The Democratic Party of Japan

Can the rise to power of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) after half a century of uninterrupted rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) bring profound changes to Japan?

It depends, wrote Yoichi Funabashi, editor in chief of The Asahi Shimbun.

In an article titled Tokyo’s Trials Can the DPJ Change Japan (Foreign Affairs, November/December 2009), Funabashi recalled that the only time since World War II that Japan was not run by the LDP was during the maverick Morihiro Hosokawa’s (pictured) brief tenure as prime minister from late 1993 to early 1994.

"Hosokawa’s greatest mistake was rising to power by advocating political reform but then, once in office, following traditional policies for fear that voters were not ready for real change. In fact, the Japanese needed and wanted change then. And they do now. The DPJ must not repeat Hosokawa’s mistake. It must display strong and innovative leadership and provide a genuine alternative to the LDP's rule."

Since it was founded a decade ago, the DPJ has consistently criticized bureaucratic control of the state. It has even called for a Meiji Restoration in reverse, referring to the mid-19th century movement that destroyed shogunate feudalism through a top-down overhaul of the existing bureaucracy. The DPJ wants to bring about change through grassroots reform.

But as Funabashi pointed out, while the DPJ’s vision seemed to be more open, varied and accommodating to citizen participation than the LDP, its policy descriptions are "long on how to distribute income and short on how to generate it in the first place."

And despite a general consensus within the DPJ, the party's heavyweights hold diverging views on important issues such as Article 9 of the Constitution. And meanwhile, the party's views are said to be becoming more similar to the LDP's. Issues such as support for farmers and for child rearing highlight the similarities between the two parties.