Photo/Illutration Yukio Edano, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, takes questions from reporters at an Oct. 31 news conference. (Wataru Sekita)

The nation’s opposition parties joined forces to fight the Oct. 31 Lower House election. But they, rather than the ruling party, ended up being taught a lesson by voters.

That, at least, is my take on the results of an Asahi Shimbun post-election opinion poll.

One question asked was, “Should the opposition parties strive further to jointly field just one candidate in next year’s Upper House election?” Twenty-seven percent of voters in the survey replied in the affirmative, but 51 percent did not.

This election was characterized by the opposition bloc’s decision to put up a united front. But the poll results make clear why this was met with an unexpectedly cool reception by voters. 

And asked what they thought was the reason the ruling Liberal Democratic Party won by an overwhelming majority, 65 percent said “because the opposition parties cannot be relied upon.”

Perhaps their policy on lowering the consumption tax rate came across as unrealistic. Or, voters were bothered by the differences between the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) and the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) on national security.

CDP leader Yukio Edano quit on Nov. 12, and the party has effectively started preparing for an election to pick his successor.

We hope the party will painstakingly analyze the failure of its strategy and figure out how to make a fresh start.

“I wasn’t good enough,” Edano said, using the boilerplate words of concession uttered by defeated generals throughout Japanese history.

But in reality, I believe the problem was not so much Edano’s lack of leadership but that of the entire party leaning far too much on him to do everything alone. It has often been pointed out that the CDP’s decision-making is a top-down process. 

Switching subjects, Tsuyoshi Shinjo has become the manager of the long-suffering pro baseball team Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

At his inaugural news conference, I was shocked when he declared, “I have absolutely no intention of striving for the championship.” And he went on, “We’ll just keep up our basic training and practice, day in and day out. And come September, what if we happen to be in contention for the pennant?”

The importance of daily effort applies to political parties, too. And that entails listening to people, refining party policies and increasing party members in local assemblies, one by one.

Only then will the ruling and opposition parties be evenly matched to bring about a change of government.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 13

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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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