MEDFORO MAIL TRIBUNE. MEOFORD, OREGON
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1963
Conservatives and Socialists Vote For Power in Japan
By KIM WILLSENSON
United Press International
TOKYO (UPI) - Japan's 60
million voters will go to the
polls today to decide a par
liamentary contest between the
Conservatives who run the coun
try and the Socialists who would
like to.
So far, that sounds like al
most any election in almost
any democracy.
And the fact that Prime Min
ister Hayato Ikeda called the
election a full year early, while
riding a crest of personal pop
ularity, would have a familiar
ring in any parliamentary sys
tem. The big issues are the Ameri
can alliance and rising prices
neither particularly surprising.
Japan's present democratic
forms were introduced by the
American occupation forces and
retained, after the occupiers
had left, by a people thoroughly
disillusioned with dictatorship.
Stand Alone
But the Japanese essentially
are not imitators but adapters.
In Japan, democracy is differ
ent. For example, the Conserva
tives are, in fact, the only party
that has fielded enough can
didates (359) to win at least
234 seats and a simple majori
ty of the 467-seat House.
Their major opposition, the
Socialists, put up only 198, hop
ing to elect 156, the bare third.
The middle-roading Democratic
Socialists put up 60, hoping to
recapture their 1959 strength of
40. The Communists have 118
running, but held only three
seats last time around.
Many foreigners and Japanese
periodically wonder whether
Japan has a democracy at all.
The answer lies in how the
term is defined.
If democracy is taken to
mean rule by freely elected rep
resentatives of the people, the
answer is certainly yes.
If democracy means a sys
tem in which the electorate
wants and has a choice between
realistic alternatives presented
by a government party and a
loyal opposition, the answer
can only be "maybe."
One reason is the public
apathy and the lack of issues
in the present election campaign.
There have been fewer voters
than policemen at some cam
paign rallies. Fifteen policemen
are detailed to prevent violence
at each rally. At some, only 12
or 13 voters showed up. At oth
ers even the candidates failed
to appear.
Reason For Elections
Still, the prime minister dis
solved a Diet that had a year
to run, and called elections. He
did it because Japan, in fact,
is ruled by a single party, and
the internal politics of that par
ty are, in effect, the politics of
Japan.
Ikeda's timing for the elec
tion was timed not at the So
cialists but at factional rivals
within his own party. He want
ed to show his popularity at the
polls before the next party con
vention. The Socialists have not held
power since a year and a half
period during the occupation
(April, 1947, to October, 1943)
when the anti-war feeling was
highest. '
Their vote has been rising in
recent elections. They picked
up 98 seats in prefectural as
semblies and a number of key
mayoralties last spring. But
they do not draw more than 40
per cent of the total vote..
The most generous projec
tions do not show them attain
ing 50 per cent until 1968 at the
earliest.
Their Impotence is reflected
in the unseemly brawls they
stage in the Diet, ear-splitting
mob scenes that are the anti
thesis of democratic debate.
Reasons for Vote
There are many reasons for
the dominant conservative posi
tion vote in this country:
The rural vote. A problem
familiar In many countries.
Even though Japan is an indus
trial nation, a third of its people
(34 million) still live on farms
or in villages. Added to the nat
ural conservative tendency of
agrarian people is the structure
of old Japanese society.
Under this system the village
must obey the wishes of its head
or elder. And the elder, who is
in debt to the conservative prov
ince chief for patronage, tells
his villagers to vote conserva
tive. Anyone who violates the
command is out of step with the
BIG
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6 1 ' 88c
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HALEY
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DERBY
TAMALES VI SAUCE 23c
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Rubber Overshoes
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CALIFORNIA ,
DATES
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f r a . 31 ik
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Almonds Brazils
Filberts Pecans
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Produce prices affective Thursday thru Sunday, Nov. 24
RCA RADIO I
T.V. Tubes ZZS. 40
CHILD OR ADULTS
Tooth Brush 19c
S2.00 VALUE LUSTRE-CREMI
Shampoo m.n.u 99c
$1.10 VALUE JERGEN'S
LOtlOII plu Fr Dispenser 69C
1000 PIECE INTERLOCKING
Jig Saw Puzzle 88c
REG. 69c SHREDDED
Foam 12 ox B.fl 49c
REG. $4.98 KIDDIES PEG-N-PLAY
DCSlk Wooden S2a99
REG. 59c GIANT SIZE
Icicles i9 39c
REG. 9c PENN CHAMP
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REG. $1.39 HOLLY TIE
Sasheen Ribbon 88c
REG. 59c LADIES LATEX
Rubber Gloves 2' 88c
REG. $3.98 TONKA METAL
Pickup Truck S2.66
REG. 59c RONSONOL
Lighter Fluid - 2 88c
REG. 69c SILICONE IRONING
Board Cover 39c
Rea. Met
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PRICE
1.29 66c
83c 59c
Listcrin
Tooth Paste
$1.06 V.lut Dual Pick
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Rubber Tipped
Bob Pins QC
O Bronte or Black, mm tm
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250 Tibial. 100 ma.
Vitamin 0 . .
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Aspirin, 250 tablets 29c
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Water Bottle ....1.49 99c
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CASHIER WINDOW
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FILM DEVELOPING
YEAR AROUND
LAY-AWAY PLAN
Fraa Gilt Wrapping t
Creatine Card, far all
occations
Hunting and Fiihing
Licensee
Check. Cashed
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Peitef Stamps
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RCA TV I Radio
Tuba, at 40 Ditcount
G-E Floor Pollihtr l
Water Rantal 77c a Day
;
iiiii
B .7
Today
rest of the village and ostra
cized. Autocratic tradition. Too
Japanese are only 18 years
away from 2600 years of auto
cratic rule. For many, particu
larly those educated before the
war, the government is an en
tity separate from them, in
which they take no part. Its role
is to rule, theirs to obey. To
challenge it by voting against
it would be unthinkable.
Political funds. Here, the
conservatives have an immense
advantage. They are both allied
with big business and dominant
in the government, from top to
bottom.
They make excellent use of
their opportunities. In 1962
alone they reported officially
collections of about 1.6 billion
yen about $5 million. Unof
ficially this figure is regarded
as only the top of the iceberg.
Political funds are the breath
of political survival for the
Dietman. Keeping his constitu
ents happy is expensive.
He must send congratulations
to the family with a new child,
send a wreath to a funeral, at
tend the dedication of any new
building in bis constituency.
He must also make substan
tial donations to public institu
tions to assure himself a place
on the speaker's platform at
ceremonies. Often, he must or
ganize a "ko-enkai," or fan.
club and this means money
for buses and box lunches.
When constituents come to
Tokyo, they expect the Dietman
to have them out to lunch as a
matter of course. He must also
appear at their hotel with a
bottle of sake and candies for
the children.
Finally,, but certainly not
least important in the voter's
mind Is the socialist nroeram it
self. The far-left Marxist line
that the party followed until re
cently has had little appeal in
prosperous postwar Japan.
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Seattle Man Is
Sentenced by Court
Aaron Cornelius Huisman Jr.,
19, of Seattle, Wash., was sen
tenced to four years in the Ore
gon State Correctional Institu
tion on charges of burglary not
In a dwelling when he appeared
in Jackson County circuit court
Tuesday.
He had pleaded guilty earlier
to charges of breaking Into a
local restaurant and taking $1,-
093 In cash and $97.15 In checks.
Newell Ehrman Clark, 19, of
Grand Hotel, Medford, pleaded
guilty at his arraignment In Cir
cuit Court to charges of at
tempting to obtain property by
false pretenses. His case was
continued for receipt of an FBI
report.
' HEEf, ON FLOORS
WIGAN, England fUPI)-Wi-gan
Technical College governors
told girl students Tuesday to
either leave their stiletto heels
at home or face expulsion. The
stilettos, they said, have caused
$2,800 worth of damage to the
college's new floors.
Relax in Comfort
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