Takaichi tops Kyodo poll of LDP supporters as most fit to be Japan PM

I would have had her close to last.

The LDP supporters are worse than I thought.

So an opinion poll has her in the lead, but with real voters who can select the next leader Koizumi is in front, so it is a mute point, as the regular folk don't get the choose, only those few elites will decide who our next leader is. Both choices are poor if you ask me.

Back in 2016, she threatened that the government could suspend network operations or even revoke broadcast licenses if programing did not remain "politically neutral", which many interpreted to mean "not too critical of government policy". She seems the perfect candidate in this age of increasingly heavy handed government censorship of online speech. Can't have the plebs talking freely amongst themselves, potentially spreading malinformation.

She's not old enough. Japan needs a much older candidate, one who can make sure things stay the same. Why, this is a woman just to young to have any fresh ideas.

Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi is viewed by 27.7 percent of Liberal Democratic Party supporters as most suitable to be Japan's next prime minister

The most logical take away from this is from the sample of LDP supporters that they are totally out of touch with the needs and concerns of Japan's working citizens.

Vote LDP, you get LDP. If Japanese want a real voice in their government, they need to vote out LDP at every election or the rot will remain.

so it is a mute point, as the regular folk don't get the choose, only those few elites will decide who our next leader is

Exactly. Citizens don’t get to choose the prime ministers. The vote wielding powers choose to protect their own political interests. Has nothing to do with surnames or the problems of regular folks.

Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi is viewed by 27.7 percent of Liberal Democratic Party supporters as most suitable to be Japan's next prime minister

Jeez! says ALOT about the LDP supporters.

The most logical take away from this is from the sample of LDP supporters that they are totally out of touch with the needs and concerns of Japan's working citizens.

Amen

Vote LDP, you get LDP. If Japanese want a real voice in their government, they need to vote out LDP at every election or the rot will remain.

Exactly.

The refusal to commit to a root and branch public inquiry into such a blatant abuse, past present LDP ruling government corrupt slush funds represent, their size, purpose is obvious.

A faction lead political cabal of secrecy, of total rule without mandate.

I have doubts, if Japan's Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi will have any real authority, the political puppetry will continue in the shadows from the so called faction "king makers"......

Prime Minster in name only?

Japan, its insistence of "ruling government" should be crying out for real change, for competent leadership, for genuine policies that will challenge depopulation, for ethics, for passionate problem solver's, risk takers.

I doubt if Japan is ready for a lady PM, But best of luck to Ms. Takaichi anyways.

Another crony of Nippon Kaigi. The ultranationalist, ultraconservative, neo-facist, far-right lobby group that Shinzo Abe once presided over.

As already commented she threatened to revoke the broadcast licenses of media outlets that criticised the LDP government. She opposes same sex marriages and thinks people having different surnames will destroy Japanese society.

Japan, please don't elect this right wing nut job who wants to turn Japan back a century to the good o'l days of pre-constitution imperialism.

So Japanese righties want a fascist in a skirt. The country had better buckle up for the imposition of an "iron-lady" to serve as kagemusha for the usual suspects who pull the strings.

OMG! Trump in a skirt.

The most logical take away from this is from the sample of LDP supporters that they are totally out of touch with the needs and concerns of Japan's working citizens.

Really? The Japanese working is in better shape than the working class in other major countries.

Amen.

The polls are all over the place.

Really? The Japanese working is in better shape than the working class in other major countries.

Amen.

No they're not.

 The responses of 1,048 people who said their political party of choice is the LDP were tallied.

So not paid up LDP members eligible to vote, making this survey as pointless as us commenting on it.

No they're not.

Certainly better shape than USA or Britain.

Really? The Japanese working is in better shape than the working class in other major countries.

Then how do you explain that Japan has the highest percentage of people in their 70s still working of all major economies?

quercetumToday 07:59 am JST

Exactly. Citizens don’t get to choose the prime ministers.

They do by voting for their party in a general election, as you have been told many times. Yet you're still trying to push the notion that Japan isn't a "proper" democracy as it doesn't elect a "leader," like a president.

A general election will likely follow soon after this leadership election, and the Japanese people will have their voices heard.

And you know this how?

A general election will likely follow soon after this leadership election, and the Japanese people will have their voices heard.

Certainly better shape than USA or Britain

UK yes. US no.

rank-and-file members who hold Japanese nationality and have paid membership fees the past two years.

2 years of paying a small fee and suddenly you're part of the clan? With power to select the next leader? Wow!!! So opposition parties can just setup fake members in the LDP, pay their membership fees for 2 years and be able to influence LDP leadership race....

All I can say is, not even NGOs like Greenpeace etc. would allow this. I know in NZ, you're spending years and years making sandwiches and holding placards before you are eligible to be a rank and file member.

In June, Japan's parliament enacted a revised law proposed by the LDP to reform political funding regulations, but the opposition camp said it was ineffective and contained many loopholes in addressing the country's long-standing issue of politics and money.

True, reform is just for the masses. But...

Did anyone ever found evidence the slush funds were used in appropriately (ie corrupt purposes)?

Or is it the typical political slush fund kind where donors who wish to remain completely anonymous would rather their money go into a fund that tops up the official coffer when official campaign funds are running low?

I'd say it's the latter, given this has been an infighting saga between the 3 LDP main factions, and those who are on multiple factions have ambition to replace Kishida but is/are too impatient do it the orderly way, and in any case, the voting public doesn't want them.

deanzaZZRToday 10:34 am JST

And you know this how?

I don't "know" it, I said it's "likely." And that's because various people involved have said so. Just one example:

...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/17/japan-next-prime-minister-ldp-party-leadership-presidential-poll

Koizumi, who would become Japan’s youngest prime minister since the war, has said he will immediately seek a popular mandate by calling a snap election. “After the money scandal, we won’t get anywhere with our policies unless we face the people’s judgment first,” he said.

...

And even if there isn't a snap election, there will be one at some point, making quercetum's (constantly-repeated) assertion of "Citizens don’t get to choose the prime ministers" false.

You believe that? And I have some ocean beach property to sell you in Arizona.

Koizumi, who would become Japan’s youngest prime minister since the war, has said he will immediately seek a popular mandate by calling a snap election

Japanese always grumbling about elite politic and complaining about the politic become the monopoly business for certain family, but wait, then the next moment, they are happy to choose the Koizumi family to become the next PM again...how ironic

What!!!..........How come she not over 50-60yrs, or older, Japan can not have a PM this young, it is unheard of....lol!!

The factions, Shikōkai, Heisei Kenkyūkai, Seiji Kenkyūkai/Kinmira, Suigetsukai are very unlikely to simply just fade away into obscurity

Taro Aso, Yoshihide Suga, Toshihiro NIikai are names synonymous with controlling pulling the levers of power. I suggest all roads lead to these names, one way or another.

I believe that political economic inertia stems from the control, unquestioning unwritten rules, at the hands of Aso, Suga, Nikai. 

At BBQ, a few days ago my neighbours inquired which LDP leadership candidate would succeed as next Prime Minster.....

I joked out of Aso, Suga, Nikai. some laughed out loud.

UK yes. US no.

Nah it's really terrible in the US since before covid it has been bad

Nah it's really terrible in the US since before covid it has been bad

I hear you. But not as bad as here or the UK I don't think

Nooooooo!!!!!!!!

She will destroy what’s left of this country.

Sh1mon M4sadaToday  11:07 am JST

2 years of paying a small fee and suddenly you're part of the clan? With power to select the next leader? Wow!!! So opposition parties can just setup fake members in the LDP, pay their membership fees for 2 years and be able to influence LDP leadership race....

Except they don't. It's a totally hypothetical situation. I doubt they could afford enough membership fees to make much of a difference.

Did anyone ever found evidence the slush funds were used in appropriately (ie corrupt purposes)?

No one seems to have gone looking for it. Doesn't matter though. The wrongful act was not lawfully reporting it.

In the Kyodo News poll, 41.4 percent of LDP supporters were in favor of the introduction of the system of optional separate surnames for married couples, while 43.2 percent were opposed.

Which era are these people living in?

why should the government choose what last name one should use ??

It’s the couples choice and right to decide!!

Then how do you explain that Japan has the highest percentage of people in their 70s still working of all major economies?

Great Question, maybe because they have been kept healthy by their national health system??? Should be a proud achievement, now longest life expectancy in the world but always 1st/2nd for ~15yrs( I will not advise the the other colleague WHO participant) You guys should be proud of it, Ughk is finally raising reirement ages as are many other Euros, people live longer can work longer?? All nations are calling for more babies, old tough babies..SUBJECT TO HEALTH.. are already in Jpn, thanks to previous govs???

I doubt they could afford enough membership fees to make much of a difference.

How much does it take to hold a balance of power over 360ish members?

No one seems to have gone looking for it. Doesn't matter though. The wrongful act was not lawfully reporting it.

Very few politician have been indicted, and none charged. Given nature of Koenkai, I doubt any will be convicted. AND, it's likely the funds channeled from ticket sales WERE actually due to the koenkai branches (officially, they paid for the parties, they can easily prove it's not for party campaign fund), and even if not they'd just say it is.

Then there's the difficult task of proving any of it was in fact for a return favour given it was raised through ticket sales so no single donor name is recorded.

IMHO, it's got all the intrigue of just slinging mud at Kishida so he'd be forced to resign and a new leader selected, and virtually nothing to do with improper slushfund. This is the LDP's own bastardry against themselves.

I believe that political economic inertia stems from the control, unquestioning unwritten rules, at the hands of Aso, Suga, Nikai.

Yes, definitely, this slushfund scandal saga quacks, walks, and smells like factional fighting to me, all designed to whiteant sitting PM.

Money politics in Japan has virtually been wiped out anyway since the government started funding parties in the 9ties.

I don't really care who wins in one sense, as Japan is for all intents and purposes a "benign one-party rule" country.

However, if she were to be elected, that would mean that Japan can claim to have elected a female Prime Minister before the USA elected a female president (and that's even if they do).

The potential optics of that are quite amusing.

whoever whenever.

dono-kono or anyone else.all same group.no changes in sight at all.

A good example for accumulative effects in high swarm or collective intelligence, as the obviously best choice finally gets the most support in the polls. Now the internal eligible voters have to prove theirs, by following with at least same or hopefully an even much higher supportive percentage for Ms Takaichi.

it was ineffective and contained many loopholes in addressing the country's long-standing issue of politics and money.

Traditional family values?

This is a bogus poll of those NOT eligible to vote in choosing the next LDP leader. Not unlike asking 1,042 Germans who they want for the next President of the US. Their response is irrelevant. Ms Takaichi will do well to be in the top 4.

“ Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi is viewed by 27.7 percent of Liberal Democratic Party supporters as most suitable to be Japan's next prime minister, a Kyodo News poll showed Monday

…

Out of LDP supporters eligible to vote in the presidential election, Koizumi came out on top with 27.9 percent, followed by Takaichi with 21.4 percent… “

•

This could mean that the Japanese are (finally) rejecting the oyajis (which could be explained by the lack of trust that has become more evident in recent times).

But the fact that a lot of people like/support Koizumi (someone who represents many things that are wrong in Japanese politics) just shows that Japan still has a long way to go;

Koizumi doesn’t have what it takes to move Japan in the right direction. Sanae Takaichi, on the other hand, is someone with a clear idea of which path Japan needs to take—

It’s time for Japan to have a PM with strong opinions and positions on some of the most important issues—Japan has been losing its strength and is not respected like it used to be…

;

Good luck, Takaichi!

I don't really care who wins in one sense, as Japan is for all intents and purposes a "benign one-party rule" country.

Very true.

whoever whenever.

dono-kono or anyone else.all same group.no changes in sight at all.

exactly

One of Japanese far-rights who want to beautify and justify Yasukuni shrine or prewar and wartime Japan's militarism or war-crime, had sold own name to media by false carrer as same as present Tokyo governor, still repeats falsehoods at the Diet like Shinzo Abe, and has been supported from most in slush fundraising tax-evasion politicians. 

Shameless LDP supporters including Unification Church believeres seem to like it.

This doubtful and problematic politician behaves like deifying Abe, fabricates even nonexistent "his testament".

The Japanese people were wasting their time on these politicians, gave them false hope and scandals. The LDP is a massive bureaucracy that is no where can reform. Two years later if today, all of you will find not much difference as of today.

Sh1mon M4sadaToday  01:02 pm JST

How much does it take to hold a balance of power over 360ish members?

More than any opposition party has got, as none of them can fund 360 or so candidates.

"No one seems to have gone looking for it. Doesn't matter though. The wrongful act was not lawfully reporting it."

Very few politician have been indicted, and none charged

Just shows how compromised and weak the authorities are. I daresay the money was actually used for genuine political expenses given how much they amount to, but that's what's so distasteful and unethical about it. Politicians who break the rules get a clear advantage over opponents or prospective opponents who abide by them.

That being said, if it was all legit and above board why didn't they just report it.

rcchSep. 17  04:44 pm JST

Sanae Takaichi, on the other hand, is someone with a clear idea of which path Japan needs to take—

Right down into the sewer.

Sh1mon M4sadaSep. 17  01:13 pm JST

Money politics in Japan has virtually been wiped out anyway since the government started funding parties in the 9ties.

Are you serious, when candidates in single seat elections still need a ￥3 million deposit and/or ￥6 million for the PR vote?

What!!!..........How come she not over 50-60yrs, or older, Japan can not have a PM this young, it is unheard of....lol!!

A 3 second Google search would tell you she is 63 years old, lol.

More than any opposition party has got, as none of them can fund 360 or so candidates.

They're not candidates, they're eligible rank n file members who can vote for a new leader. Funding enough (say 30) fake members is a small price to pay. Elsewhere in the world branch stacking involves hundreds of thousands and over a period of much longer than 2 years.

Just shows how compromised and weak the authorities are. I daresay the money was actually used for genuine political expenses given how much they amount to

Weakness comes from lack of evidence. Actually, the money has NOT been used, they were sitting in the account of the candidates that were indicted, and police are saying it should be reported as political donation. So it's going to come down to a choice of LDP political funds unreported, or Koenkai (branch supporters) funds which is legal.

What I remember most about Ms. Takaichi is the letter that turned up in the Diet claiming the government was going to lean on or somehow intervene with media outlets that were critical of the LDP and the Japanese Government. Ms Takaichi was at the time Minister of Interior Affairs and Communications and said that if the letter was genuine she would resign. When the letter did indeed turn out to be genuine she found excuses to back pedal. Not a profile in courage, not particularly honest or honorable. I do not hold her in high regard.

Don't be surprised if Takaichi wins. Japan is at one of the watershed times in its history and it can choose to follow the globalist cartel agenda of bowing to non elected, so called international bodies and groups that are determined to force their socio-economic demands on Japan or to follow the Abe model of global co-operation without whiteainting its own cultural values and economic priorities.

Abe was one of the few politicians after he lost the Prime Ministership to warn about getting militarily and otherwise involved in conflicts in Eastern Europe and pointed out the Russia-Ukraine conflict was complex and involved Russian speaking regions that had been under pressure from Ukraine nationalists.

Takaichi's got the guts to say no to the demand that Japan become just another version of so called liberal western values which are not liberal and promote dysfunction like the idea that taking drugs whether prescription or illegal is 'normal' and create dirty and dangerous citiies. She will also promote acceptable and rational levels of foreign workers but is likely to tighten up visas given to increasing numbers of westerners from my country of the USA who just want to kick it with their friends and are in Japan to hang out instead of being serious teachers who upgrade their skills and avoid feeding the downward spiral of wages and salaries by earning and deserving nickels and dimes instead of real wages.

Sh1mon M4sada, Simon Foston have raised some relevant pertinent points.

These so called “slush fund”, its purpose, implications. the lack of clarity, the vague investigation, the involvement of fractionised political expediency etc

that all could affect the outcomes to this LDP Presidential election.

So let’s take a somewhat “shallow dive” into the how, why and wherefore to  Japan premier political LDP ruling government, its structures, its opaque financing model……

So let start with its structure……….

LDP Organization Chart

https://www.jimin.jp/english/profile/chart/    

I am not going to contend or suggest.

No, I must insist their is no other comparable single party structure, no other deeply seated political “mirror image” to state bureaucracy, toward a single central governmental structure that has total power over all of its other political subdivisions.

The LDP policy research council, has tenacles’ reaching into every sphere sector of government.

Through every Cabinet division, to the echelon of committee stages and research councils, without any oversight.

This is unprecedented in any G20 member state.

A bespoke unique clearly defined Liberal Democratic Party - Terms in Office of Top Party Leaders

https://www.jimin.jp/english/the-president/leaders/

Also most importantly, a written constitution……

LDP Constitution

https://www.jimin.jp/english/about-ldp/constitution/

A huge headquarters…..Map to LDP Headquarters

https://www.jimin.jp/english/about-ldp/map/

So how does such a vast complex, stretching all 47 prefectures/chapters able to finance from top to bottom, the costly office infrastructure to deliver LDP ruling government election after election?

All with just 1,091,075 members?

Now lets have an intelligent open conversation into the whys and wherefores

More importantly a full independent  public inquiry into LDP funding.

Are you serious, when candidates in single seat elections still need a ￥3 million deposit and/or ￥6 million for the PR vote?

Yes, serious, Japanese politics is now state funded. At least for parties that garnered enough votes (the major parties).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_funding_in_Japan

The minority government of Hosokawa Morihiro that succeeded it proposed legislation to ban direct contributions by companies or unions to parliamentary candidates and to reform the diet. Public funding of political parties was strengthened, giving each party 250 Yen for each vote it attained.

Simon Foston have raised some relevant pertinent points.

Sure, and I'm not saying they are not relevant. I'm saying based on what Japan has as an electoral system, how it's funded. To poke a stick at the slushfund could just be an excercise in futility, because it's so hard to prove the difference supporter branch funds (Koenkai funds) and party fund residing in party account. The police has made an accusation, that's it.

So how does such a vast complex, stretching all 47 prefectures/chapters able to finance from top to bottom, the costly office infrastructure to deliver LDP ruling government election after election?

The LDP got 27milion votes at the last election, that's nearly 9 billion yen, just from the state. You add sales of supporter paraphernalia....IMHO it's enough to discourage illegal campaign funding. Now on top of this, the Koenkai basically provide election time campaign liabilities, and if they could do it with selling tickets to supporter dinner parties etc. no one would ever be implicated in an illegal slushfund scandal.

We're not talking about Toyota donating a truck or Fujifilm donating printers here, we're talking about an amount of money that is per the official police indictment 'from ticket sales'.

UK yes. US no.

US worse than UK for sure.

Sh1mon M4sada,

Both you and Simon raised valid points.

Sorry I should have been clearer, in that opening sentence

Sh1mon M4sadaToday  10:37 am JST

"Are you serious, when candidates in single seat elections still need a ￥3 million deposit and/or ￥6 million for the PR vote?"

Yes, serious, Japanese politics is now state funded. At least for parties that garnered enough votes (the major parties).

Well then, I'm not sure why not even the main opposition parties have candidates in every constituency.

Very good, and I hope the other 72.3% look again, then try to correct their views in the remaining days and fully support Ms Takaichi, too.