Photo/Illutration Candidates in the LDP presidential election give speeches at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo's Nagatacho district on Sept. 12. (Takeshi Iwashita)  

In a study that became known as “The Jam Experiment,” a supermarket laid out six varieties of jam on a display table one day and 24 varieties on another day.

When there were six choices available, 30 percent of the customers who sampled them made a purchase. But when there were 24, only 3 percent of the shoppers made a purchase.

Having more choices makes choosing less easy, concluded Sheena Iyengar, a co-publisher of the study and a professor at the Columbia Business School.

I am fully aware that consumer psychology has little to do with anyone’s political choice. Still, with a record nine candidates running in the upcoming Liberal Democratic Party presidential race, it must be difficult to make a choice.

The public is judging the party harshly for its slush fund scandals and infamous relations with the former Unification Church.

To recover the party’s credibility that is practically dead, every one of the nine candidates must have made a tremendous commitment to the cause.

Surely, no one could have declared their candidacy just out of some base desire for power, to become prime minister or improve their name recognition.

Now that there are no more restraints from “habatsu” intraparty factions, surely, nobody could be seeking the presidency—never mind if they lose the election—just to boost their presence in the party.

Nobody could possibly be thinking, “Even if I lose, the damage will be small because there are nine in this race.”

And every candidate’s policy is responsible and anything but pork barrel politics, being based on meticulous calculations of how the funding may be secured.

Why, then, am I still far from feeling reassured? Are the candidates truly and sincerely committed to reforming the LDP?

Could it be that this party, which has made flashy campaign posters, is already thinking ahead to the next general election that could be held before long, so that this presidential election can be used to choose the "face" of the party and promote it?

A little over 1 million party members and supporters are said to be eligible to vote in the presidential election.

Iyengar once said to the effect that making a choice means facing the future. The nine LDP presidential candidates need to be closely listened to and scrutinized.

—The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 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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