by KEVIN RAFFERTY
Ichiro Ozawa’s acquittal on charges of infringing the political funds law leaves the man variously called the “Shadow Shogun,” “The Fixer,” “Bully” and “the Destroyer” — free to organize one last throw of the political dice to become kingmaker if not king of Japanese politics.
It will not be easy because there are probably many more people, especially within his own party, who hate Ozawa as those who think of him as the last hope for reforming Japanese politics and rescuing the country from its otherwise inevitable fall to Third World country status. (On Wednesday, lawyers acting as prosecutors appealed Ozawa’s April 26 acquittal to the Tokyo High Court.)
For more than 20 years Ozawa has been the grit in the constantly changing kaleidoscope of Japanese politics, in which the bits clash and change places colorfully without anything really changing at all. Once the young high-flying secretary general of the then ruling Liberal Democratic Party, he helped to end the party’s 40-year power monopoly. He then made and unmade four new parties.
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The public face of the fightback by vested interests is seen in Noda’s determination to restart the country’s nuclear power plants. The only operating reactor of Japan’s 54 nuclear plants, which previously supplied 30 percent of the country’s electricity, was taken offline on May 5 for maintenance.
Japan is importing energy to make up for the shortfall; natural gas imports are running 20 percent higher, helping to push Japan into a record trade deficit for the financial year ended March 30. When the sweltering humid heat of the summer hits in July, it is doubtful whether Japan can get sufficient imports in time. Some areas, such as the Kansai region around Osaka may face cuts of up to 20 percent if alternative energy supplies are not found.
Even with the early introduction of cool-biz attire — open-necked, short-sleeved shirts for suits and ties — this month and super cool biz — Hawaiian shirts — in June, it promises to be a long-suffering summer.
The Japan Times for more