Japan's Comic Relief

Japan's politics are pretty much a no-laugh zone, so you might excuse voters in the rural southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki for electing independent candidate Hideo Higashikokubaru—a political neophyte better known as former TV comedian Sonomanma Higashi—to be Governor in a landslide win on Jan. 21. But Higashikokubaru's win may have less to do with entertainment than with public dissatisfaction over Japanese politics, increasingly seen as corrupt and ineffective. His predecessor, also an independent, resigned amid corruption allegations, and scandals have forced two of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's top ministers to resign.

The loss is disquieting for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which is worried about keeping its seats in July's upper house elections. The opposition Democratic Party of Japan is in even worse shape: with sparse grassroots support, it wasn't even able to field a candidate in the Miyazaki election. This disgruntlement "is very serious for the parties," says Takao Toshikawa, a Tokyo-based political analyst. Abe, who needs a strong LDP showing in July to stay in office, refused to see Higashikokubaru's win as a loss for his party, instead hailing it as "the voice" of the people demanding reform. With his own approval ratings falling below 40%, Abe could be the next object of reform himself.