The Japanese Dinosaur

The dinosaur is without a doubt one of the most powerful reptiles to walk the face of this earth. However, all that power accounts for nothing when it is being controlled by a miniscule brain. Why the dinosaur?

Post World War Japan has acted similarly to this dinosaur, a powerful nation lead by weak, passive, and unassertive leaders. It is extremely important to stress this because Japan cannot reform itself if its leaders continue to lead without any real responsibility and without the drive to force change. Post World War politics started fairly well in its infancy, by addressing the most pressing issue of revitalizing the Japanese economy, Japan has poured all its energy into the making and distribution of its wealth. But decades later, when the economy has pretty much reached its zenith at that time, leaders and politicians have already become too complacent to change anything and have contented themselves with policies that can only address the distribution of wealth, therefore making strong leadership and unnecessary thing.

This poses a problem because as a powerful nation, Japan should attempt to play an important role as an international actor by shouldering some kind of responsibility, because gone are the days when it only had to take care of itself. But what stands in the way of Japan in reforming itself and playing and important role in the international society, is the inability to have a leader that would enforce cohesion in policy making, rather then lead by consensus. Just by looking at the prime minister lineups of the past few years, one can tell that none of them were real leaders, even if some of them did have some bright ideas. This is mainly because of the manner through which power is handled, and that it is diffused almost equally among all parties of interests. This has ultimately lead to the lack of cohesiveness in policy making because anyone with any amount of power can put forth their respective issues whether it is pressing or not, or delay legislature. By consolidating democratic power under those that are put in charge and by giving them more responsibility, it becomes more possible to deliberate and make decisions more efficiently. This is the essence of political reform.

The prospect of such a reform is dependant on the key players of the various political parties that exist in Japanese politics. Those that share this belief in appropriating more responsibilities to the position of prime minister will most likely push for it, as it is the most obvious problem that is plaguing Japanese politics. Japan cannot face crises after crises without someone with a strong hand that can shepherd them out of it, and I think that the Japanese people and a few politicians are coming to this realization as well.