Add in the fact that the LDP is the only game in town and you have a perfect recipe for voter apathy.
Even when a candidate sells himself or herself as a maverick -- here Koizumi comes to mind -- they so rarely, if ever, turn out to be the real thing.
All of this gets at the reason Japan's economy is in this mess.
Even when a well-intentioned reformer steps forward, they come up against an impenetrable wall of resistance. Folks of Suzuki's ilk are there to stop change at every turn. For politicians like Suzuki, change means losing power, and their seat on the gravy grain.
One wonders if Japan has any hope unless the LDP is tossed from power for good. Maybe Koizumi should adopt a new slogan of "Destroy the LDP, Save Japan." Does the public want to stop corruption? At first glance, the question seems absurd, says Robert Feldman, chief economist at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co in Tokyo. Yet in recent discussions with investors across Japan, a strange phenomenon emerged.
While discussing the idea of a Newt Gingrich-style "Contract with Japan" with clients in Tokyo, corruption was on top of the agenda. However, discussing the same issues with investors in Sendai -- a city about two hours northeast of the capital -- there was only one vote out of about 50 for putting corruption among the top three items in such a contract.
The implication, Feldman says, is that urban voters want to root out corruption, but rural voters don't, presumably because they benefit most from the public works contracts that are at the heart of corruption. If this implication is true, then prospects for reform are questionable, because the voting districts remain heavily skewed toward rural areas.
This view jibes with others you hear and read. In a recent poll on JapanToday.com about whether Suzuki should have resigned, 44-year old Yoshihiro Nakashima had this to say: "I think he should resign. I would support him if he were from my hometown. It's natural for people to support their local candidate because he can bring them lots of benefits."
In other words, as long as my town is benefiting or I'm getting my slice of the pie, whatever shady things Suzuki does are fine.
If you believe political change happens only when the people want it, Japan may have a ways to go.
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