Asia Times: Koizumi wildly popular but not without his critics


	May 18, 2001	atimes.com

Japan

Koizumi wildly popular but not without his critics
By Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is piling up the public-approval points with several non-traditional decisions in recent weeks, but critics say people need to see the substance behind his maverick form - and soon.

Since he became prime minister nearly three weeks ago, Koizumi has appointed women to key positions in his government. Keeping a campaign pledge, he has also said a commission will look at changing the electoral system in order to allow people in this country of more than 120 million people to directly elect their prime minister. The premier is currently elected by members of Parliament, a system that critics say leaves the choice of the country's leader in the hands of politicians who decide based on faction politics and party loyalties.

But Koizumi has also come under fire here for calling for revisions in Japan's peace constitution to lift a self-imposed ban on the right to collective self-defense.

So far, Koizumi's message during last month's race for Japan's prime minister - that he would "change" the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) - has earned him almost 90 percent support rates, according to recent media polls.

The Nikkei, Japan's leading financial daily, reported public enthusiasm spilling into as well into the conservative LDP, whose traditional politics many Japanese had tired of under past leaders, including the unpopular Yoshiro Mori. Approval ratings for the party rose to 41 percent from 31 percent when Mori left.

Koizumi's statement that ability, not seniority, will decide the new members of his cabinet and his decision to appoint five women, including the highly popular Makiko Tanaka as foreign minister, made headlines and drew applause from ordinary Japanese. "Koizumi is a contrast to previous boring prime ministers. His fiery repertoire, clear statements, and among others, a promise to create a system where the prime minister is elected by the electorate, has sent people wild," says Minoru Tada, a political commentator.

The media has also keep a close watch on the 59-year-old Koizumi since he took over the prime ministership. They have conducted interviews with his relatives, friends and even his barber, who describe the eloquence and charisma of the new leader. Even Japan's weekly women's magazines that usually restrict themselves to fashion or cooking are turning their attention to the new cabinet.

But Japanese activists say they are not as enamored by Koizumi and have yet to see proof he can and will undertake real reforms in traditional political structure and culture.

"Koizumi may have to rely on more than his charisma. There is nothing to show how he is really going to make Japan a better place for the people to live in," says Yoko Tomiyama, head of the Japan Consumer Organisation.

Mitsuko Yamaguchi, an activist and member of a government panel on gender equality, says there is no denying Koizumi has brought some welcome changes to Japan. "The decision to appoint a large number of intelligent female ministers is unprecedented in local politics. The change has given an important boost to Japanese women fighting for gender equality," she says.

However, this is where Yamaguchi draws the line. She says there is still no indication from the government that it would take a stronger stance for helping working women find secure jobs, for instance.

A major bone of contention with grass-roots groups is Koizumi's call for a revision of the Constitution to change Japan's limits on collective self-defense. "A revision of the Constitution would be ideal," he said on Tuesday in the Diet.

Last week, the leader revealed controversial plans to visit Yasukuni Shrine on August 15, the day that Japan surrendered and which marked the end of World War II. Before he won the prime ministership, Koizumi had pledged to visit the shrine where war criminals convicted for actions during World II. This has provoked worried reactions from Japan's neighbors and raised questions about his conservative leanings. "His words reveal his conservatism and hawkish approach. This is not good for Japan that must pursue reform," points out Yamaguchi.

Koizumi's actions on a row over textbooks in Japan, which critics say twist the truth about Tokyo's actions and atrocities during World War II, is also being watched closely. Women's groups have opposed the government's move to approve new school textbooks, which do not refer to some 200,000 Asian women who had been forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese imperial army in the countries it occupied. But just this week, Koizumi stood firm on the textbook issue and said the books could not be "revised again" after having been approved by the education ministry.

He tried to placate anger from South Korea, one of several Asian countries miffed by the textbooks' approval, by saying: "But we need to take sincerely what the Republic of Korea says and study what step we can take in the future as there are differences in the perceptions of historians on both sides."

Other activists say Koizumi should focus on reforming the aid policies of Japan, which is the biggest donor in terms of volume. "He is more interested in giving an image of being clear. But there is no substance to the statements, like what is his policies on international relations or ODA [official development assistance]," says Teruko Otsuka of the Pacific Asia Resources Organization.

"Koizumi is no reformer in the real sense," says Shinichi Sano, a freelance journalist. Sano, along with other writers, is lobbying against a new privacy protection law that aims to control writers who do not belong to large media organizations. The law, expected to be passed in the Diet this month, is aimed to protect the use of databases by business. But Sano says it also includes a clause that allows the state, with the aim of protecting privacy, to monitor writers who use this information.

Says Sano: "What I am most worried about is Koizumi passing several laws against public interest by riding on the wave of his current popularity."

(Inter Press Services)

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