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BTW, tuasfait, 3 made me thinking -- could you chart for us briefly the Japanese political landscape on the left at present, if possible with current poll numbers for the leftist parties?

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Tue Jun 20th, 2006 at 05:41:26 AM EST
Here is a link to an English version of an April 2006 political polls:

LDP (Koizumi and pro-Bush conservatives): 38%
Democratic Party of Japan (major opposition): 17%
Komeito (Soka gakkai, an LDP ally): 3%
Communists: 2%
Social Democrats: 2%
No preference: 34%

Unfortunately, DPJ is about as progressive as Hillary or Biden, and, what's more, they don't have any philosophy, oscillating between market capitalism and populism.

The clear left messaging is largely absent in the mainstream parties. The Social Democrats (once a mainstream labor party) damaged itself badly from its association with North Korea. They also lost organized labor's support.

I will become a patissier, God willing.

by tuasfait on Tue Jun 20th, 2006 at 12:07:39 PM EST
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