What we miss in Shintaro Ishihara's program, aside from his nationalism and anti-China antagonism, is a clear economic plan to counter Japan's drift downward in growth rate and productivity, which are vital to Japan's exceptional circumstances — especially given the series of disasters that have befallen the countrt in recent years, including the brand-new earthquake in the northeast and the tsunami alert following from it. Failure to campaign on an economic plan is the Achilles' heel of Mr. Ishihara's endeavour.
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Politicarp, refWrite Frontpage politics newspotter, analyst, columnist
The Age, Australia (Dec10,2k12)
Japan's populist maverick
thinks his time is now
''Here I am, the old man who has run amok'' ... Shintaro Ishihara, a former governor of Tokyo, speaks at a rally for the Japan Restoration Party. Photo: Bloomberg
SHINTARO ISHIHARA has been a rare flamboyant presence in Japan's otherwise drab political world for half a century.
A novelist turned right-wing firebrand, he has long held celebrity status on the political margins. He once signed a pact in blood to oppose diplomatic ties with China because of its communist government, and he published a book at the height of Japan's economic power that lectured his countrymen on the need to end what he considered its postwar servility to the US.
Now, at 80, Mr Ishihara is leading a newly formed populist party and has emerged as a contender for prime minster, vowing to turn Japan into a more independent, possibly nuclear-armed nation.
Making the running ... Shinzo Abe, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and front-runner for the election. Photo: AP/Kyodo News
While political analysts deem him a long shot, they say the fact that he has got this far after decades of pushing what was seen as a fringe agenda is a worrying sign of how desperate Japan is for strong leadership after years of cascading troubles.
With his promises to restore Japan's battered national pride, Mr Ishihara has staked out an even more stridently nationalistic position than the present front-runner, Shinzo Abe, the leader of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, who has called for revising Japan's pacifist constitution.
