Posted on 7/29/2007, 9:51:44 AM by AmericanInTokyo
OK, folks. Polls close in a little over one hour (8 p.m. local Sunday night).
The results should start rolling in immediately.
From the World's Second Largest Economy, might as well get the thread going here!!
A critical election on a number of issues! World's Second Largest Economy, Japan, BUMP!
By Norimitsu Onishi
The New York Times
PREV of NEXT
DAVID GUTTENFELDER / AP
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe greats the public Saturday in Tokyo during a final day of stumping for today’s parliamentary election.
TOKYO — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe desperately tried to head off a defeat for his governing party in today’s election for the upper house of parliament, telling skeptical voters here Saturday that he had heard them and pleading for another chance.
With news-media polls predicting that Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party faces a loss that could force his resignation, he spent the last day of the 17-day campaign crisscrossing Tokyo. He was joined for the first time by its popular nationalist governor, Shintaro Ishihara.
“While listening closely to your voices and repenting for the points that I needed to repent, I will change the Liberal Democratic Party into a new party, and I’m determined to make sure that your voices are clearly reflected in our policies,” he said.
Abe’s approval ratings have plummeted as he has appeared out of touch with voters’ anxieties about bread-and-butter issues, like the economy and national pensions.
Believe it or not, some people had the audacity to put disgraced (and arrested) former Peru President Alberto Fujimori on the ballot to run for the Upper House. I even saw his sound truck and some supporters yesterday. Couldn't believe my eyes.
forgive my ignorance but does everyone vote and in easy terms what kind of govt does Japan have?
Rather than punch a hole or hit a lever or touch a screen, one must actually be able to write the candidate's last name in by hand, in either of two Japanese scripts (alphabets) used.
BTTT
What are the polls for? Half of the 242 seats in Japan's House of Councillors, or upper house, are being contested. Mr Abe's Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition currently controls 132 seats. They need to win 64 of the seats that are up for grabs in order to retain their majority. Why is the election important? This is the first electoral test for Mr Abe since he took office in September 2006. Support for his administration has plummeted in recent months and Mr Abe has admitted he faces a tough battle to retain his upper house majority. The ruling coalition has a sizeable majority in the House of Representatives, or lower house. And a bad result in upper house polls would not have direct implications for Mr Abe, because the house does not choose the prime minister. But upper house elections are often seen as a referendum on the ruling party, and voters look likely to deliver a fairly grim verdict on Mr Abe's first 10 months in office. Some experts say he may feel that he has to take responsibility for a poor showing in the polls and step down from office. Why is Mr Abe in trouble? He went into his premiership with solid popular support and soon orchestrated high-level reconciliation with China. But his administration has been severely dented by a series of ministerial gaffes and scandals. Two of his ministers have been forced to resign and one committed suicide. The most significant factor, however, has been a nationwide pensions debacle, with a government agency admitting it has lost records relating to millions of payments. Pensions are a key issue in Japan's greying society and, although the mistake was not made under Mr Abe's leadership, many voters have started questioning his skills in the job. What is his party saying? LDP stalwarts say Mr Abe's premiership is not in danger. Both LDP policy chief Shoichi Nakagawa and chief government spokesman Yasuhisa Shiozaki have emphasised that this election is not about the prime minister. "Elections for the upper house are not seen as occasions to choose an administration," Mr Shiozaki said earlier this week. And Mr Abe has also hinted he hopes to stay put. "No matter what the situation, I am determined to fulfil my mission of keeping reforms moving forward steadily," he wrote is his weekly e-mail magazine. Yet there is a precedent for resignation - Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto stepped down after the LDP was defeated in upper house elections in 1998. What about the opposition? The main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), was humbled in the last general election in September 2005, but under Ichiro Ozawa it has rebounded somewhat. According to some polls, Mr Ozawa is now perceived as a stronger leader than Mr Abe. Nonetheless, the fact that Mr Abe is in trouble is perhaps less to do with DPJ policies than with voters' perceptions of government failings. Mr Ozawa has said that if the DPJ, together with other minor opposition parties, fails to secure an upper house majority, he will resign.
Thanks for explaining that.
Eastern Time: 7:00 a.m.
Central Time: 6:00 a.m.
Mountain Time: 5:00 a.m.
Pacific Time: 4:00 a.m.
(University of California at Berkely Time: 11:27)
The carry trade could well end with this election.
I’ve had trouble understanding how the Japanese public allowed this for so long.
Japan: very heavy defeat of the preserving coalition of Abe
TOKYO - the coalition of preserving the Prime Minister Japanese Shinzo Abe wiped a very heavy defeat at the time of the senatorial elections of Sunday, losing its majority with the Upper House, indicate surveys carried out to the exit of the ballot boxes.
According to a survey of the chain of public television NHK, the Party liberal-democrat (PLD) of Mr. Abe and his ally, the small Buddhist party New Komeito, obtained between 31 and 43 seats out of the 121 concerned ones.
Evoking “a historical defeat”, private chain TBS credited the coalition with the capacity with 34 seats. Television Japanese granted 38 seats to him.
The PLD and Komeito were to preserve at least 64 seats, out of the 76 which they defended, to preserve the majority at the Senate.
Looks like the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is in for the throttling of their lives, I think the Democratic Party (Minshuto) is slating to make amazing gains.
I would imagine if it is too severe for the LDP, Prime Minister Abe will have to resign.
All national TV stations running wall to wall coverage right now as I write. Some a little cheesy with the graphics/manga approach, whistles, buzzers, etc. and not very deep analysis. Oh I pray the TV coverage of elections in Japan (at least for the Japanese people) does not go the brain-dead, dumbed down way it has in the USA.
it is a dramatic election.
wow, watch the yen-dollar rate change tomorrow a.m. japan time, sunday night US time, and then, monday morning usa time when the markets open there....
well, at 30 minutes into the vote tabulation in Japan now, for example the major NTV network (TV) has it that ruling, generally strongest in terms of pro-USA party Liberal Democrat Party is going to get something like 22 seats only, compared to a WHOPPING 43 for the Democrat Party (DPJ), and something like 45 seats yet be decided.
I think the others, such as Socialists, Communists, etc. all get their two or three a piece, so far. VERY HISTORIC PROPORTIONS.
I think it will be SAYONARA for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
At the end of the day, he could just not fill former Prime Minister Koizumi's shoes....
Thanks. The English language results are primarily on exit polls, and are running about 30 minutes or so behind the actually Japanese language real time reports. But foreign news agencies seem to be keeping up. They are showing election night parties at various headquarters right now. The usual “banzai”-in uniosn shouts, painting in the one eye on the daruma doll, all that kind of stuff.
I was dithering all week about the yen and decided finally Friday not to buy.
I think I may have been ever too smart!
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