Ooooh! The excitement!

Its here again! At last! Oh the excitement is so much, that I may just have to lavishly wet myself!

Or not.

It is Election Time! Japanese style!

And wow! Is it a humdinger of a campaign!

Or not.

Politics in Japan is constrained when it comes to campaigning. TV commercials are fine. However, you dont find attack ads like you get in the UK, and definately not like the attack ads in the US. Most you can hope for is a sombre note of disapproval.

Posters, no problem. Leaflets, OK. The internet? No. Each party has a website, but thats it. The limits on using the internet are very strict!

However, the current dominant party , the LDP has launched a new Anime slot on Youtube designed to paint the DPJ in a bad light!

Its basic premise is that the new guys are not ready to govern, and that the LDP is the only party capable of running the nation, and dragging it from the doldrums. However, in this bloggers humble opinion, neither is Mr Aso, and his LDP. They have essentially capitulated to the real rulers of Japan, the beurocrats.

The DPJ, however, are riding high in opinion polls. well, as high as they can expect to. The Japanese are not so keen on them, and may vote for them, not because they offer something new (they dont, really), but because they are simply, "not the other guy."

So, the campaigning is on, and today marked the official start. Both leaders where out on the stump, and guess what one of the major speaking points was?

Guess. Its a doozy!

Nope. Try again.

Closer...

There you go! Yes, its me! Well, to be more accurate, its foriegners who are permanent residents. None of us can vote. And for those of us on visas, thats fair enough. However, there are those in Japan, such as those who have got married to a Japanese but still dont qualify for the right to vote. There is also a group of people that the Japanese are reluctant to help. The Koreans. A whole bunch of Koreans stayed in Japan after the colonisation of the peninsula, and the end of the war. The Japanese government allows them to stay, but still classes them, and their decendants as Korean, and not Japanese. They dont get to vote.

The debate today was simple. Should permanent residents be able to vote. Not in national elections. No. One step at a time. We just want to vote in local elections. Unfortunately, the governing party, the LDP is set against foriegners getting the right to vote. After all, these are the guys who want to tighten the screws on me over the gaijin card!

However, in a moment of earthquake proportions, the DPJ have actually declared that since we foriegners pay tax, the issue should be "looked into!"

Whilst this is only them looking into it, in Japan, that means something will happen. Nothing ever gets started without being finished. Usually, these plans get shelved, then dragged out later, dusted off, and pushed through anyway.

So, the DPJ looks like they will make the majority in the next parliament, and will be governing Japan for a while. They have made noises about thinking about helping us poor put on foreigners. This is a big step forwards.

It is not much.

But its a start.