Amid an autumn breeze, a whirlwind transition has engulfed the political scene like the changing seasons. The government changed hands in what Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama described as “a triumph for democracy in Japan and a victory for the Japanese people” in his speech before the U.N. General Assembly.
Whether it is in fact a true victory will be decided by the people after Japan actually undergoes serious structural change. Here are some quotes from September, a month in which many turbulent political changes have occurred to make history.
A 45-year-old taxi driver, who gave his name simply as “Toshi,” liked the way newly appointed Cabinet ministers gave their inaugural news conferences. “They all spoke impromptu,” he said. “They are more serious than I thought. It is as though they are driving at full speed as they make a sharp turn. But I wonder if they can really make it.”
Already, a tsunami is shaking government offices in the Kasumigaseki district. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada ordered ministry officials to look into secret agreements between the governments of Japan and the United States, saying, “This problem caused public distrust to spread and as a result weakened Japan’s diplomacy.”
“It is the job of politicians to make the move,” said a high-ranking Foreign Ministry official, adding that “if the prime minister or the foreign minister tells us to investigate, we will.”
Akira Nagatsuma, who “marched into” the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare as its chief, told his subordinates: “I am an examiner assigned by the people. I may clash with you, but I want you to get all the dirt out of your system.” Waving a copy of the Democratic Party of Japan’s manifesto, he said: “This is a written order of the people. Please carry it with you and carefully read it.”
The government told Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, of its plan to cancel construction of the Yanba Dam. An angry town official blasted the decision, saying, “Because of the dam whose completion remains uncertain, the town became divided between proponents and opponents and residents who decided to move and those who remained behind.” The town greeted Seiji Maehara, the minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, who came to inspect the site, with a sign that said “early completion.”
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said to the effect that every government has the right to change its policy, indicating a relaxed attitude by the Obama administration toward the DPJ’s plan to re-examine security policy. Apparently, she believes a party will become more realistic once it gains power. “You campaign in poetry but you govern in prose,” she told voters (during her presidential election campaign).
Audiences both at home and abroad are attentively watching changes that are about to unfold.