Unenthusiastic voters ready to say yes to Abe

I think Abe is honest on whatever he wants to push like Wpmenomics, Abenomics, ewinterpretation of Cinstitution, He hasn;t lied as if he is liberal. He could lie bur so far he has not lied even Abe busher hared Abenomics, tax raise etc. Dishonest? Far from dishonest. That is why he get bashed.

The people of Japan have spoken.

serendipitousDec. 14, 2014 - 09:45PM JST But I guess honest politicians don't get very far.

Do you have proof that Prime Minister Abe is crooked? If you do please by all means share it with the rest of us.

Unenthusiastic voters ready to say yes to Abe (LDP )

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What enthusiastic voters voted for ?

But I guess honest politicians don't get very far.

If the Left had any real support in Japan they would defeat Prime Minister Abe and the LDP. But, they don't and they won't defeat Prime Minister Abe and the LDP.

You can try to spin this anyway you want, but the truth of the matter is the Japanese people would rather have Prime Minister Abe over any Leftist loon.

So to all the doom and gloom Leftist supporters here all I have to say is, learn to deal with it.

No it is not a joke. You have to admit, at least Abe is trying something, which is more than can really be said of the opposition.

Oh, he's trying things all right. I just don't think any of them are very good. The thing he needs to try he won't.

Mr. Abe is at least trying not to bend over to please CHINA for every thing that happened in the past. Time for CHINA to wake up and stop trying to push JAPAN around. Will this hurt the Japanese economy by decreasing trade with China, sure but CHINA needs to understand that Japan and the rest of the world will not just roll over like the poor victims in Tibet, Uighur region etc..Japan is already divesting from China, along with many other countries that do not see having factories in China as safe or even profitable anymore.

turbotsatDec. 14, 2014 - 10:57AM JST

Why should an urban hipster bother to go to the polls if he's got to bring 4 of his friends to match one elderly farmer?

So in other words, "No", they haven't fixed the problems that made the last elections unconstitutional and undemocratic.

This is Abe trying to confirm his position by the same unconstitutional, undemocratic and flawed process that put him in power in the first place.

This is true, but that doesn't mean that it's good by default. So far his policies seem horrible, he's just fortunate to be leading such a dysfunctional government that no one has anything better on the table.

Frankly, it is really a bit fast to tell. Remember Abenomics really started for less than two years so far, and companies are decidedly unenthusiastic. Abe can tilt the table to make it a bit easier for them, but if companies don't cooperate, no government policy can succeed in raising the economy.

I don't think anyone ever seriously believed that Abenomics was going to come free. You can't raise taxes without hurting the economy, yet Abe has to do that if only to appease agencies called "Moody" and "Poor's", who have the power to make declarations that would cause Japan's debt problem to escalate from a chronic threat to an acute, fatal one.

Then there's the yen policy, which from the start is known to benefit some while hurting others. The only gamble is whether it is a Net plus.

One thing that everyone can agree is that Japan has to do something about its economic rut.

No it hasn't. Relations with China were much, much better during the 民主党 years, until the very end when Ishihara came up with his harebrained (why do we disparage rabbits so?) scheme to buy the islands. It's during the Abe years that relations with China have crashed, to their lowest levels in decades.

Good relationships are not the same as kowtowing. What you are seeing is Abe and the LDP finally starting to do something that should have been started as soon as the Soviet Union was off the table, getting ready to confront the next rising threat, which is China.

China has been laying low while it built up its national power, and somewhere in the last period of brief time DPJ was in power, it decides to flex its muscles (you can see this in the famous incident with the Min Jin Yue). Abe gets the ball to confront China, and the "lowest level of relationship" you are seeing is not so much Abe's policies but China's increasing stridency in its demands. You are seeing the heat from Abe's braking effort, that's all.

You have to admit, at least Abe is trying something, which is more than can really be said of the opposition.

This is setting the bar pretty low isn't it? By definition, that is how the system works. If you are in power you get the chance to do something, if you are in opposition you get the chance to do nothing.

I never agreed with everything the late Tony Benn said but his idea that those in power like to demoralize the electorate to the point where they don't believe that anything can change and so vote in half-arsed way hoping for the best, if they vote at all, is a perfect description of this election. It's the most miserable, demoralizing and resigned election I've ever seen.

Politbeaurou wins again, pathetic

A election that will be remembered for a shameful shambles of a opposition. No show, nobodies fielding just a handful of candidates in comparison to the LDP, that will have appalling consequences to the democratic process and will gift Abe san a undeserved political opportunity to believe he can do whatever he feels whatever the cost.

You have to admit, at least Abe is trying something, which is more than can really be said of the opposition.

This is true, but that doesn't mean that it's good by default. So far his policies seem horrible, he's just fortunate to be leading such a dysfunctional government that no one has anything better on the table.

he is standing up to China more than the previous doormat policy - which I actually agree with. Doormat policy has clearly only gotten Korea and China more strident in their demands.

No it hasn't. Relations with China were much, much better during the 民主党 years, until the very end when Ishihara came up with his harebrained (why do we disparage rabbits so?) scheme to buy the islands. It's during the Abe years that relations with China have crashed, to their lowest levels in decades.

@Simon Foston

This is a joke, right?

No it is not a joke. You have to admit, at least Abe is trying something, which is more than can really be said of the opposition. And he is standing up to China more than the previous doormat policy - which I actually agree with. Doormat policy has clearly only gotten Korea and China more strident in their demands.

The DPJ are/were the better party but 3-11 really stuffed things up for them. PM Kan was more honest than any other politician who I can think of.

Frungy: Have they even fixed the problems that made the problems that made the last elections unconstitutional?

Why should an urban hipster bother to go to the polls if he's got to bring 4 of his friends to match one elderly farmer?

Have they even fixed the problems that made the problems that made the last elections unconstitutional?

Not one Japanese I have met show any liking for Abe!

You either need to start shopping at JA co-ops or make some geriatric friends.

If predictions of record low turnout weren't bad enough, the DPJ isn't even bothering to run anyone in my constituency. They probably don't want to lose their deposit. The people here can either vote for the LDP or the communist party.

A "yes" to Abe means:

Yes to lower wages and higher prices.

Yes to a depressed economy.

Yes to abolishing overtime payments.

Yes to more part-time jobs.

Yes to nuclear power.

Yes to covering up nuclear power safety issues on the grounds they are "secret".

Yes to corruption and scandal.

Yes to wasting taxes on unnecessary constuction projects.

Yes to antagonised relationships with neighbouring countries.

Yes to teaching propaganda in schools instead of facts.

Yes to conscription.

Yes to controls on the freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

Yes to war.

I hope the Japanese people will think about what a "yes" to Abe really means, but I expect I will be disappointed (again).

Return of the rising dicktator

The blind leading the blind

Is there a way to safeguard the Japanese nation against Prime Ministers who may succumb to irrational distortions of reality? Japan is a contradiction: rich in savings and poor in real living standards.

There's not been a more skilled PM in Japan in a long time. And I see Abe as an example of commitment and loyalty to the Japanese people. He's not only working hard to make Japan bright in the markets, but also has brought back the pride and nationalism Japan needed.

This is a joke, right?

There's not been a more skilled PM in Japan in a long time.

Skilled at shoveling guano, then you are correct!

Not one Japanese I have met show any liking for Abe! The LDP, with 4 more years of power will proceed to decimate the economy. However, in a perverse way I look forward to seeing this historical decline......

Go out there and vote, the candidate that gets the most votes wins the election. A candidate can win by just 1 vote more than the others. As long as the LDP, Komeito and the Party for Future Generations "do not have a majority", they can not force their authoritarian ways and "BAD" policies on you. If you want to : (1) revoke the state secrets laws which allows the government to cover up corruption, wasteful spending, and illegal activities, etc. and suppress the press, the reporters, protesters, etc. (2) stop or abolish the sales tax increase which can make your life more miserable and lower your standard of living. (3) annul the reinterpretation of the Constitution to stop the government from engaging in "expensive" foreign military adventures, etc.. The USA spent more than $2000 billion US dollars or roughly 238 000 billion yen on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of this is money "borrowed" from foreigners. Is PM Abe going to borrow this money for his foreign military adventures ? (4) stop more weakening of the yen which makes imported food, oil, gas, goods, etc. more expensive for you. This makes your life more miserable if you are not rich enough. (5) stop PM Abe from violating the Constitution, taking away or violating your human rights and freedom. (6) etc. Go out there and vote for any opposition party. Not LDP. Not Komeito. Not Party for Future Generations. You only have to spend a few hours one time every 4 years. Your candidate can win by only 1 vote ahead. Go vote for the Democratic Party of Japan, Japan Innovation Party, Your Party, etc.. Your vote counts !

Unenthusiastic voters ready to say yes to Abe.

Only two-thirds of voters expressed any interest in the vote, a poll found, down from 80 percent in December 2012.

Sad day for Japan. A country facing numerous, deep-rooted issues cannot even get interested in a national election. The politicians -- especially the LDP -- have succeeded in dumbing things down to a ridiculous level.

There's not been a more skilled PM in Japan in a long time. And I see Abe as an example of commitment and loyalty to the Japanese people. He's not only working hard to make Japan bright in the markets, but also has brought back the pride and nationalism Japan needed.

The Makuya is on your side Abe.