Photo/Illutration From left: Fumio Kishida, Yoshihide Suga and Shigeru Ishiba attend a joint news conference at the Liberal Democratic Party’s headquarters in Tokyo’s Nagatacho district on Sept. 8. (The Asahi Shimbun)

Exactly 30 years ago, the Yomiuri Giants of the Central League clinched the league championship faster than either of Japan's two professional baseball leagues had ever done before.

Reporting this extraordinary feat in its Sept. 9 morning edition, The Asahi Shimbun echoed baseball fans' sense of anticlimactic letdown--thanks to the Giants' utter invincibility--in headlines that went something like, "That's it for this year's pro baseball? Bummer" and "This wasn't an exciting season."

In retrospect, however, the season actually had many highlights until the very end.

The batting title competition was fierce, and there were memorable performances by rookies, including Hideo Nomo. And in the Japan Series, the Giants compiled an unthinkable four-game losing streak.

In competitive sports, the final outcome is anyone's guess.

But how about the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election campaign that kicked off on Sept. 8?

Former party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba announced his slogan of "Nattoku to Kyokan" (Acceptance and empathy), while that of Fumio Kishida, chairman of the party's Policy Research Council, is "Bundan kara Kyocho e" (From division to collaboration).

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who seems to have a comfortable lead, effectively pledged to perpetuate his predecessor's administration.

The three candidates are offering three different approaches.

Focusing just on their styles of speech, Suga gave the impression of being a rather modest person. Though known for his ruthless treatment of bureaucrats he doesn't like, he presented himself as "the eldest son of a farmer in snow-bound Akita Prefecture."

To use a baseball analogy, he stressed his political career as that of a ballplayer who never shone at Koshien as a high schooler nor was considered the top draft pick by any team.

Former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka (1918-1993) famously said: "You can become a Cabinet minister if you try. You can become one of the party's top three executives if you try really hard. But you cannot become the LDP president and prime minster by your effort alone."

These wise words are those of a man who was thoroughly familiar with the "underside" of the political community where there is no guarantee of reaching the highest post even if your predecessor has stepped down in your favor or anointed you for the job.

Even though Suga's victory in this LDP presidential election is effectively a foregone conclusion, we would be missing out on something if we stop paying attention to it too soon.

For better or for worse, the three candidates are the LDP's star players who collectively form what is referred to in baseball as the "heart" of the batting order.

We ought to scrutinize each of them to determine who is the most appropriate "face" of Japan.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 9

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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