Japan today - new politics

I get many reports from my friends and also see a great deal online about changes that are occurring in the Japanese political world.

I have now talked to several friends in Japan who understand politics. One was a major party campaign manager for the largest left-wing political party.

What is happening is that the Japanese disdain for their national government that arises from a general sense of political malaise was increased significantly by the failure to deal well with the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown.

This is taking the form of a national interest in consolidation of political support for the mayor of Osaka: Toru Hashimoto.

There will probably be elections to the Diet before Midsummer.  Hashimoto is likely to run many supporters and win more than 100 seats if the press does not crucify him before-hand the way the press tends to do with Republicans in the United States.  With 100 seats for reform he will also find coalitions with sufficient other minority parties to give him national power.

The revolution in politics that Hashimoto is proposing is to distribute political and financial power away from the central government to local governments. He has a slight Milton Friedman agenda, with the intention of reducing the direct restraining power of government over commerce.

Hashimoto is young, persuasive and may well be the face of reform in Japan.