The current Japanese parliament (the Diet) will be dissolved today, and a new election held on December 15th.
I can't vote, but I generally supported the Democratic Party of Japan in the previous election. A few of their policies leave much to be desired (most notably on copyright law, the recent October 1st change applied even to back up copies which are legal in most countries), but their immigration policies have shown progress. However... much like the Japanese electorate, I am losing my patience with a string of ineffectual leaders who promised both native Japanese and immigrants to Japan that we would see a less adversarial, more responsive, indeed more respectful Japanese government. Now they render an apology for "overstating," as if the poll numbers show that such an apology is desired, let alone that it would have any effect (it isn't, and it won't, even in the land of the apology).
I'll be blunt, I have no idea who I would vote for, even if I had made the decision to naturalise (a debate I am still having with myself, despite my disinclination to give up US citizenship), and therefore could. I most definitely would not support the Liberal Democratic Party, but I might very well pivot away from the DPJ and towards one of the third parties. Perhaps the Socialists or the Communists. Neither of which even remotely approximate how those labels are perceived in the West, especially in the United States.
Ultimately, the parties I fear gaining even "kingmaker" levels of support in the upcoming elections are the nationalist parties, Ishin no Kai (Japanese Restoration Party) and Taiyo no To (Sunrise Party). Bluntly, given previous comments and policy decisions of their respective founders, if either of these parties, or a merged party/party alliance between them, get enough support to actually become relevant in policy negotiations, the consequences to immigrants to Japan, women in Japan, and Japanese citizens of non-Japanese descent could be quite drastic. It's not too far for me to say that the fact they think they even have a chance of becoming political players is enough to cause me some fairly severe nightmares.
Hopefully, the Japanese electorate will reject both a turn to the right and the status quo, but I hold significant doubt in the willingness of the electorate to engage meaningfully in these issues in the limited time frame available for campaigning. One month is hardly enough time for profound discussions of which of these parties best represents a way forward for Japan as a member of the international community of states, as opposed to a way back into policies or attitudes which have failed and will ultimately fail again.





