Japan's main opposition party begins leadership race

Saw a bit of the debate. Wasn’t inspired.

Edano was the biggest joke - he said something like the notion of market competition as a means of making for a strong economy is an outdated Showa idea.

He is totally out of touch with reality and the rest of the world that has left Japan behind these last three decades. If they pick him they have no hope.

CDP cannot replace regime unless cut off or silence interference from large corporations' labour union "Rengo" who prioritize paranoid anti-communism or relationship with LDP than improving treatment of labour and regime changing.

So exciting! What a nail-biter! Who will win? Oh, it doesn't matter, it'll just be business as usual no matter who wins.

So what is the driving political philosophy of the CDPJ or is it just “I want to be in power”.

Unless they can show a clear coherent and consistent policy programme based on a core ideology, they will be indistinguishable from the LDP and have no chance to get their message across and attract the attention and possibly the votes of the electorate.

The fact that they all come from disparate short lived political factions (they can hardly be truly called parties) does not bode well.

The 4 in the pic can't even agree on which camera they are supposed to look at...........and they think they are going to lead a country, together?

Noda's going after it again after his last showing? Man, I was joking when I said it's just the usual recycles, but it really is, and THEN some! I do like the look on his face, though; says it all, "Let's get this over with."

englisc aspyrgendSep. 7  07:59 pm JST

So what is the driving political philosophy of the CDPJ or is it just “I want to be in power”.

It's everything you might expect - raising the minimum wage, promoting gender equality, multiculturalism and renewable energy, keeping the Constitution as it is, reforming the electoral system, etc. There's no great mystery to it either - the information is all easy to find if you go looking for it.

Unless they can show a clear coherent and consistent policy programme based on a core ideology, they will be indistinguishable from the LDP and have no chance to get their message across and attract the attention and possibly the votes of the electorate.

They have no chance to attract anyone's attention in constituencies where they can't afford to run candidates. It's not policies that matter in Japanese elections. It's all about having a strong local support group, name recognition and lots of money.

The problem with the CDP is that eventually they are going to need to find a way to galvanize the young voters. They are still a significant, yet rapidly diminishing demographic no one seems interested in capitalizing on. This untapped advantage will likely disappear within a few decades, and by then the CDP will have missed a major opportunity and won't have the infrastructure to remain relevant. Maybe this party will eventually also be eaten up by or end up as a coalition partner to the LDP, who knows. One thing is clear, and it's that this party is totally directionless.

wolfshineToday  09:22 am JST

The problem with the CDP is that eventually they are going to need to find a way to galvanize the young voters.

There aren't so many young voters in the over-represented rural 'LDP kingdoms,' and the CDP can't afford expensive campaigns against incumbents who will be very hard to beat.

They are still a significant, yet rapidly diminishing demographic no one seems interested in capitalizing on. This untapped advantage will likely disappear within a few decades, and by then the CDP will have missed a major opportunity and won't have the infrastructure to remain relevant.

The real problem is that they don't have the infrastructure to remain relevant right now.