“Total Otaku Support” Grossly Exaggerated

September 24th, 2007 at 10:48 am (Articles, Miscellaneous, Take)

If yesterday’s (Sunday in our timezone) election for the next Japanese prime minister are any indication, it would seem that public interest triumps, and is of greater concern, than “private hobbies”.

Yasuo Fukuda scored a comfortable victory to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The polls tally 330 votes for the Former Chief Cabinet Secretary, over 197 votes for his rival for the position, Foreign Minister Taro Aso.

A son of a former Japanese Prime Minister, his victory underscored an effort to revive party fortunes, as the country has been hounded by a variety of controversies, including support of ships participating in the U.S.-led war against terrorism.

“I want to change the party into one that carries out policy items steadily,” Fukuda added.

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Even though Taro Aso failed to capture the top post in Japan, this doesn’t mean that the efforts of the otaku population, who supported him to the end, were in vain. Rather this would mean that there are better things to focus on, besides “cultural transparency” and efforts to destigmatize anime, along with other forms of artistic expression in Japan.

7 Comments

  1. lanie-emon said,

    September 24, 2007 at 11:19 pm

    Aso Rozen already conceded the race early to Fukuda. Which was kinda disappointing as I thought that Aso would have put up a fight…

  2. Ronin AnimeLover said,

    September 25, 2007 at 12:11 am

    lanie-emon Said:

    kinda disappointing as I thought that Aso would have put up a fight…
    It would seem that his conservative stance would not be attuned with the people’s interest to mend international relations.

  3. TP said,

    September 25, 2007 at 1:19 am

    The most obvious reasons for choosing Fukuda was that as a centrist, he’s in a better-suited position to mend the already-crumbling reputation of the LDP. His stance on foreign relations are also friendly, which Japan necessarily needs in order to manage the Chinese tide.

    But, I mean, while I commended Taro’s outreach to a “vocal segment” of his supporters, I don’t wish him to be in the PM’s seat. Japan right now is in need of a cleaning house order, and the last thing she ever needs is another mess.

  4. Ronin AnimeLover said,

    September 25, 2007 at 2:40 am

    I couldn’t agree with you more, TP. Japan needs a serious image consultant, and Fukuda is right for the job, to sum it up in a few words.

  5. mochi said,

    September 29, 2007 at 4:30 am

    Technically, this was an election for the LDP president. Of course, since the LDP still holds the majority in the lower house, this assures the LDP of holding on to the Premiership…at least for the near future.

    The reason Aso lost was that the leaders of the largest LDP factions did not want to elect him. In fact Makota Koga, head of the third largest faction had started an “anyone-but-Aso” campaign. This meant that for Aso to have any chance of winning, he would have to get a landslide of the prefectural votes, which didn’t happen. One bright note for Aso was that he received more votes than he expected.

    While Fukuda was primarily a candidate of convenience, it does help that he is a former Chief Cabinet Secretary…and a fairly powerful one at that. He should be able to resist becoming a tool of the large factions. It also helps that in a survey (by the Asahi Shimbun) of the general voting public, he was favored over Aso by a 53% to 21% margin. This could be important, since there is a decent chance that early elections will be called and that the LDP may lose its majority in the lower house. If that happens, the Premiership will probably go to Ichiro Ozawa of the DPJ.

  6. mochi said,

    September 29, 2007 at 4:37 am

    I forgot to mention in my previous post that although Fukuda was preferred over Aso in the survey, he does have a potential problem that could keep some voters from voting for an LDP candidate in the next election. He was involved in a pension scandal in 2004. This is what forced him to resign as Chief Cabinet Secretary…he held that post for longer than anyone, incidentally.

  7. Ronin AnimeLover said,

    September 29, 2007 at 11:43 am

    Thanks for the valuable information, mochi. :D

    I’ve followed the news ever since I heard that Taro Aso was nominated to be, alongside his rival Yasuo Fukuda, the next Prime Minister after Abe Shinzo resigned “abruptly”, and news of internal struggle came to my attention. Mr. Aso is “a confessed manga fan” (even dubbed “Rozen Aso” by his “otaku followers” and some anime blogs), yet he is a conservative politician as well, stringent on change and a “historical reformist” (as one newspaper puts it), while Fukuda is an amiable candidate, even saying that he is aiming to foster ties with China and North Korea, with different issues affecting each country.

    So I could say that Fukuda is the better choice over Aso, despite me “betraying” my “trust” on my brethren. I’m all for bilateral peace.

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