Asia Times: Tokyo voters elect U.S. critic Ishihara as governor



	April 17, 1999	atimes.com

Japan Economy

Tokyo voters elect U.S. critic Ishihara as governor

Tokyo - Shintaro Ishihara, a right-wing author and outspoken critic of Japan's defense alliance withthe U.S., has been elected governor of Tokyo, according to state broadcaster NHK Television.

Ishihara, who wrote the controversial ''The Japan That Can Say 'No''' with then Sony Corp. Chairman Akio Morita in 1989, won about 1.65 million votes, or 30 percent of the total, according to NHK. His nearest rival, Kunio Hatoyama, a former education minister and deputy leader of the largest opposition DemocraticParty, got 846,600 votes, 15 percent of the total.

The 66-year-old former transport minister ran as an outsider, pledging to shake up Tokyo's lumbering government. With Japan stuck in its worst recession since the end of World War II, Ishihara's victory increases the pressure on the national Liberal Democratic Party government - which has run Japan for almost the entire postwar period - to revive the economy.

''Tokyo has the potential power that no other prefectures have, and we must not wait for the national government's help,'' Ishihara said at a press conference broadcast nationwide. ''Japanese people feel existing political parties are useless, and those parties' politicians fail to realize the perception.That's fueling a sense of crisis among Japanese people."

Fifty-eight percent of Tokyo's 9.6 million voters went to the polls Sunday, up from 50.7 percent of the 1995 election and the highest since 1979, NHK said. ''It would to some degree suggest that the electorate isangry enough to go to the polls and do something about it,'' said Ron Bevacqua, a senior economist at Merrill Lynch & Co. In Tokyo. ''That will scare the LDP."

The LDP candidate, former U.N. Undersecretary General Yasushi Akashi, 68, finished in fourth place. Among the other 18 candidates, Yoichi Masuzoe, a political scientist, ran third and Man Mikami, an education commentator and former junior high school teacher backed by the Communist Party, came fifth. Incumbent governor Yukio Aoshima, a former comedian, didn't seek re-election.

''We have closely watched the election because the revitalization of Tokyo's economy is indispensable for the revitalization of Japan's entire economy,'' Takashi Imai, chairman of Keidanren, Japan's largest business organization, said in a statement. ''We hope the governor will resolve Tokyo's various problems, including fiscal rehabilitation."

The Tokyo job was one of dozens of elected positions up for grabs. Also at stake in the first nationwide voting since Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi took office last July were 11 provincial governorships, the Sapporo mayor's job, 44 regional assemblies and 11 major municipal assemblies.

Ishihara is best known for his broadsides against Japan's reliance on the U.S for defense and his claims that the U.S. campaign to get Japan to open industries more to foreign competition is racially motivated. Still, there's little he can actually do from his desk to affect national policy.

''This is going to be an embarrassment for the prime minister, but not a political body blow,'' said John Neuffer, a political analyst at the Mitsui Marine Research Institute. ''He'll probably focus on local issues because these are the issues that Tokyo people are more concerned about."

The Tokyo administration is creaking under debts of about 7 trillion yen ($57.9 billion). At the same time, Tokyo voters say they want more day care centers for children, nursing care for the elderly and action to reduce pollution.

Ishihara offered few concrete prescriptions for reducing Tokyo's debt and other economic plans. One thing he has advocated is the creation of a market for junk bonds where small firms can raise money. He also proposed a plan to hire outside auditors to scrutinize Tokyo's financial health and sell unneeded assets.

''There's probably not a whole lot these guys can do,'' said Neuffer. ''You gotta get national growth. Where the national government goes on this, the Tokyo government follows."

The election was Ishihara's second attempt to become Tokyo governor. A winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for literature and brother of the late Japanese movie star Yujiro, Ishihara spent almost three decades in the national parliament.

His victory may give momentum to public outcry against the existence of U.S. bases in Japan. Ishihara has pledged to demand that U.S. military forces return Yokota Air Base in Tokyo to Japanese civilians.

Though a governor has no power to force out American bases, his demand could spell trouble for the Obuchi administration, which is struggling to persuade parliament to approve a new outline of the U.S.-Japan security cooperation pact before Obuchi meets President Bill Clinton in U.S. next month.

Ishihara was first elected to Japan's upper house in 1968. After moving to the lower house, he ran for the Tokyo governorship in 1975 against incumbent Ryokichi Minobe, who was backed by the Socialist and Communist parties. Ishihara got 2.3 million votes, but lost to Minobe by a margin of 350,000. He then returned to the national parliament.

In 1995, Ishihara abruptly resigned from the lower house, saying he distrusted the central government. Since then he had focused on his writing.

(Bloomberg)

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©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.