Why do Japan's opposition parties seem unable to field candidates who can oust the ruling Liberal Democratic Party from power?

Here's why.

C.I.A. Spent Millions to Support Japanese Right in 50's and 60's - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

The C.I.A. gave money to the Liberal Democratic Party and its members in the 1950's and the 1960's, to gather intelligence on Japan, make the country a bulwark against Communism in Asia and undermine the Japanese left, said retired intelligence officials and former diplomats

when you have the support of the world's superpower's intelligence services with them working actively to destroy any meaningful opposition, what do you expect?

A simple answer: They look only to the LDP (mostly for nitpicking), but not to voters. They are not responsive to voters.

They did for a short period which involved the Tokuhoku disasters. Sept 16, 2009, to Dec 26, 2012. Social Democratic Party.

The opposition is divided into too many parties unable to unite to form an effective opposition.

There are land mines from the LDP in all the opposition parties. These plants self destruct the party from the inside if they get too close to ousting the LDP. Also the entrenched Civil servants who have been given their cushy jobs by the LDP refuse to work with any non LDP aligned Govt. The only way to really have a successful opposition party in power is to fully purge the Japanese civil service!

Japan is a feudal democracy. The electorate vote for their masters. Their masters are hereditary LDP politicians.

This by Wallace:

The opposition is divided into too many parties unable to unite to form an effective opposition.

Also, they're all cut with the same knife. Just like the guy who created the party "against NHK" turned out to be just another crooked politician.

Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

five things imo:

a) Political brainwashing by the United States of America; after the end of WWII, the Americans wanted an ally who would follow them to the end of the world… and they got one; b) ignorance of the Japanese people; just like in other countries, people often confuse liberalism and the left with communism; c) the “swallowing” of the rural areas; the LDP dominates rural Japan (which means old faithful/ignorant voters) and there’s nothing the opposition can do; d) clientelism; which is embedded in the Japanese political system; I’ll give you/do something, you’ll give me/do something; e) submission; the submissiveness of the Japanese people is a factor; they tend to vote for/obey/support/admire the ones already in the top, the winner, the strong.

For the same reason like we all here too. It’s more convenient to only oppose or criticize from a safe distance, instead of really filling the power position, having to show up with concepts and ideas that work and if they sometimes don’t work , to take the responsibility and step down, making place for a more skilled person. We are not willing and fit enough for that challenge and so are the opposition parties.

“ Why do Japan's opposition parties seem unable to field candidates who can oust the ruling Liberal Democratic Party from power? “

(note)

After what I said in my previous post, it becomes clear that it’s not enough for the opposition parties to have good candidates; they need the perfect candidates (!) if they want to start a new chapter in Japanese politics; the LDP already consolidated their power and influence so they have it easier; they can have a bad leader (it happened multiple times) and still be able to win; the opposition (still) doesn’t have that luxury.

Too much infighting among themselves once they get big enough. They can’t decide on a representative until days before an election while the LDP chose their people months before and begin promoting and telling others to tow the line for them.

Also a lot of the opposition groups run on nothing political issues, are a gimmick, or pretend to be about one thing then having extremely weak knees about it or related issues. They consistently come across as weak if not flat out incompetent imo.

it’s a group who genuinely has no idea how to win an election and they have no ideas on what people want, other than being opposite to everything the LDP does, but not really being opposed because there is a chance they can get into said LDP if they run close to the line.

First: what's the record for the Opposition in power? How did they manage government during the years (admittedly small in sample size) when Minshuto was in power? Hatoyama? (Suddenly quit and ran away from all politics after less than a year in office) Kan? (Presided over the Fukushima meltdown) Noda? (Does anyone remember anything about this guy now? lol. Oh yeah, he presided over a crushing sales tax hike, pushing the country back into recession.)

As for the rank and file candidates? Some might be good, but the platform of their party seems suspiciously vague, and when the so-called "moderates" align their "moderate" party with the Communists like they did last time round..well, let's just say that makes Japanese people suspicious about said "moderate's" true intentions.

Japanese for the most part are default conservative. The culture is default conservative. They tend to think about the person's association/party even before they think about the individual's merits (it's not "Hi I'm Taro...from Minshuto" it's "Hi I'm Minshuto's Taro") And there is a major tendency here to think that a person who is in power "deserves" to be there...all this and more...

@rcch -

five things imo:

a) Political brainwashing by the United States of America; after the end of WWII, the Americans wanted an ally who would follow them to the end of the world… and they got one; b) ignorance of the Japanese people; just like in other countries, people often confuse liberalism and the left with communism; c) the “swallowing” of the rural areas; the LDP dominates rural Japan (which means old faithful/ignorant voters) and there’s nothing the opposition can do; d) clientelism; which is embedded in the Japanese political system; I’ll give you/do something, you’ll give me/do something; e) submission; the submissiveness of the Japanese people is a factor; they tend to vote for/obey/support/admire the ones already in the top, the winner, the strong.

Exactly.

Immense political immaturity / naivety displayed by much of the populous.

Just over 50% even bother to vote.

People die daily all over the world seeking the right to representation, but here so many just don't give a rats.

Because all the opposition parties only criticize what LDP does, but offer no alternative!

They have no better solution. Simple.

Money.

I've always wondered whether the Japanese opposition and Japanese unions are actually LDP black ops.

If not, perhaps because the 142 different opposition parties can never agree on anything, split the opposition vote and are actually quite happy just to be opposition politicians, as they get paid and have status but don't have any real responsibilities. Their only job is to try and catch out an erring LDP member every now and again.

Perhaps because enough of the Japanese people are indoctrinated from birth to believe that the LDP are the party to rule their country, and that all change is bad, destabilising and dangerous.

Or perhaps they are just really rubbish at politics. It's not difficult. Pick some broadly popular policies - nothing too scarey, assimilate as many other parties as possible, choose a leader and a cabinet-in-waiting with charm, personality and wide appeal, and dig some proper dirt on the LDP using the latest tech. The government have the security services to do this. The opposition need to do it themselves.

The LDP are clever - if their popularity dips, they just replace their leader. The Tories have started to do this in the UK.

My 100 yen is on the LDP to win the next election, the election after that, the one after that, and then the one after that too.

A one party state with the cachet of electoral support. Even though the CCP would likely win in a similar manner, the Chinese don't have the guts to roll the dice the way the LDP do.

Majoritarianism

80 more years! buy votes cheap x more money talks.