Japan hopefuls share party, not policies

Kan and Ozawa kicked off their campaigns for the presidency of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, releasing separate policy statements this week. Democratic Party lawmakers and supporters are scheduled to vote Sept. 14, settling a power struggle that analysts have called both destructive and unavoidable — and capable of breaking up a party that only a year ago represented Japan’s hopes for reform.

Because the Democratic Party of Japan controls the powerful lower house, its president becomes prime minister. If Ozawa wins, he will become Japan’s third leader within a year. His possible comeback runs counter to public opinion, with polls favoring Kan 4 to 1. Ozawa faces possible indictment in connection with a fund-raising scandal and was deposed three months ago as the party’s number two. But observers say it is possible that he will win the vote — testimony to his skills as a back-room dealer who trades favors for loyalty.

“He is the least popular politician in Japan, bar none,’’ said Jeff Kingston, a Japan specialist at Temple University in Tokyo.

The Kan-Ozawa contest serves as a reminder of Japan’s search for a decisive leader. The country has had five prime ministers in the past four years. Each talked about a massive debt, an aging population, and a sluggish economy. None has found a way to combat those problems.

Kan’s three months in office have been most notable for a proposed consumption-tax increase and a related upper house election defeat for his party, which has prompted political gridlock. Kan’s possibly boldest decision came in his first days on the job, when he said publicly that the scandal-tainted Ozawa should keep his distance from the party.

In August 2009, the Democratic Party of Japan steamrolled the Liberal Democratic Party, ending a half-century of almost unbroken one-party rule and delivering hope for a government characterized by transparency, not corruption. The party’s first prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, held the job for nine months, undone in part by his unrealized promise to relocate a US Marine air station off Okinawa. When Hatoyama resigned June 2, Ozawa — Hatoyama’s closest adviser — stepped down as secretary general.

The showdown between Kan, 63, and Ozawa, 68, further underscores the policy divide within the Democratic Party of Japan. Kan has developed a pragmatic approach toward the United States, backing off from Hatoyama’s assertion that Japan needs greater independence from Washington.

Ozawa is pushing for policies that more resemble Hatoyama’s. He said he would seek fresh talks with Washington to reopen debate about whether the Futenma air station belongs on Okinawa.

He also pledged to intervene in the surge of the yen, proposing a $23.7 billion stimulus package — nearly twice the size of a package proposed this week by Kan — to energize the Japanese economy.

US officials in Tokyo suggest that Ozawa will find little appetite, especially within Asia, for readdressing the location of Futenma. North Korea’s torpedoing of a South Korean warship in March has heightened security concerns about Pyongyang.