Japan's Election Theme: Crisis? What Crisis? Prime Minister, Politicians Play Down Economic Woes During National Campaign
Japan is in crisis, according to financial and political leaders in the United States and just about everywhere else.</br></br>But here at crisis central, there are few signs that Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto is working feverishly on a rescue plan. Rather, he plays down the economic mess and focuses optimistically on how Japanese are in the enviable position of having piles of personal savings. On Sunday, Hashimoto gave a major speech and revealed that indeed he is worried, but his fretting was directed at nuclear testing and the fact that Japanese women are having fewer and fewer babies.</br></br>At the end of last week, as the Japanese yen fell far and fast, causing every Asian stock market to sag, Hashimoto jumped on a plane and went campaigning for his party.</br></br>A key reason Hashimoto seems to be distracted from Japan's and the rest of Asia's economic woes is next month's national election.</br></br>On July 12, for the first time in nine years, his Liberal Democratic Party has a chance of capturing a majority in the upper house of parliament. If it succeeds, it will not have to appease and accommodate coalition parties. This is no small thing, and Hashimoto's supporters argue that, with a freer hand in parliament, he could act more swiftly on tough economic measures.