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Latest update: 28/08/2009
- Japan - legislative elections - Taro Aso - Yukio Hatoyama
Yukio Hatoyama, the Japanese Kennedy
A discreet man who hails from a political dynasty, Yukio Hatoyama is favourite to win the legislative elections on August 30. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look at the man who could put an end to 50 years of conservative rule in Japan.
Some 103 million Japanese voters will go to the polls on August 30 in a historic vote that could see the centrist opposition’s first victory over the conservatives in five decades. Watch FRANCE 24 from 1 pm (GMT+2) this Sunday for exit poll findings and preliminary vote results.
In a country where the business of politics is a family affair, Yukio Hatoyama is no exception. Heir to a rich and powerful dynasty that the Japanese sometimes compare to America’s Kennedy family, the head of the centrist Japanese opposition is faithful to his pedigree. Hatoyama’s grandfather, Ichirô, was a former prime minister (1952-1954), his father served as foreign minister and his little brother, Kunio, was a member of Prime Minister Taro Aso’s cabinet until last June. On the business side, his maternal grandmother was none other than the founder of the multinational company Bridgestone. So it may come as no surprise that the Hatoyama family has a museum dedicated to itself in Tokyo.
Compilation of flash videos shown on Hatoyama's website during the campaign. The dove is the symbol of his campaign ("hato" means dove or pigeon in Japanese). |
From 1996 to 2005, Hatoyama refined his political plans and proved his talents as a leader. Although liberal, he advocated the concept of a “third way”, moving his party toward the centre in a shrewd move that won the DPJ increasing levels of public support.
Nevertheless, the centrist party that united so many political hopes was trounced in the 2005 legislative elections, when the Japanese voted en masse for the Liberal Democratic Party led by the immensely popular then prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi (2001-2006).
From political scandal to resurgent popularity
Hatoyama left the top spot in the DPJ later that year but returned in 2009 when the party found itself embroiled in a political scandal. Faced with bribery allegations, party leader Ichiro Ozawa resigned.
As the Japanese public rediscovered this familiar opposition figure, surveys, such as a July 23 poll in the economic daily “Nikkei”, soon credited Hatoyama with a 40 percent approval rating. Hatoyama rode the wave of this newfound popularity, speaking of his “historical mission” to “construct a fraternal society founded on a policy of love” toward families, the unemployed and pensioners. His programme of “service to the life of the people” – encoded in the party’s manifest – envisages family benefits, government-subsidised education and limitations on offering non-permanent work contracts.
But more so than the policies and the visions, it is the personalities of their prime ministers that galvanise the Japanese. Notably, it was his leonine hairstyle and his passion for Elvis Presley that won former premier Koizumi his widespread popularity. As for current Prime Minister Taro Aso, he is known for his passion for manga comics and his raucous, almost aggressive, voice.
Hatoyama also confesses to diverse interests in his curriculum vitae. An avid karaoke performer and an amateur player at Japan’s national sport, baseball, he also likes classical music and, more surprisingly, is a Russophile. His wife, former stage actress Miyuki Hashimoto, is an author and popular culinary critic. This is unusual, as Japan’s political wives traditionally remain in the background.
The Japanese seem to appreciate Hatoyama for being a tough political official, faithful to his anti-corruption pledges, a stranger to scandal – apart from an admitted infidelity revealed in 1996 – and ready to display a sense of humour. Knowing that he is nicknamed “E.T.” because of his bulbous eyes, he once had stickers printed caricaturing himself as the famed extraterrestrial.
Comments (1)
Is he the Japanese JFK?
I doubt if he could be the Japanese JFK.First he frequently changes DPJ's manifest.Second, he can't reveal the financial resources to make upstage for the economy in Japan and the daily life of Japanese people.
Moreover, he scorns the US, " The position of Japan must be equal to that of the US." in spite of the fact that we actually depend on our self -defence by the US powers.
Just listening to his speech, he seems to be the reformer in Japan, but in fact it is very dangerous for us to rely on DPJ and him.If DPJ will win this election, the US may change policy and attitude toward Japan.If so, we may have any possibilities to face the terror of the nuclear weapons by N Korea and the invasion by China.