Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his rival, powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, kicked off a leadership battle Wednesday that threatens to divide the ruling party only a year after it took power.
Their contest to run the governing centre-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) comes as its economic recovery is slowing, Japan’s debt mountain is growing and exports are threatened by the yen trading near a 15-year high.
The rivals, who both formally declared their candidacy for the September 14 party election, represent the two different wings of the party which a year ago ousted the conservatives after more than half as century in power. (AFP)

Democratic Party of Japan heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa said Thursday he will run against Prime Minister Naoto Kan next month in the ruling party’s leadership election, a move that could fuel tension within the party and see Japan led by its third prime minister in a year.
“As I heard former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama say he will give me thorough support if I run in the election, I decided to do so today in front of Mr. Hatoyama,” Ozawa told reporters after meeting with Hatoyama.
Hatoyama, who until Tuesday had publicly supported Kan’s reelection, told reporters separately that he will now back Ozawa in the race.
Hatoyama held talks over the Sept. 14 election with Ozawa, a former secretary general of the party who has been critical of the way Kan has been running the government since he took office nearly three months ago. (AP)

Peace activists rejoiced Sunday over the fact that Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his Cabinet didn’t visit Yasukuni Shrine this year, while conservatives slammed the decision. At the Japan Education Center in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward, around 190 people welcomed Kan’s decision to stay away. The group included citizens who lost relatives in World War II and who generally object to politicians visiting Yasukuni Shrine. The day marked the 65th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II and the first since the Democratic Party of Japan took power last year. It is also the first time in nearly 30 years the entire Cabinet has refrained from visiting the contentious shrine. (Japan Times)

A proposal by the Democratic Party of Japan to stagger national holidays by region, the second overhaul of the vacation schedule in a decade, would mean fewer long weekends and could create accounting headaches for business owners.
The plan, aimed at boosting tourism and unclogging transport systems at peak times, would scrap four long weekends created under the previous government’s “Happy Monday” policy. The administration wants to divide Japan into five regions, each observing five-day breaks in spring and fall during different weeks. (Japan Times)

A Kyodo News poll shows that 75.9 percent of the public supports the death penalty, far exceeding the 19.5 percent who oppose capital punishment.
The poll was conducted after Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, a former member of a group of lawmakers opposed to the death penalty, ordered the hanging of two inmates in July, the first executions under the Democratic Party of Japan-led government.
At present, almost 140 countries have abolished or suspended executions. (Japan Times)

Japan hanged two death row inmates in the first execution under the Democratic Party of Japan government launched last September, Justice Minister Keiko Chiba told a press conference Wednesday.
The two are Kazuo Shinozawa, who was accused of murder in 2000 involving six female clerks at a jewelry store in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, and Hidenori Ogata, who was involved in a double murder case in 2003, according to the Justice Ministry.
Chiba said she herself attended the execution. (AP)

The result of the election on July 11th, in which the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) lost control of the upper house of Japan’s Diet (parliament), is awful news not just for the prime minister, Naoto Kan, and his party. On the face of it, it is awful news for Japan as well. Mr Kan faces the prospect of being unable to get anything done. After years of economic stagnation, it is tempting to conclude from yet another political failure that Japan is truly ungovernable. But at a deeper level, the vote also suggests that Japan is changing-for the better. (The Economist)

The past month has seen a flurry of female firsts in Japan. The Bank of Japan this week appointed its first female branch manager in its 128-year history. Japan Airlines Corp. announced its first female pilot captain. East Japan Railway now has female station masters in Tokyo for the first time. Meanwhile, Renho, the mono-monickered member of parliament, garnered a record 1.7 million votes in Sunday’s upper-house elections. The telegenic, 42-year-old former model, was the only candidate in the country to receive more than a million votes, even as her Democratic Party of Japan was getting crushed elsewhere. Her re-election cements her standing as one of the most popular politicians in Japan.
These recent developments would indicate a wave of girl power is sweeping the country. But the reality lags behind the headlines. The advancement and promotion of women in the world’s second-largest economy is debatable, and by some measures, has worsened in recent years. (Wall Street Journal)

All but one Democratic Party of Japan candidate fielded at the initiative of former Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa as second DPJ runners in multi-seat constituencies failed to be elected in Sunday’s House of Councillors election.
The DPJ fielded two candidates, including women handpicked by Ozawa and dubbed “Ozawa girls,” in 10 two-seat electoral districts as Ozawa before resigning last month as secretary general promoted the strategy to win a greater number of seats, despite worries among local party branches that such candidacies could split the party’s support base and tip the balance in other parties’ favor. (AP)

A change in leadership in Japan passes almost un-noticed these days, but the ascension of Naoto Kan to the role of prime minister could have a long-lasting impact on the strategic landscape.
Kan is the fifth Japanese prime minister in four years. He takes over from Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned after botching the sensitive issue of the relocation of the U.S. military base in Okinawa. Kan, a much wilier politician, will not revisit that particular tar baby of an issue. His pragmatism has already boosted support for the Democratic Party of Japan, which had plummeted thanks to Hatoyama’s Hamlet-like indecision.
(NewsWeek)