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about Asia Buzz
Letter from Japan: Deja Vu
Politicians wear money like bad perfume and a cheap suit
By PETER McKILLOP
January 27, 2001
Web posted at 11:25 a.m. Hong Kong time, 10:25 p.m. EDT
Just as Monday follows Sunday, another round of corruption scandals has broken
out in Japan. This time it is a senior Foreign Ministry official accused of
siphoning money from a diplomatic travel fund. Earlier in the week, a cabinet
member had to resign (the third since Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori came to power
last April) for soliciting illegal campaign contributions.
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ASIAWEEK |
Intelligence
The story behind today's news from the editors of Asiaweek
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Now it is important to remember that these incidents have nothing to do with an
actual scandal. They are not isolated events. Buying horse races, ramping up
stocks, fancy apartments in European capitals -- these have always been
considered the perks of being a politician in Japan. If we have learned anything
in the past decade, it is that anything remotely associated with politicians is
tainted.
Politicians wear money like bad perfume and a cheap suit. If Rudy "zero
tolerance" Guiliani, the former attorney and New York City mayor, investigated
Japan, prison officials would have to import those jail barges used in Manhattan
to house all bureaucrats and politicians on the take.
"Exposing" scandal is the time-honored way to foster political change in Japan.
What better way to rally public opinion against your opponent than a juicy
revelation that some hapless bureaucrat bought a horse race? In this case, the
official is said to have used $456,000 to purchase an apartment in central
Tokyo. What kind of apartment was he buying? A flophouse under railroad tracks?
You cannot buy an apple, much less an apartment in central Tokyo for less than a
$1 million.
Real corruption is impressive -- this week's revelations were nothing more than
tactical political skirmishing. They're created as a cover so "outraged"
politicians can embarrass opponents in the run-up to an important election. With
no polling data available, no one has a clue what most Japanese think about
these scandals. But if such a poll was taken, the chances are that most would
understand that these incidents are what they are -- a cynical political ploy.
In a nation obsessed with ritual, scandals provide a way to screw your political
opponent. In this case, the knives are out for the bumbling Prime Minister
Yoshiro Mori. His already weakened party faction inside the ruling LDP faces a
critical election later this year. And like the first ray of spring sun on a
family of churlish pit vipers, his opponents are beginning to squirm into
action. Step one: Force the resignation of a powerful political boss, in this
case, the Foreign Monister Yohei Kono, by digging up a scandal in his ministry
du jour. That, in turn, further weakens Mori, which hammers him in the polls,
sinks his coalition, and sets the stage for another LDP faction to take over.
No sooner are they in power, than the process begins again. Of course, no one
really gets hurt. Once tarred by the brush of scandal, the politician ritually
resigns, only to reemerge at a later date. What is damaged, is the image of
Japan. With its biggest banks and insurance companies teetering on the edge of
fiscal ruin, the last thing the country needs is more political instability. But
does the ruling party care? Of course not. They'll be given plenty of warning
ahead of time when to withdraw their money and cash in their insurance policy
before these institutions crash.
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