leader and simultaneously guaranteeing his re-election when his term as party President expires next July...

...One candidate frankly admitted that his campaign cost him close to $100,000...

...Younger voices in the Liberal Democratic party like Miki and Yasuhiro Nakasone, who favors direct popular election of the Premier, warn that if it fails to modernize, to eliminate factions, and to bridge the gap between itself and people, it faces eventual defeat at the polls...