...this will keep me busy over the next few weeks
The Upper House election Japan is due in early July and parties and candidates are starting to make their moves, although the official campaigning period doesn't start for another couple of weeks. I'll be here to do some regular updates (no-one is expecting a change in government, or even much of a change in the composition of seats) as I attend the various rallies that are held around town (and perhaps beyond Tokyo if the opportunity arises...).
Last week, long-term lower house rep who lost her seat in Osaka last year, Tsukimoto Kiyomi, turned up at a local town hall meeting here in my local area. I have been following Tsujimoto for several years, as one of the women in my research on women in politics here in Japan so I was keen to catch up with her. Unlike previous years where she has campaigned in her home town mostly, this time she is challenging for a national seat so is in the process of traveling all over. It is a tough call to be elected but, given her profile and record, she is someone I would like to see back in parliament.
The rest of the morning was a bit of a report on local politics, interesting to sit in and listen. (Not something a lot of people would be thrilled about I know...)
On Saturday (4 June '22) it was off to Ikebukuro Station where the leader of the small (but popular among students) party, Reiwa Shinsengumi was set to introduce the party's candidates for the summer election. The leader, Yamamoto Taro is a somewhat charismatic younger generation politician who in a previous life was a popular actor. I first encountered his political ambitions at this same station back in 2013, when he was running as an independent candidate for the Upper House. His only prop then was an upturned milk crate, because, he said, 'it is important be here on the ground, on the same level as the voters'. He has come a long way...now with all the trimmings included a live band as a warm-up feature today.
As the election campaigning progresses, I'll discuss the various party platforms, the key candidates and what we might expect come election day.*
More to come, as they say...
*This might turn out to be my last Japanese election too. More to come as they...oops, I see I've already said that.
