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Japan Restoration Party unveils ambitious election manifesto

14 Comments

The Nippon Ishin No Kai (Japan Restoration Party) on Thursday unveiled its manifesto for the July 21 upper house election.

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who co-heads the party with former Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara, said the party's pledges aim to achieve what no previous government has been able to, Sankei Shimbun reported.

Key policy pledges include achieving economic growth of more than 3%, enabling the public to directly elect the prime minister, scrapping the upper house, halving the number of seats in the lower house from 480 to 240, changing the consumption tax into a regional tax, reorganizing prefectures into larger regional blocs, joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) framework and ending the nation's reliance on nuclear power.

The manifesto also calls for a revision of Article 96 of the Constitution which stipulates procedures for amendments, as well as deregulation of the health care and agricultural sectors.

Referring to the controversy over Hashimoto's remarks on Japan’s wartime military brothels, the manifesto says the party will clarify historical facts and protect Japan's dignity, Sankei reported.

The Japan Restoration Party fared badly in last Sunday's Tokyo metropolitan assembly election, winning just two seats.

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14 Comments
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Clarify historical facts?

Oh yeah, this will end well. Hashimoto's recent flak will look like nothing once these "clarified" historical facts cause such a massive international and domestic backlash. The only good thing to come of this is that it will probably mean Ishin No Kai ends up crushed.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I don't think that the other parties have much to worry about from this pair but they do have some good ideas e.g. "deregulation of the health care and agricultural sectors." both long overdue but will never happen.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Scrambling to reinvent and also change the subject.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

clarify historical facts and protect Japan’s dignity =>whitewashing its history

Politic need integrity and ethic with no ramification with organized crime, so how comes at the first place that a son of a yakuza can be elected as a mayor of a city ? There is a serious flaw in the background screening of candidate.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

says the party will clarify historical facts and protect Japan’s dignity,

Substitute "fabricate" for "clarify" and you've described it perfectly. It would be more honest if they changed their name to the Japan Revisionist Party.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Ok, where to even start.....

Given that Ishi's two greatest economic contributions to Tokyo were his failed attempt to tax banks based on their size rather than their profits (in wanton violation of any rational reading of the law) and of course Tokyo Shin Ginko, the publicly funded bank that blew $3 billion in public funds providing bad loans, I don't think we need a lot of advice on economic growth from him. As for Mr. Hashimoto, one doubts if he really understands that 3% growth is pretty hard to sustain in the absense of loan sharking, money laundering, etc....

Above posters have said all there is to say about protecting Japan's dignity. I will add that the best way to protect Japan's image would be for both of these men to stop talking immediately.

Cut the number of Diet seats in half thus thrusting 240 career politicians into new careers as ex-politicians. Good luck with that. (In a related development, Ishin Kai decides to offer every voter a free trip to the moon.)

In all seriousness though, the manifesto has some good ideas, but this party is no longer capable (if indeed it ever was) of discussing them because Hashimoto and Ishihara have made the brand toxic. Only when they go away (or die off) will the party be able to return to its focus. The problem is that these two ARE the party. If they leave, the party ceases to exist.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I shudder at the monstrosity a new Constitution would be, if its framing were to be entrusted to the current crop of politicians. They would all tear each other apart in order to produce a law of the land designed to protect and enhance their own self-serving interests.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Such a shame that most of the people who voice an opinion about Hashimoto/Ishihara/Restoration Party are not able to vote. Sadly they might do quite well because many people who actually do vote only research the candidates on the election date and are highly influenced by manifestos/promises, even if they are totally unrealistic.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Not all that bad, but how much would they actually accomplish without abolishing the diet altogether? Still, they'll never get in.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

the parliamentary reforms are all excellent starts. The rest is nonsense and the parts left out... no doubt horrific, racist, misogynist and just downright appalling in equal measure.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

At least you still have a constitution in Japan. Here not to much....

But I digress. Halving the Diet? that's a bit much and probably does not address the real issue, 'autocratic sclerosis from the entrenched 'cracys with Japanese society. Usually where the real problems come from in any government.

reorganization of prefectures into regional blocks? Given the historical past, that is probably not going to fly very well. As to the regional tax from a consumption tax, I'd need the logic behind that explained to me.

getting rid of nuclear power? That's not going to work. Japan is resource poor enough that that will not go over well at all. And so called Green Tech hasn't matured enough to be of use

0 ( +0 / -0 )

clarify historical facts and protect Japan’s dignity

For apologists of Imperial Japan's crimes, those two are in conflict. Which, of course, leads to the inevitable conclusion that, no matter how reasonable it is for Japan to dump Art 9, I do not trust these clowns to it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

reorganizing prefectures into larger regional blocs, joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) framework as well as deregulation of the health care and agricultural sectors.

I am against the above and feel nuclear power is necessary for Japan.

http://backtoedenfilm.com/ More than anything I want local organic food.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Manipulating article 96 is an attempt to amended Article 9 which is a National Constitution outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. Reformist party reminiscing of Imperial empire are trying to nullify Japan's promise to not engage in a War again. Isshin no kai must not gain any further power in Japan to change the current pacifist policy of Japan.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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