Is Japan a De-Facto One Party State? The Japanese Election Explained - TLDR News

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Japan held an election on Sunday and yet again the ruling Liberal Democratic Party won. This is the 21st electoral win since their formation in 1955, with them only out of power for 4 years. So in this video we run through how the election played out, how they won again & if this means that Japan really has a one party state.
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[@lachd2261]

Political scientists often speak of the “Iron Triangle” of Japanese politics - the LDP, the Bureaucracy, and Big Business. This triangle essentially runs Japan, with minimum viable parliamentary opposition. The biggest opposition comes from internal factions within the LDP who vie for control of the governing party. Only when the LDP make a really big mess of the economy do they get voted out (1993, 2009).

[@atari947]

Ahh Japan they never change lmao. Japanese corporations have been controlling that country since the early empire.

[@lordkenten4136]

@@atari947 It will change soon. The up and coming generation is far more vocal. We can only see that in South Korea a country very similar to Japan. 500,000 workers want to strike last month. East Asia's is in for a reckoning.

[@lordkenten4136]

@PT Bernie's not radical enough, he wants to try fixing a system that's already far too. Unless we break the two-party system there will be no change in the United States of America.

[@lordkenten4136]

@PT The country is meant in a continuous state of crisis since the 80s. The economy has been stagnant since then, they have age of population that will be able to care for myself in the future and age when do they workforce. thanks to overwork

[@lordkenten4136]

@PT Bernie's not a communist. He's a social Democrat how wants to put in place the most basic safety net that every other developed country has. But he doesn't actually want to change the system. We must have multi-party democracy in order to be an actual democracy instead of the two-party dictatorship currently find ourselves in.

[@vinniechan]

The LDP itself is a formed by the merger of two parties so it's pretty much a big tent ultra stable party that ppl default to

[@tauceti8060]

Its a coalition party?

[@danuaditya642]

Yes, two centrist parties.

[@vinniechan]

@@tauceti8060 not a coalition It was formed when the liberal party and the democratic party merges No extra points for creativity of the new name

[@ernstschmidt4725]

@@tauceti8060 internally yes, it is a coalition of different cliques and interest groups, externally, it is a single monolithic party that hover over all others

[@tauceti8060]

@@vinniechan Oh ok

[@justinmorgan7230]

Japan: we had three prime ministers in three years Italy: hold my beer

[@sevret313]

Still sounds better than the Belgian model of zero prime ministers in three years.

[@lucadesanctis563]

We'll soon have more PM's than years of an existinting Italian unitary state

[@Fulllife3.2]

@@sevret313 Meanwhile across the Ocean, America: "Prime ministers? What are those? Are they edible?"

[@La-Cabra]

Last year Perú had 3 presidents in a week.

[@elalcazar7374]

Meanwhile in germany. You can have a different head of state?

[@Skyrimfan002]

I feel like a breakdown of Japanese political parties would be nice now, so we can all understand how the parties differ and what change they could bring should they topple the LDP. I think we Westerners hardly ever hear about the Japanese political climate!

[@lordkenten4136]

I definitely agree this it would be great to have a breakdown.

[@lukesmith5630]

I agree. It would be interesting to see the stances of different Japanese political parties.

[@BeezyNgeezY-ul1nu]

here's japanese political climate: money money money money money money money

[@lordkenten4136]

@@BeezyNgeezY-ul1nu Yeah but that's every country.

[@crispyatom]

Not only Westerners though... Me as an Asian (living in Asia) knows a lot more about European politics than Japanese politic

[@joshpeters8845]

I live in Japan, and from my experience speaking with Japanese people, is that it's mostly the elderly who vote and younger people have very little interest in politics. This is worsened by the fact that Japan has an aging population and the majority population group is the elderly, which prefer stability.

[@joshpeters8845]

@PT not when the pension system is screwed

[@lordkenten4136]

And that's sad.

[@lordkenten4136]

@PT No it isn't.

[@lordkenten4136]

@PT How can you say it didn't work when it turned an feudal backwater that was a stuck in the middle ages into industrial superpower in 10 years.

[@soph4951]

Coming from a Japanese person who just turned 18 and participated in the general elections, I have to agree with you. Not only the voters tends to be older and privileged and the voter turnout rate itself is shockingly low, with the aging population, even if the entire youth voted, there are more votes from the elderly with the current turnout rate. That said, I feel like that isn’t the sole reason for LDP being the dominant party. For example, my friends and family would vote Democrat if it was the US Presidential elections (not just because of Donald Trump) but they all voted for the center-right LDP because it’s stable compared to other parties. In Japan, parities other than LDP or Komeitou which has an alliance with the LDP tends to be quite populist. Figures such as Edano Yukio, the head of the CDP (second largest party), Mizuho Fukushima, the head of SDP, Taro Yamada, head of Reiwa Shinsengumi and the infamous Takashi Tachibana, the head of The Party to Protect the People from NHK are very polarizing in Japanese society.

[@MoonatikYT]

Therapist: Jack without glasses cant hurt you, he doesn't exist. Jack without glasses:

[@Josh-bu2wz]

Lmao shit bruh I got distracted pretty quickly reading about other stuff n so pretty much just listened to the video in the background (as works well for tldr) & now it's finished, come to read the comments then checked the vid again, and yes I can confirm it's terrifying and I'm happy I got to enjoy the info from the vid while being spared for the duration.

[@RemiScar97]

Pog! Moonatik watched TLDR

[@espnoberg6130]

Ohhh, that’s what’s different!

[@thescotchirishman3373]

@@espnoberg6130 I thought the light might have been too bright. But then I saw it lol.

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

Suga’s popularity waned also because of the continuation of the Olympics.

[@emitain8408]

That wasn’t his fault tho. I believe that was actually because of the Olympics’ contract.

[@zeroyuki92]

I think nobody would performed well in his position given that whatever Japan decided during that Olympics it's a lose-lose situation. I guess now that it's over LDP could only hope that with new PM hopefully there's no future blunders anymore.

[@scrubs3050]

I think Japan faced a penalty if they did not go ahead with the games

[@alexiacyr5183]

I lived in Japan, I would say there is a term “Administration management capability(政権運営能力)” in today’s Japanese politic. In 2009, most Japanese voted for the Democratic Party of Japan(DPJ) as they couldn’t approve LDP’s job anymore. However, DPJ did not even know how to operate the government, mainly because the most political power has been dominated by the LDP for too long. They don’t even know the very basics of how to communicate with foreign leaders. President Obama wrote so badly about DPJ in his book. And only after 3-years, LDP took back the authority and the DPJ disbanded and broke into even further small parties. Many Japanese view those small parties do not even have proper administration management capabilities.

[@attiepollard7847]

Now that's a damn shame. You trying to tell me that there wasn't a few hotshot Young Buck politicians in Japan who couldn't promote the liberal left wing ideas to keep in government?

[@NityaStriker]

A solution could be to have the Supreme Court demand the LDP to open source their administrative procedures in order to help improve the capabilities of future parties and politicians in executing those procedures. This could have a long term positive impact on Japanese democracy.

[@kamdenmadan3289]

@@NityaStriker The big problem with achieving that, based on what i have read, is that the Justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by the Cabinet. Making it so that as long as the LDP maintains leadership, that can happen only if a movement grows within the LDP to want that.

[@NovaHessia]

@@kamdenmadan3289 In fact, as I understand it, Japan's Supreme Court has ever only stricken down three laws in the history of their existence, and all of them were election laws. It is a political battle for the Supreme Court just to keep the elections technically fair. They decreed that election districts may not differ by more than a factor of 3, i.e. the largest district may not have more than three times the population of the smallest one - and of course, already that is kinda undemocratic, but the government's old cut of districts at the time was even worse. And yeah, those issues were all the Japanese Supreme Court ever touched. As a rule, it doesn't really overrule government laws and actions. The issue of the election laws shows it can, it isn't entirely toothless and completely on party line, it's just part of Japanese political culture that it usually doesn't.

[@kamdenmadan3289]

@@NovaHessia yeah doing some more reading, there is a belief that due to it originating based of Imperial German Judiciary system that did not have the power to strike down unconstitutional laws, and has created a historical reluctance to use it's powers.

[@danielwisco1485]

Singapore and the People's Action Party: We never lose (by far) a single election since independence

[@PrinceRightyI]

That's also worth a video. 😆

[@desidark1243]

@Sakul whatever they're doing is working pretty well tho

[@millevenon5853]

singapore is a dictatorship not a democracy

[@millevenon5853]

@@desidark1243 they have the most miserable people in the developed world and a high child suicide rate. its a disaster

[@mysticbazuso36]

@@millevenon5853 that doesn't seem very relevant to democracy. Democracy sucks. You end up with people like Joe Biden

[@shiroyashaginsan405]

As a Japanese, our democracy is alright, if not a bit "bland" you could say. Unlike until the 90s, opposition can win if there's a coalition and back then LDP didn't even need junior parties before. Not a fan of them but they're better than alternatives. Stability being a motto of LDP for 70 years is false, they were in chaos in late 90s yet people voted to them. LDP changed over time, there are times when they are downright authoritarian (late 50s), or corporatists (80s) or neoliberal populist (2Ks). Main point of the party was that it is a merge of the Taisho democracy's conservative and liberal parties and they're pretty competent in what they do, no matter what type of right wing ideology they were. DPJ's win is even attributed to LDP's policies of popular neoliberalism in the 2000s, and was discontinued when Abe took power, because establishment disapproved of it, which DPJ took advantage of. Since the party is a merge to begin with, competition and debate of policies are still there, the ruling faction will be kicked out once they become unpopular, and they absorbed many people during its lifetime, forcing more radical people in the party to moderate. They're really good at absorbing both conservative and progressive candidates and put them into their party structure. I believe the closest party that is comparable to LDP is India's INC. Japan's democracy nowadays is pretty much pre-BJP India.

[@B3Band]

You guys are afraid of change, afraid of foreigners, and afraid of progress.

[@Poctyk]

>if not a bit "bland" you could say. Better "bland" then "neverending political circus"

[@shiroyashaginsan405]

Well bland is better than circus sure lol. But it also makes politics in the country so uneventful it's hard to get invested in it. My personal opinion but everytime I see country like Turkey, I wish my country has as exciting moments nowadays.

[@Poctyk]

@@shiroyashaginsan405 >, I wish my country has as exciting moments nowadays. "I wish my country had attempted coups, constant separatism and 20% inflation?" lol

[@aleksaradojicic8114]

@@shiroyashaginsan405 Belive me, after few days of "Turkey" like experience, you would cry for your system to come back.

[@ernstschmidt4725]

japan a one party state? as a political scientist I prefer the term one and half party state. to the closing question: yes, japan is broken as a competitive democracy, but the LDP hegemony happens to be a quite functional goverment nonetheless and since it is strongly pro-US they have a strong ally to rely upon

[@emib6599]

Ally or a loose ties overlord ?

[@Silver_Prussian]

I mean the multi party system in many coutries eventualy always lead to disputes, slowing down important projects, instability polarization of the populace, corruption and easy way for outside intervation and weakening of a country

[@Silver_Prussian]

@PT yes thats the thing autoritarianism doeant have to be corrupt or serve someones needs, infact it can get rid of these problems if its used by the right people and in the end of the day what people want is efficiency and security

[@Haijwsyz51846]

US is more like Japan's overlord. Japan is practically a vassal of US.

[@jonrolfson1686]

‘First past the post’ systems tend toward functional party systems wherein one or two parties are broad umbrella sorts of organizations, often based on long-standing coalitions. When or if the compromises needed to maintain these coalitions become untenable, the parties either reshuffle, shedding some of their incompatible factions and integrating others, or they break apart. Markedly independent small parties may attempt to challenge a long dominant party by coalescing into something very like a large umbrella party: Their problem is to convince dedicated, ‘true-believer,’ activist party-members that the compromises that are necessary are not unacceptable betrayals of principle. Seems not to have been doable in Japan in 2021.

[@ryuuguu01]

Abe's stepped down to avoid a crippling scandal. He had tried to appoint a buddy as the chief national prosecutor by changing the law to allow the PM to influence this appointment. Previously it was determined strictly on seniority. The appointment failed when his buddy was caught in an illegal gambling raid and had to resign before he could be appointed. This was important because it meant Abe's buddy was not going to the chief prosecutor for the prosecution of Abe's close ally and ex-justice minister. He was being prosecuted for buying votes for his wife's election. This meant that Abe could not be certain his name would be kept out of the trail since he was thought to be closely involved in the ex-minister's political campaigns. Just before the trial started Abe's stomach acted up and just as it had previously when scandals were getting too hot. The ex-justice minister got a 2-year sentence I think.

[@_PresidentSkillz]

Wait you mean, if Politicians screw sth up, they resign? I mean, yes, it was a problematic situation for Abe, but still... Here in Germany we had an infrastructure minister who screwed up things on end, most notebly he spent 500 Million Euros on a project that was to fail from the beginning. He never resigned and even stated he wanted to continue as minister (luckily his party won't be in the new government)

[@tonywhite8131]

tldr

[@BeezyNgeezY-ul1nu]

"Justice" in Japan ever LOL

[@IkeOkerekeNews]

Source for this information?

[@kobemop]

LDP are corrupt

[@Froge0]

What you said at the end sounds a lot like the political situation in the UK. Even as the ruling party gets more and more unpopular their chances of being removed is tiny because of how chaotic and even more unpopular the opposition is. Very unhealthy situation in both cases.

[@johno1530]

quick someone tag canada

[@NovajaPravda]

@@zjean3417 That's sounds like some double standard to me. A one party state is good only when it is liberal

[@zwojack7285]

"If party popularity couldnt be lower, but reelection rates couldnt be higher, you know you did a good job."-CGP Grey, about Gerrymandering and voting Systems

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

Well better than voting less of both evil as we have it here in America a party the increasing right wing and another the do really care

[@kightsun]

Your problem is with party politics and western democracy more broadly. We need another imperial restoration.

[@umbrodiscord8265]

Japan isn't a de facto one-party state its a dominant-party state

[@ernstschmidt4725]

japan is both things

[@gHGhej]

Do you work for EA's PR department? Not loot boxes but surprise mechanics! 😂

[@luketonkinson5440]

@@gHGhej they’re different things though. A one-party state is a state where only one party is legal, and it controls everything. A dominant-party state is one where competing parties are legal and elections are free and fair etc, but there is only one party currently dominating politics.

[@gHGhej]

@@luketonkinson5440 I am talking in reality not theory 👍 Yes legally there can be other parties but if the odds of one them is equal to Wolves winning the Premier League then is it really a competition?

[@XanderVJ]

​@@gHGhej Have you seen the video or you just jumped into the comments to get that sweet, sweet dopamine fix? Trick question: I know you did the latter. If you had seen the video you would have seen that, while they've been in power most of the the time, they were out twice, and their vote percentages are nowhere near the level of votes from other "democratic-but-not-really" estates.

[@abearah9255]

0:53 PAP of Singapore: Hold my beer

[@zacksung11]

Jack, that's nothing compared to Liberia (where the True Whigs dominated the country unopposed from 1867 to the military coup in 1980), Mexico (where the PRI ran the nation from 1929-2000 and were so dominant that Mexico was dubbed 'the perfect dictatorship'), and Singapore (which is being led by the People's Action Party from 1959 all the way to the present). So compared to those three countries Japan is quite lucky in having a nominal democracy. They don't know how good they have it.

[@oscarosullivan4513]

PRI weren’t they the ones who rigged the 1988 election

[@kevintessier3760]

What I'm wondering is what kind of effect having the same party in charge for so long has on the bureaucratic process of a transition of power. With the LDP in power for over 60 years with few interruptions, could that leave Japan with a weak transition process compared to other countries that change hands more often? Could that be a part of why things were more chaotic when other parties took power? Not really expecting that answered, it's a bit too technical, but it's just where my thoughts went.

[@bobidou23]

From what I understand this was a major stumbling block for the Democratic Party that one time they won in 2009. For the Democrats the bureaucrats were part of the problem, were quite adversarial, bureaucrats didn't care to work with them to advance their agenda.

[@user-gk2vw6cz6d]

@@bobidou23 The Fukushima disaster didn't help either.

[@eruno_]

during brief time Democratic Party was in power state bureaucrats which are heavily aligned with LDP tried to do anything in their power to stop any Democratic Party initiative. So you are right.

[@donovan4613]

It makes sense tat after such a long time in power almost every aspect of bureaucracy and administration has been reached by LDP “tentacles” so even if power transition mechanisms, in theory, remain unchanged it makes sense that it’s not smooth in the slightest. It’s a valid concern definitely not healthy for a democracy

[@drscopeify]

Good world class leaders are hard to find and during times of peace, good leaders are usually scary to vote for or appear to have a nationalistic world view that scares people away even though they have a vision and really do have the ability to change the world order and future. A leader might make changes but a world-class leader will change the world forever. The UK has managed to skip back and forth between weak and strong leaders like May and Gordon Brown but also have Johnson and Blair that have indeed changed the world. France has not had a leader like that since Chirac and Italy since Berlusconi. Germany has had a lack of leadership since the end of the USSR and ended up with Merkel who has been a very weak leader, afraid to rock the boat and make big decisions on Germany, Europe and Russia. China has had weak leaders that were afraid to change the world and China itself until the current leader Xi but he is one evil piece of work so the "evil" kind of world class leader but he is a historical level world class leader. Russia's Putin might seem strong and a world class leader, but he actually isn't and he failed to actually have a real agenda and future vision for his own country and has mostly just done everything to save his own skin and his friends, for example Russia's low national debt is a good sign that he has just been sitting on his hands during his entire time as dictator in chief. The USA last proper American world-class leader was Ronald Regan who with his own bare hands shaped and created the world order that we still live in today, leaders like Clinton and both George Bush's and even Obama have been proper leaders who took charge but had no long term plans or vision and did nothing to change the world order or make any large scale changes both inside the USA and outside so they were not real world-class leaders. Now, the one exception is Trump, for all the negative elements about him, yes, he did indeed change the USA and the world's direction on China to a very large scale change that is just beginning to take shape today, so in my book Trump is indeed a world class leader of historic levels because he changed the world order and this change is just begging to form. He created the divergence and separation of the west from China, for better or worse, this is the largest change in world order since Ronald Regan.

[@bikkiikun]

One thing that should also be mentioned is, that in Japan it is not so much about parties, but factions (within the parties). So while the same party might continue to rule, you ought to look at which faction has the wheel.

[@bikkiikun]

@@kmo20794 : Well, in case of the LDP the corporate corruption is largely the same, yes... but there are significant differences in the levels of fascist nuttery. You have your moderates with dynastic old money and power (e.g. Kono) and you have your out in the open Nazis like Aso you have your nutcases that would love to start another war with China and so on and so on. And you have your somewhat reformed characters like Koizumi (that Richard Gere type).

[@andybea6352]

So it's a one-party state. People don't vote for factions

[@bikkiikun]

@@andybea6352 : Yes and no. Yes, in the sense, that this party has almost exclusively ruled national politics and large swathes of regional poltics since WWII. But also No, bcause there actually are other parties on the menu. As for voting for factions, that's does more or less indirectly, via selection of candidates from certain factions.

[@aname4931]

I really enjoy these videos and think they are well put together over all. I would just point out however that numbers and other things could be proofread a bit more thoroughly though. Love the vids though, please keep them coming!

[@happyelephant5384]

-LDP is the most successful party because it has been in power for so long Chinese Communistic Party entered chat

[@agmuntianu]

PAP in Singapore wants the title also !

[@pascalausensi9592]

@@agmuntianu Mexico's PRI deserves at least an honourable mention.

[@namvu2362]

@@agmuntianu I was going to say!

[@pritapp788]

It said 'successful'! That excludes regimes touting prosperity that they never actually achieved.

[@richardgaotama3466]

@@pritapp788 Singapore PAP and China CCP did achieve prosperity though.

[@user-mb3dx5fl9f]

I wouldn't call Japan a one party state. LDP walks a fairly thin line. If they get too liberal or too conservative, they know that a strong rival liberal/nationalist party can emerge pretty much out of nowhere (largely made of ex LDP members) and hit them real hard. Happened before. Eventually will happen again.

[@mistycloud4455]

Most countries in the world are like that however for LDP to rule continuously make japan unique on top of that japan has a monarchy.

[@BigmanDogs]

This is the case for all parties so it doesn't inherently make Japan more democratic

[@calumtosh1438]

rip shinzo abe

[@namij2560]

Yeah rip

[@Bigdogspyke]

I had a professor who worked in Japan with the LDP and he described Abe as “ah yes. The man with severe diarrhea”

[@lucadesanctis563]

Lol?

[@GarlicPudding]

Well...he's not wrong...that's a symptom of UC.

[@liatris1000]

This is one of the reasons why Abe was able to build a long-term government. He had a disease called ulcerative colitis. His first term as prime minister was forced to resign by this disease. Politicians with health problems should not be prime ministers, so those who did not support him thought that Abe would have no problem with whatever was said about him. Therefore, the opposition parties and their supporters verbally abused him for that disease. It was almost a discriminatory remark. As a result, they lost the support of people with the same disease and disabilities.

[@miisummer8814]

何これ…下痢の人とか酷いこと言ってんな 誰だってこの病気にかかりたくてかかったわけじゃ無いのに…人の病気を馬鹿にして恥ずかしくないの？

[@Bigdogspyke]

@@liatris1000 Japan doesn’t have a good record dealing with disabilities

[@KhaalixD]

Great video!

[@fmt0htm]

What makes Japanese politics stagnant is that NO BODY hold a strike to raise their voice. They do complain in the internet commentary but not in “action”. Consequently LDP under pays people because they do not rebel.

[@sibeisun5272]

In a One-Party State, the ruling party ceases to be a political party at all but is rather a permanent governing institution and its own branch of government. All other parties are subordinate to the ruling party, functioning as issue-specific lobbies rather than political parties, and opposition does not exist. The political system mandates this structure. In Japan, the ruling party and government are separate institutions. Opposition parties exist as proper political parties. The political system does not mandate a dominant party. A "de facto" One-Party state is one in where the constitution guarantees pluralism, but One-Party rule is imposed regardless of the constitution's text. Myanmar has become an example of this because the junta's rule contradicts the system laid out in the constitution. Finally, a de jure One Party system is China. The constitution of the PRC explicitly stipulates that solely the CCP shall lead China. Japan does not fit into neither of these categories, nor does it even resemble them. If the LDP took measures to systemically marginalize and prohibit other parties, only then would these comparisons be valid.

[@chinggiskhan6678]

But they have maintained a stranglehold on the country. China also has elections, and it does have other parties which run in elections, but that doesn't make China some democracy, does it? The same goes for Japan and South Korea, neither are really democracies since the governments there never get voted out. In theory, the people of China could vote out of the CCP if they wanted, but in practice it's just a populous which continuosly votes for the CCP because the CCP does good. In America, there are 2 parties, but both support Neo-liberalism, and Neo-liberal inspired ideas. This of course, maintained the status quo, until Republicans became far right populists. These countries can't really be considered democratic, can they? But, if you consider Japan a democracy even if this persists, that means you will have to call China a democracy as well

[@sibeisun5272]

@@chinggiskhan6678 What are you talking about? The constitution of the People's Republic of China clearly stipulates that the Communist Party leads China and that the makeup of National People's Congress shall be at least half CCP at all times. Other political parties are represented in the NPC, but they are constitutionally subordinated to the CCP. Voting only occurs on a very high level by high ranking officials, but these officials are not elected by common citizens. The only grassroots voting in China is for neighborhood and village committees. So no, constitutionally, the CCP can't be "voted out." China is officially a One-Party system like the Soviet Union was. There is no "in theory" arguments to be made. A "de facto" One Party State is a country with a constitution guaranteeing pluralism, but has one party rule imposed. Right now, Myanmar is an example of a "de facto" One Party system since the junta contradicts what is written in the constitution. But then again, you're probably just trolling.

[@morisan42]

@@sibeisun5272 This, also even in those neighbourhood and village committees, the CCP has the right to choose the candidates for those elections. So you basically get a choice between CCP candidate #1 or CCP candidate #2, or you get no choice at all if they simply only allow one candidate to run

[@PetroGameplay]

Amazing video. What programs do you use to make such smooth animations, like that of the Japanese parlament?

[@regulusmuphrid4891]

POV: You´re here after Shinzo got shot.

[@DiogoSantos-ix5sl]

Good video, except for that comment about ishin being limited to Osaka. That used to be the case, the party has now got substantial support outside Kansai and can, in the medium term, be either a partner or stronger opposition to the LDP. They are a more modern, reformist right, definitely populist, but maybe the tag of radical deregulators is a bit much.

[@cageybee7221]

"voter turnout was low, at only 56%" *laugh-cries in American*

[@jj6407]

Us turnout is higher though

[@prometheus7387]

North Korea: Hold my cup of tea

[@Carewolf]

@@jj6407 Only of registered voters, not of the total possible voter base.

[@cageybee7221]

@@jj6407 only half the population is even registered to vote, of that registered population only half show up. that's 25%.

[@cageybee7221]

​@@prometheus7387 i mean technically they have really high turnout in the 70 - 80% range, as they do still have elections. it's just that the ruling party has effective control on who is actually allowed to be a candidate. here is a great video on how exactly the party keeps control over a country which actually does have all of the institutions of a functional democracy still, but now all in one way or another under the influence of one political party, and thus giving the leader of this party incredible unofficial power well beyond any official government post they hold, and they do often hold them. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXbNmpKeqqmafLc

[@chheinrich8486]

Well for one, unlike most one Party Status, Japan has Opposition

[@RalfAnodin]

Russia officially has opposition too, Singapore as well. But de the whole system is totally unfair to the opposition and de facto they both are one party states.

[@jhca4671]

@@RalfAnodin the system is totally fair. The oppositions have just as big of a voice if not proportionally more. You know nothing

[@RalfAnodin]

@@jhca4671 When a party gets a majority of seats with less than 35% of the party votes, and when in a parliamentary system only 56% of the electorate decided to vote a single party, any honest person would know the system cannot be “totally fair”. Add to that the almost total domination of the Jimintō and it clear there are problems. Compare that with other parliamentary systems that work a bit better (Nordic countries, Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand…) and it will be immediately obvious that Japan’s institutions can only satisfy a minority of Japanese people.

[@lucadesanctis563]

More videos on Japan's politics please. It's an interesting topic

[@giantWario]

The fact that the ruling party has been in power for so long is far more indicative of Japanese culture that seeks stability at all costs than of a lack of democracy. The elections are free and fair, this is not a one-party state. It's just a state where the people always prefer the status-quo over chaos even if some things need to change.

[@IkeOkerekeNews]

It's a dominant-party system.

[@JustanothaGuy]

Or the LDP is just really popular with most Japanese people and have done a good job at keeping their constituents.

[@_MrMoney]

True. This should be explained or soon there may be people comparing Japan to Russia

[@hs5312]

I have heard that the elections aren’t so fair, the time to campaign is really short Japan making very difficult for opposition parties to present their vision and make a case

[@JustanothaGuy]

@@hs5312 That places the owness on them to be better prepared for elections then. There are many countries with a similar parliamentary system as Japan, and their opposition can launch some decisive victories. The LDP happens to encompass many issues Japanese voters are interested in, it's the same with the US, the GOP and Democratic Parties cover enough issues in their platforms that irrespective of political leaning most people default to one of the two parties due to their big tent nature.

[@QueOndaSoyJames]

Content is awesome as always, just make sure to proofread the video before uploading. A few errors. Hire an intern :D

[@jeffbenton6183]

Makes sense that the one time a party without experience governing actually tried it was marred by incompetence. This makes me wonder how significant sub-national posts are in Japan, and what it would take for opposition parties to gain the experience they need to be competitive. (Though of course, the main reason why there is a dominant party system is the electoral system, it can't help much if the people are afraid to try someone new because they know they can't handle the job)

[@TomKellyXY]

They’re not completely unopposed. The graphic is incorrect: they’ve lost general elections twice in both 1993 and 2009. Each time after a major financial crisis so it wasn’t unexpected while they struggle to bounce back from COVID19 disruptions. The pandemic is very much still ongoing here in Japan where the vaccine rollout is finally picking up momentum. They also lose local elections all the time: the Mayor of Osaka, Mayor or Yokohama, and Governor or Tokyo are all not affiliated with the LDP.

[@trillionbones89]

but that is exactly what the graphic shows?

[@AlohaBiatch]

"Just picking up momentum" is a strange way of characterizing one of the countries with the highest vaccination rates. Spain, South Korea and Canada are the only other major countries with a higher vaccinatin rate. And even then it's a tiny difference.

[@TomKellyXY]

Maybe you’d feel differently if you’d lived through the sluggish and chaotic rollout earlier this year, all while they went ahead with the Olympic Games during a state of emergency. The Japanese people are to be commended for high compliance to pandemic mitigation measures and taking the vaccine as soon as it was available to them. They’re not to be praised for re-electing the party that squandered the opportunity to do that far earlier and let thousands die rather while protecting the interests of their friends in investment banking.

[@HenryMidfields]

And even with the national elections, it's not like their consecutive wins are all the same - being handed a steamroller and do anything willy-nilly. Because there's also the fact that factional negotiations, and soft power are also things. Not only LDP lost seats, but they also had a number of incumbent ministers lose to opposition candidates such as LDP Party President Akira Amari (though he eventually got his job back from the proportional electoral system) and I think had to resign from the Party President post the other day. Both the two alongside LDP's other factions will put pressure on the new prime minister to do his job properly. There's also the fact that LDP+Komeito can no longer override vetoes or amendment requests from the Councillors/Upper House when they pass Laws in the Representatives/Lower House as they no longer have 2/3ds majority like they did pre-election. Which means whatever Laws they pass from now on will face more scrutiny from the Opposition. (Theoretically, the override can be achieved by 2/3rd of the votes by MPs present (Article 59 of the Constitution), but in terms of forecasts, this is calculated by the number of seats won vs total MP seats.) And this isn't getting into which party is happy to pass what new legislation. The Revovation-Ishin party being a fellow right is pro-amending in regards to the Constitution, and National Democrats-Kokumin being centrist is also open to the idea. But, Komeito, LDP's coalition partner, is generally anti-amendment, and so are some of the DLP's factions. For other laws, RI and NDK might not be as happy, and even Komeito would have the occasion to object to LDP's proposals.

[@cameronwixcey9692]

Ask about this question about the Welsh labour party, they have had a majority/plurality of seats in Wales since 1920. This includes MP's, senedd and councils

[@3DJMV3]

Can we really talk about a democracy without transition of power ? Even if the party in power can be voted out, they've effectively have never been.

[@tormyrl]

That last letter in ldp, is a great design for your next document with shoes pin badge.

[@metroidnerd9001]

The LDP's continuous control of the Japanese Parliament kind of reminds me of the Democratic Party's similarly impressive reign in the House of Representatives. From 1931 until 1995, Democrats controlled the House for all but 4 years.

[@kc_1018]

The US Democratic Party just like the Japan's LDP also had factions in them. The conservative coalition dominated congress from 1937-1963.

[@idraote]

Japanese top-level bureaucrats/politicians are surprisingly incompetent, career progression being based on seniority more than on skills. This might also explain why they never managed to get rid of organised crime which is easily visible throughout the country. Japan's survival is based on the ethics of the man in the street who works very hard for incredibly long hours, thus managing to overcome the obstacles of a burdensome administration.

[@aqiltijani4646]

Seems pretty unstay

[@aqiltijani4646]

Unstable*

[@AlohaBiatch]

Huh? The very thing that keeps the LDP afloat is the fact that bureaucrats draft sensible policies. The LDP are first and foremsot pragmatists. They don't implement silly policies for purely political points, everything is almost always utilitarian.

[@walrus1074]

@PT because he is talking out of his ass, by organized crime I think he means the Yakuza and they are pretty much powerless these days, probably the weakest they've ever been, the government traces all things the Yakuza members do and have completely limited their capabilities to function they are blacklisted from buying phones, cars, houses and literally everything else and they can only get those privileges only if they leave the Yakuza so this has encouraged a lot to leave and the organization just started crumbling as a whole only the biggest gangs have some power still left, anyway have a good I thought I'd share this as the guy who commented has no idea what he's talking about.

[@johnsinclair4621]

Ah yes, organized crime, this purely japanese thing that only exists in Japan.

[@danielsykes7558]

Please explain the Japanese parallel mixed member proportional system, how the PM is selected, how the method of selection is chosen, etc.

[@ernstschmidt4725]

it's similar to germany system but not identical, a video would be nice

[@user-nf9xc7ww7m]

Parallel is actually easier than MMP. In parallel, a set number is reserved for list party vote, completely separate from the electoral district vote. In MMP, seats are filled first by the electoral district candidates, and then by list seats based on the percentage of nationwide or region-wide votes that each party received. Then the list seats are allocated to the parties in a compensatory manner in order to achieve proportional election results. There are also different calculus systems too (eg d'hondt). This is how mmp is done in my country: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJLQhH2Vrsyop8U This is the Japanese parallel system: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/rXm1npV3rrxooq8

[@owenb8636]

I remember that red blip. Seemed really significant at the time

[@attiepollard7847]

That should tell you in Japan that politics is not really that important because there seems to be a major consensus in that country

[@hhbased]

This is basically a 9min video about that nothing ever changed and nothing will ever change

[@canadalogue1421]

The British media have consistently compared Scotland's SNP to a One-Party state drawing comparisons to China...People vote for the SNP and people vote for Japan's LDP because there isn't a credible alternative (although I split my vote between SNP and Green in Scotland due to our voting system in Holyrood elections). If a party are consistently in power, a coalition is far more appealing than an overall majority because at least the coalition party brings differing ideas to the table. Thankfully we have that in Scotland.

[@catmonarchist8920]

The point is that in FPTP/AMS as in the UK if you can count on 40% of the vote you can rely on keeping power forever so you can behave however you want and nobody can challenge you. Welsh Labour has never won more than 40% of the list vote but with the opposition so split the element of disproportionality will give them eternal power making it a state with only one real party. Japanese elections are parallel voting so the list vote is completely separate and there is no incentive to tactically vote so it's what people really support. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Japanese_general_election so the argument goes that 33% of them really support the LDP and they have a massive majority so how could they be conceivably unseated? I know allied parties consolidate tactically with them on constituency to keep the main opposition out. If it needs an unimaginably massive swing to unseat those in power I think it's fair to call it One-Party

[@bigjoseph1876]

I voted snp and green too ;)

[@TheAmericanPrometheus]

@@bigjoseph1876 cringe

[@USERZ123XD]

Well technically China also held election. You can vote in China for a local representative then they voted for the nwxt one up then they voted for rhe next untill it reaches the politburo.

[@vinniechan]

Which media is that? I hvnt come across such comparison of the SNP

[@user-nf9xc7ww7m]

Strictly speaking, can the pm actually enforce a nationwide curfew? If not de jure, surely de facto guidelines show that the prefectures have home rule. They may be able to enact a diet law, but would be reliant on each prefectural governor to choose whether to enforce or not.

[@monkingflame9493]

I would like it if you could give a rundown on how the gouvernment is structured in the first place. Like how are the parlaments elected and stuff. The US has liek a Senat with a representativ from each state and a house with electorates from each state. Germany has the Bundestag which gets elected by the people and so on. like how are diffrent democracys and maybe even autocracys structured could be an interesting topic for a video.

[@kerzariz8717]

I suggest you make a video on the 2022 Presidential Elections in the Philippines. It's very consequential, perhaps the most consequential since the 1986 election that toppled the Dictatorship.

[@seanireland423]

Thanks for the well made video! Like to see more about japanese politics. It's often overlooked.

[@Liberater4589]

Abe seems like the only one in japanese/LDP political history to actual create a stable government lmao

[@MBP1918]

Interesting video

[@reeceys2456]

The voice crack was on peak haha! Brilliant video

[@Anonymous-sf5yv]

Bit of a clickbait title, a true "One Party State" is leagues different then a multi-party democracy in which one party was simply voted full control.

[@gameinformer4045]

Everyone knew what they meant.

[@redarmy4647]

@@gameinformer4045 Not an excuse for clickbait title though

[@ayushc5704]

Well in India also we don’t have a functioning opposition so i can relate

[@inversion9651]

Good video.

[@studiosnch]

Quite excited with how TLDR will cover the upcoming Philippine elections next year. And as a teaser, both administration and opposition candidates and parties seem to follow the Japanese opposition trend of being too unfunctioning. Also, the presidential race has shown the fragmentation in the voter base (as of this writing).

[@b.salazar6610]

It will be a political shitstorm next year I promise you. Just look at all the candidates basically fighting each other already. (According to different news sources that I watched and read for the last couple of months).

[@darrenbutler9819]

Do you think Duterte will lose?

[@studiosnch]

@@darrenbutler9819 President Duterte is not running for a second term, though many people here are urging his daughter, Sara (the current mayor of Davao), to participate. We'll have to see though, as although the deadline for the filing the certificate of candidacy has passed, the period for substitutions will end on 15 November. As a mental reminder, Rody ran actually as a substitute candidate.

[@studiosnch]

@@b.salazar6610 The shitstorm already started last year, to be honest, though it's not yet reported.

[@penguinpingu3807]

@@studiosnch either way Duterte cannot run for a re-election anyways. According to the Pilipino law, a person can only be president only for 1 term.

[@youki1124]

As a matter of fact, LDP has an ability to attract any type of voters except socialist. After Yoshihide Suga’s resign, they held an election to decide who is the next party leader and technically next prime minister. There were three candidates. one support typical Japanese conservative finance such as raising taxes, protect economy by regulating economy, stopping zero-interest policy and making less governmental debt. Second one support Shinzo Abe’s policy by continuing QE, preserving Japanese technology from untrustworthy countries, and investing more infrastructure that was avoided by Japanese politicians after the bursting of the bubble economy. Which is quite liberal approach in recent history. Third one support extremely liberal economic Japanese policies such as changing pension system to decrease instability of the society, less regulating economy and some other policies against Japanese old establishment. It’s not just the difference of economic policy but they all have different view of social, environmental, foreign, military and other policies. Imagine left wing republicans and right wing democrats gathered one party. It’s strong and unbeatable.

[@watari_yurisuki]

う〜ん

[@FlosBlog]

Leading a country for 8 years with ulcerative colitis is quite an achievement! I’d sh*t myself in that position without it…

[@feelin_fine]

De Facto (established Latin phrase, doesn't need hyphen) One-Party State (compound English adjective before a noun, needs a hyphen)

[@ArpanMukhopadhyay93]

I had this question on my mind!

[@nabeelhasan6593]

This is the result of rapidly ageing population who are voting for the same party , Since older demographics dominate the election outcome this was bound to happen

[@shubhamsagarsingh9451]

Well there is no stable opposition

[@MegaUMU]

Correct me if im wrong but the young people also dont vote as much as the elderly

[@arsyapermana1]

You're not entirely wrong, but this is more because gerrymandering for 50 years, the younger generation are apolitic/ not voting anyone, the young who votes for the conservative mostly because their parent

[@pritapp788]

Not much different to Western democracies then. Larger cohorts of elderly people voting for the same parties to defend their own interests (at the expense of the country's future most of the time).

[@zwojack7285]

@@MegaUMU yeah. The young people have to work for the elderly who have more time for politics. If your main concern is getting enough money to get by, politics is a low priority for young people. And Conservatives around the globe want to worsen this situation because they know, that they can only win if the young people don't get to vote.

[@dragonrykr]

So many mistakes in the video. It's not 2019, it's 2009. And the mix up between 6 and 16 months is also confusing

[@pootis4986]

I've send your channel multiple topic suggestions and it seems like you don't check the suggestions from your viewers so why do you even have the poll?

[@TheBosss47]

Talk about the 3rd Bulgarian election this year pls

[@user-tm8bs8se8z]

As a Japanese, the biggest reason why the opposing parties lost was the exact fact that they teamed up with each other. The largest opposition, the Constitutional Democratic Party, decided to tag up with the Communist Party. Anyone with a brain cell realized that this was dumb, since constitutionalism and totalitarianism (which is basically what the commies want) are literally the EXACT OPPOSITE to each other. They also teamed up with two other left-wing parties; the Social Democratic Party and the Reiwa Shinsengumi. but those parties have maybe one or two seats in the seats of representatives so yeah it didn't do anything. Meanwhile, the parties that didn't join; the Japan Innovation Party and the Democratic Party for the People (who technically joined but not really) increased the number of seats. tl;dr Opposition cooperation was dumb, and the parties that didn't participate did good Also, here in Japan, politics is often insulted due to elections being more like a lesson on process of elimination. Most candidates are SO BAD that even if the candidate for the LDP wasn't very good, they're still better than the other parties; somewhat forcing the people to vote for them. That's most of the reason why the LDP is still in power after all the decades of power, controversies and scandals.

[@ShayNoMore1]

What happen in 2009?

[@LeisuiTomato]

In short, they mishandled (or seemed to mishandled) the 2008 US housing crisis.

[@thatweatherman4411]

And maybe because people are still traumatized about the damage the DPJ did.

[@halfcool5014]

cool video, but I think you should record it again as you say the wrong stuff often like when you say the demokrats got in power in 2019 but on screen it says 2009.

[@cJeremy]

man.. i'd really HATE to be in a country where 1 party dominates for decades.. that's just insane. wow

[@satyakisil9711]

What about Singapore? Singapore takes it to new heights.

[@trom2933]

私は日本に住んでいます。今回の衆議院議員選挙について解説します。 今回の選挙では、与党の自由民主党と最大野党の立憲民主党の両方が議席を減らしました。与党が議席を減らしたのに最大野党が議席を減らした理由としては、立憲民主党が日本共産党と共闘をしたことに原因があります。日本人は民主主義と資本主義を愛しているため、共産党と手を組んだ立憲民主党は議席を減らしました。また、これを受けて、与党の自由民主党と最大野党の立憲民主党の両方を同時に批判していた日本維新の会が議席を増やしました。ちなみに私は今回の選挙では小選挙区で白紙投票をして、比例代表区で国民民主党に票を入れました。国民民主党が8議席から11議席に増えてくれて嬉しかったです！ (誰か英語への翻訳をお願いします)

[@ginojaco]

The key thing is that the population is so old and that the elderly generally support the LDP. The population is still aging, so the LDP is safe for the foreseeable future. What will happen once the demographic changes, which it will eventually do quite rapidly, will be very interesting.

[@user-kx8jr6on3j]

Voter turnout is also shit, I haven’t seen the video yet, but the LDP won like a ~55% majority with like 19 million votes. The biggest opposition won like ~10% of seats with 10 million votes. Representation is also shit just by looking at the seat distributions

[@jhca4671]

This is one of the false narrative pushed by foreigners and foreign media the most. Take a look at the polls of voters of all generations. Many polls, across the political spectrum and news organizations suggest, the younger the generation the more they tend to be LDP supporters and conservative in Japan. Do not assume western trends to be the norm everywhere

[@xo-1320]

The youth vote leans in the LDP's favor. It's likely to be more competitive in the future but the LDP would will have an advantage. Which they might build on as the LDP has a history of pragmatic adoption of certain policies popular with their opposition.

[@BasedApricot]

The only government policies young voters really care about is the sales tax and state emergency declaration. Other than that no one gives a damn about politics. Society is too stable for the young to care about what is happening in the chamber.

[@user-kx8jr6on3j]

@@BasedApricot I’m honestly so surprised they would introduce a GST when they wanted to stimulate the economy… Even though it is a regressive tax, I could understand it when Australia implemented it since the saving to income rate was falling below the healthy 10%, which was deemed unsustainable growth, but I just don’t understand why Japan would in the 21st century when they already have such high (maybe unhealthy) levels of savings to income.

[@juanmartinperino1845]

i wolud like to see a video about the general election in Chile and the legislative in Argentina

[@samchiu9918]

4:10: Why is that guy's tie like that?

[@paytonmcdermott9111]

At first, when he said "innovation party" I was like, oh maybe they're progressive. Nope.

[@nadrini300]

By innovation, they meant historical revisionism.

[@hamanakohamaneko7028]

I guess it's the "Free Market=Innovation"

[@nadrini300]

@@hamanakohamaneko7028 hahahahah good one

[@koushiro86]

@@hamanakohamaneko7028 speaking as an American and someone who used to work in tech industry/still keeps up with the news, when I hear “innovation” it often means inventing new forms of fraud or ways to cheat the system

[@bobidou23]

"Ishin" is a term that's very difficult to translate; it's primarily used in reference to the Meiji-Ishin (usually called "Meiji Restoration" in English), the period of intense modernization in the late 19th century that transformed Japan from feudal backwater to industrial empire. Because of this, the party has translated its name as "Restoration Party" and "Initiatives from Osaka" before settling on "Innovation Party". The party's image is to bring in that sort of "tear it up and start anew" mentality - making Japan into a decentralized federal state, slashing politician pay, upending the tax structure to pay for a UBI (so they claim - everyone knew they wouldn't win, so it's not clear how serious that promise was). They are very symbolically nationalist but in favour of the LDP's economic migration plans (I think?? not my area of expertise). Also they're more socially progressive than the LDP (low bar). So yeah, right-wing, populist, but also has a conception of progress in a way. Not my cup of tea but I can see their appeal; traditional politics suck

[@Fummy007]

TLDR: "NOOOO You cant just be popular for no reasON!" Lib Dems: Just watch

[@dr.h489]

Yo dude look so different without glasses 🤓 It is nice now 👍🏼 And as usual, quality content 👋

[@stevejohnson3357]

If the governing party doesn't control who can run then eventually they will screw up badly enough and lose. The run can last decades but there is always a prospect of splintering or of forgetting who their main constituency is. If the opposition keeps them focused the run will last.

[@pacoramon9468]

Japanese people surely are conservative.

[@undefined6341]

Japanese politicians have the backbone to step down when the situation calls for it... they could teach us a thing or two here in Europe it seems.

[@shethatisnau]

Is it because of backbone or shame? In the two years I lived in Japan there was constantly a politician being publicly shamed on tv, and that trend seems to continue to this day. I could be totally wrong, though, just saying it's possibly a factor.

[@alexresa9039]

Europeans and Japanese shouldn't be learning much from each other if you ask me

[@lordtraxroy]

Here in germany in bavaria we had a single party that ruled the state for 50 years long

[@ivangoogle31]

Malaysia was technically a one party state for 60+ years until 2018

[@SidheKnight]

"He was a centrist who focused on wealth redistribution, education programs and renewable energy" In America, he would be called a "far-left socialist". A reminder of how fucked up the American overton window is..

[@penguinpingu3807]

he is more likely to be instantly labelled as a communist rather than a far left socialist

[@paulhanck1123]

I think it more demonstrates biases in TLDR news's reporting. Since that leader will uphold the nationalist, conservative status quo.

[@egorkhristov2467]

Or drumph would be labelled as literally hitler lmao. It is not the Overton window that is fucked, it is the political discussion that has been ultrapolorized

[@rosiebook5207]

I live in South Africa and it's kind of the same. I think it's quite hard to get rid of an incumbent political party because people fear change-- and the opposition parties haven't had a chance to prove themselves. At least now we have more coalitions on the local level since the recent elections. Do coalitions lead to better service delivery or just collapsed governments?

[@aaronwillis6035]

Another mistake at 2:05. You say six months, screen says 16 months.

[@connordennis2585]

Thank you for the non-Western focus on politics, particularly in East-Asia as it’s so often neglected and missed over here in the West

[@iroh4432]

Most Countries gave themselves a new paint job after the USSR collapsed and the West started calling itself an 'exporter of democracy'. On paper, loads of Countries out there are 'Liberal Democracies'. In practice, Liberal Democracy is mainly a system used by a few like minded States in Western Europe and North America. Other Countries have continued doing things their way, but are clever to keep up a 'Liberal' appearance for the 'International Community'. I think we ought to accept that we can't force different societies into our image/model. Political change in Japan is the business of Japanese people.

[@egorkhristov2467]

Yep, how about we all mind our own business and get rid of that outdated imperialist ambitions? Oh wait, China and NeoCons seem to disagree… so I guess f*ck them!

[@mabimabi212]

@@egorkhristov2467 True, I'd say the same if China didn't exist.

[@Ismail0z]

In Turkey, AKP also enjoyed Japan-like dysfunction of opposition problem in last 20 years so AKP kept majority in nearly every election. However, in February 2022, 6 different opposition parties came together and signed democratic manifesto. Things can only change if ordinary people feel some pain, Turks had too much pain, in the case of economy and ideology so they learned that some of them learned how democracy important, still needs more time tho. I think, East Asian nations also need to learn how to gain democracy. Democracy isn't a gift that you can get from USA, it is a lesson that you learn by experiences that you get. European grandfathers also suffered a lot for democracy, they had to go through two big war period so young Europeans enjoy it

[@user-nf9xc7ww7m]

Anybody else hearing "Arbay" for Abe?

[@aorusaki]

Very informative video! I'd say this doesn't make it a one-party state since they have to constantly shuffle their leaders and strategies around to keep competing with the other parties. Basically unlike North Korea where there's 0 opposition LDP has to keep doing at least an ok job or get fired. Yes they've stayed in power for so long but that's because they've had to work hard to stay there. Plus the other parties being allowed to voice their concerns and protests and stop any radical changes from the LDP is good too.

[@existentialvoid]

The Ishin party is really interesting. They won not because of their deregulation message but their strong anti-china message. Not people are unhappy with Koizumi's deregulation of the postal and healthcare sectors. The LDP has a strong pro-china faction (its still being worked out which way they will go) as does the DJP - the loss of seats here is due to positions on national self defense rather than local public policy. Corona response oddly enough did not play a central role.

[@Comicsluvr]

This is what happens when you have one really good leader and you lean on them too much. It's similar to the issue with dictatorship...a good leader can lead the realm to greatness but a bad one can crash the whole thing. Obviously, nobody thought to groom a stable of capable leaders and now in the power vacuum, you have a gaggle of people grasping at power.

[@mikel9138]

> Obviously, nobody thought to groom a stable of capable leaders. Mfw Monarchy

[@shafwandito4724]

@@mikel9138 to be honest, monarchs are born to rule, but sometimes they just... A bit extreme when they raised wrong if you look at history book. But when you hit the jackpot in the royal family, the next heir would be fine leader

[@jebremocampo9194]

4:35 funny how what you call centrist I call left. Not necessarily a bad thinh but funny how we term things differently

[@arsyapermana1]

Finally a video about japan politics

[@thereita1052]

From what i know japanese politic is also heavly limited by japanese culture Whic tends to preserve harmony at the expense of discussion.

[@alanebrahim6073]

You should make a video about the upcoming Virginia gubernatorial election.

[@objectdefiance4027]

Governatorial?

[@Cunnysmythe]

@@objectdefiance4027 He got it right Very strange formulation

[@objectdefiance4027]

@@Cunnysmythe lol what.

[@objectdefiance4027]

@@Cunnysmythe this feeling I'm having is probably the same feeling JRR Tolkien had when he changed Dwarfish to dwarvish.

[@user-nf9xc7ww7m]

Guber...yeah, that about sums it up.

[@Viniter]

I'm sorry, I just can't get over that ridiculous photo of Kishida. What's up with that tie? Why does it look like his suit is two sizes too small? How did he let them publish that photo?

[@mattwest1277]

At 1:32 I think you meant 2009 not 2019 👍🏻😊

[@hcguyz]

Usually the oppositions are too fragmented to be effective in elections, but this time CDP-JCP-Reiwa cooperated so I thought there might be a chance for them to at least put up a decent fight. But less than a week before election CDP leaders shot themselves in the foot by saying that they'll introduce taxes on capital gains, including on Individual Savings Accounts. This was a major talking point on Japanese social media. They retracted the statement later but by then I feel that it was clear LDP would win again. Ishin gaining so much is not something anyone expected though.

[@sethreinke9587]

With the amount of discrepancies between the script and graphics, I'm starting to trust this channel less.

[@Bram06]

Can you make a video about the possibility of the Netherlands getting a true Supreme Court?

[@potat2976]

fun fact: there's a thing in egypt named after shinzo abe lol, I asked my dad why is it named after the japanese leader, he said I don't know, if you know more pls tell me