Foreign policy figures in Tokyo governor's race

By Edward Neilan
Special to World Tribune.com

TOKYO--No one can remember when foreign policy played such a prominent role in the race for governor of Tokyo.

The biggest issue in the April 11 election is still finances with the city about US$58 billion in debt overall and showing a US$830 million splash of red ink in the the last fiscal year. Monuments to financial irresponsibility are seen everywhere, from a city hall modeled after Notre Dame de Paris cathedral plus marble bathrooms for top executives, to a waterfront development boom that went bust.

For that matter, it is hard to remember the last time the governor's contest had so many candidates--19.

But it is the uncommon foreign policy thread among the "sexy six" top candidates that raises the most eyebrows:

--Shintaro Ishihara, 66, the front-runner according to polls, is a novelist and former transportation minister, who wrote the book "The Japan That Can Say 'No.'" The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, alert to the book's anti-American tilt, ordered an English-language translation and circulated it around Washington DC. He has also co-authored (with Malaysian Premier Mahatir bin Mohamad) a book titled "The Asia That Can Say 'No,'" advocating an Asia without U.S. influence as in Mahatir's proposed East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC). Ishihara left the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and wants the U.S. to get out of Yokota Air Base.

--Koji Kakizawa, 65, is a former foreign minister and before that a finance ministry bureaucrat. He was so miffed when the LDP reneged on its promise to back him in his native Tokyo and tapped an outsider (Akashi) that he decided to run anyway and was expelled from the party. Kakizawa favors continued strong ties with the U.S. including continued American use of the Yokota base.

--Yasushi Akashi, 68, has come home after more than 40 years abroad as a student, then United Nations diplomat (he ran the 1993 U.N.-backed election in Cambodia), leaving the world body with the title Undersecretary. Akashi claims running Tokyo's bureaucracy shouldn't be tougher than that of the U.N. LDP sought Akashi's "name" for the contest, opting to back him while dumping Kakizawa.

--Man Mikami, 67, is a commentator and former teacher. When I asked him if he didn't think an endorsement by the Japan Communist Party in the post-Cod War era was "excess baggage" he responded "it works both ways." Calling himself a "progressive," Mikami is also known as "the housewives' choice" for his solid positions on education, welfare and pubic finance. Tokyo has a heavy JCP registration.

--Yoichi Masuzoe, 50, studied in France then came home to be an assistant professor at Tokyo University and a commentator on international affairs. One magazine described him as "a typical policy wonk." He wrote a best-selling book about caring for his dying mother.

--Kunio Hatoyama, 50, former education minister, member of Diet from opposition Democratic Party which is popular in Tokyo, grandson of former prime minister and son of a foreign minister, and also a defector from LDP. He is anti-establishment in softer shades than Ishihara.

Any signs of an aging Tokyo society? More than 62 percent in a recent survey cited medical services andwefare as the most important issues. More than 60 percent opposed the termination of free bus and subway tickets to people aged 70 or older, despite the reported lack of metropolitan funds.

Two things make this election stand out as particularly significant.

First, the lack of a conspicously-strong LDP candidate means that money politics is fading and that the Japanese political scene is maturing.

Second, the diversity of candidates and their tendencies toward outspokenness--plus a predicted 70 percent voter turnout(four years ago 50.67 percent of voters showed up at the polls)--all adds up to more democracy.

Edward Neilan (eneilan@crisscross.com) is a veteran journalist, based in Tokyo, who covers East Asia and writes weekly for World Tribune.com.