SCANDALS: Clouds of Black Mist

Reverberations from the Lockheed scandal echoed across Japan last week in angry newspaper headlines and outraged television commentaries. The affair was the country's most explosive political issue since ex-Premier Kakuei Tanaka resigned 15 months ago under charges of shady financial dealings. Fearful of voter reaction, the ruling Liberal Democrats now plan to put off until the fall parliamentary elections that were expected this spring. After marathon sessions with worried party members from the Diet, Premier Takeo Miki ordered an investigation by a lower-house committee, which this week will hear testimony from key principals in the case.

The Lockheed payoffs are clearly an example of what the Japanese poetically refer to as kuroi kiri (black mist), or corruption. Ironically, Premier Miki could profit from the public anger; he has earned a reputation as his party's Mr. Clean. But Tanaka, who remained a major behind-the-scenes power in the Liberal Democratic Party after his resignation as Premier, is almost certain to be tarnished, directly or indirectly, by the new scandal.

It's lucky we picked Miki," Liberal Democrats were telling each other last week. That is a new sentiment. As recently as last December, Miki's administration received an abysmal 26.6% popularity rating in a public opinion poll. His ambitious reform program had made little headway. Promised antitrust legislation ended up pigeonholed in the Diet. Inflation was slowed to a manageable 9%, but the government failed to stop price rises on necessities like rice, oil and electric power. The party's hawkish right wing blocked Miki's attempts to ratify the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. Miki seemed weak and ineffective; there were whispers that prior to the next elections he might be replaced as party boss by a stronger man—possibly even Tanaka.

The Lockheed disclosures changed all that. Miki still has his reputation for integrity; he has never been associated with the right-wing, big money elements in the party. Thus it now seems virtually certain that he will serve out his full term as party leader, until 1977. Tanaka, on the other hand, has apparently had his wings clipped once again. The brash, unrepentant politician promised the nation a full answer to questions about his financial dealings when he resigned in 1974, but no explanation has ever come forth. He is still rich, head of his party's biggest faction, and a major architect of Liberal Democratic strategy. But the Lockheed affair is a vivid reminder of the cloud of suspicion that still surrounds Tanaka.