By Hiroaki Konno

On September 22, '03, Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi was re-elected as the president of Japan's dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and began his second term as Prime Minister. Although there were many politicians with more experience, Koizumi appointed Shinzo Abe, who has been elected only three times, to be the LDP's chief secretary, under the Mori faction in the LDP. He also re-appointed Heizo Takenaka to be the head of Japan's Financial Service Agency (FSA). Mr. Koizumi, this time too, defeated three other candidates, though he got fewer votes compared with that of 2001, when he stated, "If the LDP does not change, I will destroy it." The approval rating of the Koizumi Cabinet is now 59 percent, compared to about 80 percent in 2001.

In his former Cabinet, Koizumi had chosen seasoned politicians as his Cabinet Ministers without consulting the representative of each faction. The Japanese public were shocked by the sudden dismissal of former Foreign Minister, Makiko Tanaka, who took responsibility for the Foreign Ministry's exclusion of a Japanese NGO, Peace Wing Japan, from the Afghanistan Assistance Conference in 2001, and Muneo Suzuki, chairman of the House Representatives Rules and Administrative Committee who had intervened in this decision. If Koizumi had pursued the scandal and the corruption committed by Suzuki, instead of just expelling Tanaka, the stain left on his government might not be there today. The scandal revealed the dark side of politics in Japan.

The Koizumi Cabinet also enacted the Emergency Bill in '02, and executed the Three Laws Related with the Emergency Bill on June '03, for fear of a future attack North Korea and as a result of the tragedy of Sept. 11. As for the Structural Reform, Koizumi established Japan's Postal Service. In addition, he started the Law of the Definitive Area for Structural Reform, which states that local autonomous governing bodies should act on their own and not to be helped by the Japanese Government. Concerning the Japanese economy, Koizumi's promise regarding the issue of decreasing the national debt of \30 trillion was broken almost immediately after he became Prime Minister. In fact, the national debt has increased to more than \36 trillion in 2003. Koizumiﾕs economic policies have not produced results yet, although some policies have improved certain aspects of the economy. In October, the Nikkei Stock Average was in the \11,000s, and the growing rate of the economy in the second quarter was close to 43 percent. Although Japan's unemployment rate still remains at 5.5 percent and the economic state depends on that of the U.S.A, Japan's economy seems to be rebounding.

One of the factors delaying Koizumi's economic reform policy was an incident involving dirty bureaucrats in October this year, a month before the general election. It centered around the dismissal of Japan Highway Public Corporation's Haruho Fujii. Although Japan Highway Public Corporation is a private company, it was created by the Japanese Government. Thus, Fujii, the president of Japan Highway Public Corporation, was also a bureaucrat. He is a typical bureaucrat and is often called "the axis of all bureaucrats." A bureaucrat should do what the representatives of the nation decide, but bureaucrats are not always willing to do this. Although a politician in a "high position" uses bureaucrats to carry out decisions, the bureaucrats often do not listen. One of Koizumi's first challenges with his second cabinet will be whether he can eliminate "Amakudari", a system where a government official can get an important post in a private company (like Japan Highway Public Corporation) after retirement. Though Nobuaki Ishihara, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation, dismissed Fujii on October 24 in the end, the fact the hearing and dismissal was a drawn out affair raises concerns about Koizumi's power. A bureaucrat should not have the power to shirk his or her responsibility. Koizumi ought to face corrupt bureaucrats and expel them quickly.

It is best if Cabinet Ministers and bureaucrats cooperate when governing. It is silly if both cannot work together with faith to solve problems inside the party. As the Democratic Party (DP) insists on "the post bureaucrats process" in its manifest, bureaucrats believe the present political system is clearly going in the wrong direction. Japanese citizens hope politicians, whom they trust, lead the nation in the right direction. However, there are many politicians who are not interested in politics to help the nation, but just think highly of their parties. Politicians and citizens must work together to realize Koizumi's reforms and the manifest, which all the parties agreed to. The Japanese people appreciate politicians who devote themselves to governing Japan, even if their devotion does not always bear fruit. Japan's role in world politics will be restored if the citizens, politicians and the bureaucrats work together honestly. Let us hope the current administration can do this.