They congregate unwashed and hungry around train stations and parks. Occasionally, they ask for spare change, but most passers-by ignore their request. The passers-by may have a good reason. Middle-class commuters continuously wonder whether or not their job is safe from the recession..
Senior citizens, the largest demographic group by far, also tend to walk past the homeless. Due to having to survive on inadequate government pensions, they cannot afford to part with any of their savings.
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Indigence, despair and insecurity have become the order of the day - so far from the go-go 1980's - when the Japanese economy achieved #2 in the world only forty short years after being defeated and devastated in World War II. To borrow a famous interrogative from Lenin, the Japanese in 2009 collectively asked themselves, 'What is to be done?'
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The answer came nearly two weeks ago in the latest election. Rather than allow the ruling party, the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party), to rule for another term after a more than fifty-year reign, the people voted for change, and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was ushered into power capturing 308 out of 480 seats in the Diet (parliament). Amazing.
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Although he might not look like Barack Obama, the Prime Minister designate, Yukio Hatoyama, represents a true sea change in Japanese politics. Credit Barack Obama and 'The Obama Effect'. As the average age of the newly-elected Diet members is less than 46 (President Obama is 48 years old), the Japanese have decisively turned to a new generation of leadership. Similar to Obama and the American Democrats, the DPJ is less enthusiastic about the free-market and believes in government intervention for the greater good. The slogan of the DPJ campaign, 'Seikatsu dai-ichi' ('Your daily life comes first') won the electorate over with a stated commitment to bolster economic security.
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How much will Japan change over the next few years? It is difficult to speculate. However, the Japanese should be proud of their courageous achievement and hopeful for the future.
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(Photo: Prime Minister Designate Yukio Hatoyama)
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J Roquen