Chapter 5: LDPs Return to Power

Kaihashugi or Kaiha-ism

Innai kaiha parliamentary caucus; the

foundation stone for the operations of the
Diet
o important in the analysis of the pol
devts that led to LDPs return to power
o members of the Diet organize
themselves not in parties (seito) but
in innai kaiha
o organized separately in each of the 2
houses of the Diet
Diet procedures are based on the
assumption that virtually all Diet
members will organize themselves into
kaiha and that it will exercise discipline
over their members
WWII & adoption of a new constitution ->
established the Diet as the supreme
organ of state power -> political parties
reemerged -> party govt became firmly
established -> kaiha system reappeared
(after the transition to democracy was
aborted by the military takeover in the
1930s)
The organization and role of kaiha are
regulated entirely by precedent & custom
and not by law.
The Japanese political system abounds
with informal institutions organized in
highly formal ways that interact with
legally established institutions.
Rather than change the existing formal
structure, the tendency in Japan is to
create informal institutions in order to
grease the wheels of the political
system -> why there is no need to revise
the constitution
Kaihashugi or Kaihaism
o The grounding operations in kaiha
organization
o Has a profound effect on the
behaviour of politicians inside the Diet
o Creates strong incentives for
independents to join and for members
of minor parties to merge into a larger

kaiha, and for parties to bring

independents and minor parties in ->
unified kaiha
o The more members, the better
Upper House
5 to 9 only 10 mins of question
time in plenary sessions
10 or more share of committee
chairmanships, position on the
directorate of the Diet
Management Committee,
treatment as a negotiating group
Kaiha became a much more prominent
feature of Diet politics and an important
factor in the strategies of political leaders
looking to restructure the party system.
Features of the unified kaiha system
o Parties regularly form coalitions w/in
the Diet that are not linked to the
activities of parties vis-a-vis the
electorate
o Its creation is not the formation of an
ad hoc policy coalition, but is the
formal merging of the parliamentary
organizations of political parties
***

The Collapse of Coalition Unity

The 7 parties that comprised the

governing coalition at the beginning of
the Hosokawa administration clustered
into 3 broad groupings:
o Included Ozawas Japan Renewal Party
& the Komeito
o Dominated by the Japanese Socialist
Party
o Led by Hosokawa & Takemura, third
force, distinct from traditional
conservatives & progressives
o Relations between the first two were
strained from the beginning
Hosokawa admin's demise -> Ozawa
restructured the coalition
Ozawa tried to split the LDP and then
divide the JSP in the hopes of forming a

party that would replace the LDP as the

single largest and most powerful party
o By bringing most members of the
coalition parties into a unified kaiha
o By urging Michio Watanabe (who had
been denied LDP presidency in 1993)
to leave the LDP and join forces w/ the
coalition parties
After Hosokawa resigned, Watanabe
announced that he was considering
leaving the LDP and standing as a
candidate for PM.
o Few of his supporters quit the LDP
right away but he himself hesitated.
His power over his faction and in the
LDP is not as strong as it had been.
o He remained in the LDP -> Hata
became PM
Hatas reputation decent person, clean
politician, did not harbour resentments;
Mister Spare as in spare tire, always
available but rarely used
Ozawa continued to look for possible LDP
defectors & to pressure the Socialist Party
o his approach to politics antithesis of
the cautious, consensus-building style
embraced by so many Japanese
political leaders
o dared JSP to form a coalition with LDP,
said it would be suicidal for the
Socialists

***

Streamlining Decision Making

Making any important policy decision in

the Hosokawa govt was difficult because
an agreement between the 7 parties had
to be reached first.
The number of kaiha present at the time
was not helpful, and there was a need for
a unified kaiha for the new Hata govt to
implement more streamlined and
effective decision making.
***

Apportioning Cabinet Posts

***

The Kaishin Debacle

Why risk the survivability of the Hata govt

just to form a unified kaiha?
o Concern to improve the policy-making
process in the coalition be reducing
the number of kaiha that had to be
involved.
o Concern about the distribution of
cabinet posts
o Concern about building a new party
large enough to compete with the LDP
in the single member districts of the
new electoral system

Hatas election on Apr 25, 1994

o Japan Renewal Party, Japan New Party,
& the Democratic Socialist Party
merged their parliamentary members
into a new unified kaiha that they
named Kaishin or Reformation.
o Komeito indicated that they would
merge with it eventually.
o JSP saw this as a violation of trust w/in
the coalition govt; they withdrew from
the govt - > Hata became the head of
a minority govt

The rush to form a new kaiha the day

Hata was elected was because the
number of cabinet posts is based on the
proportional representation of kaiha.
A formation of a new kaiha means that
JSP would have fewer cabinet posts and
reduced representation on Diet
committees.
DSP Chairman Ouchi took the initiative in
organizing the Kaishin. He believed that if
he succeeds, he would reinforce his
power w/in his own party, earn Ozawas
gratitude, be rewarded with one of the 2
posts that the JSP would lose.
According to Hata, things would have
turned out differently if the position of the

Socialists were confirmed prior to the

formation of a new kaiha.
The Socialists were infuriated by Ozawas
failure to consult with them.
The formation of the Kaishin produced a
new unity in the JSP. They then began to
think that alliance with the LDP > doing
nothing.
The Kaishin blunder made allies of the
LDP, JSP, and the Sakigake -> return of
the LDP to power
Factors that contributed to the decision of
the coalition leaders to form a unified
kaiha
o Constraints of the kaiha system
o Proportional representation of kaiha in
the distribution of cabinet posts & Diet
committee seats
o Adoption of a new electoral system
that created pressures on parties to
consolidate

***

Choosing a New Prime Minister

***

***

The LDP-JSP Historic Compromise

June 24 LDP decided to submit a motion

of nonconfidence in PM Hata, he
announce the resignation of his cabinet
the following day.
June 28 LDP announced that it was
going to vote for JSPs Chairman
Murayama and that it intended to form a
coalition govt w/ the Socialists and the
Sakigake
June 29 LDP member & former PM Kaifu
announced that he was opposed to the
LDPs decision to support Murayama and
was going to run against him with the
support of the parties in the Hata
coalition govt; Murayama won.
LDP had found its way back into power as
the result of improvised responses to the
tactical mistakes of others.

The Rise and Fall of the New Frontier

Party

40 years of political power had convinced

the LDP that theirs was the one & only
natural party.
They were optimistic about retaining Diet
majority.
The Kaishin blunder offered an
opportunity.
Meetings between some LDP and JSP Diet
members had begun soon after Hosokawa
came to power.
LDP & JSP had been traditional
archenemies, but their alliance was the
only way the LDP could return to power.
They made a show of their rhetorical and
sometime even physical conflict in
publicly visible Diet sessions, but they
actually cooperated behind the scenes
and developed close personal relations.
The Socialists encouraged both the LDP
and the ruling coalition to compete for
their support.

With the LDP + JSP + Sakigake alliance,

the remaining parties planned to
consolidate their forces into a single party
capable of challenging the LDP
Shinshinto the New Frontier Party;
Kaishin + Komeitos lower house
members; Kaifu became the partys 1st
president; Ozawa, secretary general
The cohesion of the NFP was undermined
by policy and personality conflicts,
especially between Ozawa and other
veteran politicians in the party.
Dec 1995 the NFP faced a new election
for party president
o Hata entered the race, promising not
to reappoint Ozawa if he wins ->
Ozawa ran against him
o Ozawa won but the party was
hopelessly divided.

The Return of the Komeito

As NFP members left, Ozawas hopes of

creating a party that could defeat the LDP
evaporated.
He ran for reelection for party president
and won, but he later abandoned the
party, concluding that there was no point
heading a party that he could not
completely control.
Ozawa formed the Liberal Party, and
looked for an opportunity to form a
conservative-conservative alliance with
the LDP.
NFP splintered into 6 separate groups.

***

From Katayama to Murayama

***

The Rise of the Democrats

Komeito strategy pursue the ichi-ichi

line
After the NFP collapsed, the Komei
leadership began to abandon its strategy
of joining forces with other parties.

The LDP + JSP + Sakigake alliance led to

the formation of the Democratic Party
(comprised mainly of JSP and Sakigake
members who were unhappy with the
alliance)
The formation of the party was largely the
result of the efforts of Sakigakes Yukio
Hatoyama.
Most of the 6 groups of the NFP joined the
Democratic Party.
Kan president; Hata secretary general;
Hatoyama deputy sec gen
Comprised the major opposition to the
LDP
Democrats advocate a reform program
that tries to embrace the views of both its
former LDP and JSP members.
o the party of Thatcher and Blair ->
liberalize
o New social-welfare policies to cushion
the adverse impact on societys
weakest members
The party encompasses a wide range of
somewhat incompatible policy views.
The party is led by pragmatists who are
willing to live with policy ambiguity and
endeavor to avoid intraparty power
struggles.

***
4

LDPs decision to offer the post of PM to

Socialist Partys chairman contributed to
the LDPs ability to manage its coalition
govt relationship with JSP.
The Murayama administration had much
in common with Katayamas (last Socialist
PM before Murayama)
Katayama govt
o JSPs secgen Nishio warned that if
someone from JSP becomes PM they
would become hostage to the policies
of the conservative parties. He was
right.
o JSP stayed in power through the 7month tenure of the successor govt of
conservative Ashida.
JSP left the govt after the Ashida cabinet
fell and only returned when Murayama
became PM
Murayama found himself in a position
similar to Katayamathe cabinet was
dominated by the LDP.
JSP weakened, tried to revive itself by
changing its name to the Social
Democratic Party.
The alliance was much harder for the
Socialists, Murayama basically had to
reverse JSPs platforms and policies.
The LDP-JSP-Sakigake coalition...
o was built on the basis of a cautious
and incremental approach to dealing
with pressing domestic economic and
social issues and with a changed
international system

did not inspire the public, but captured

& reflected the ambivalence and
caution of the Japanese electorate
o swept away the debris of postwar
ideology, but they were unable to
articulate new goals or vision; there
was no longer purpose to cooperation
than to hold political power.
Result:
o Relatively stable government
o Flaccid policy response to the internal
and external challenges
o An electorate that was critical of the
govt and nervous about economic
conditions, but politically apathetic
o

***

The LDP: Japans Natural Party of

Government?

***

Institutionalizing Cooperation

LDPs Policy Affairs Research Council had

developed into a complex and
differentiated decision-making structure.
Policy Coordination Council was created
for negotiating compromises.
The LDP planned to continue supporting
Murayama until they were strong enough
to form a govt w/out Socialist
cooperation

The success of the LDP-JSP-Sakigake

coalition -> high premium that its
leaders placed on the process of
consultation and compromise.

Even when it was in opposition, still had

advantages over other parties, having
been in power for so long
For several years, parties formed and
reformed making them hard to track; only
LDP and the Communist Party retained
their names.