イギリス英会話ブログ

I find Shinzo Abe (successor to Koizumi as head of the LDP and thus Prime Minister) a bit of a mystery man. Before he was elected, he sounded quite right-wing and his book ‘Towards a Beautiful Japan’ seemed very heavily bent on justifying the righteousness of a close relationship with America - which in itself strikes me as a curious combination. Then, one of his boys stands up and says, in response to the North Korean nuclear tests, that maybe Japan should develop its own ‘deterrent’, and Abe, instead of brushing aside such a ridiculous view, merely tones down the wording, suggesting that a ‘discussion’ of such matters would be a good thing. He proposes re-wording the Constitution to dilute Japan’s pacifist stance, yet rejects the possibility that Japan would shoot down a missile heading for America as that would be a breach of Japan’s constitutionally-enshrined rejection of the right to collective self-defense.

What I find funny with Mr.Abe is that I read a criticism of his conduct/political thinking/historical awareness one day, but the next day he has made an astute little side-step and I find myself unable to pin him down. I suppose there must be a learning curve, you know, for Prime Minister’s and maybe he is just ‘growing into the job’, with a bunch of critical dogs yapping at his heels the whole way. But at the same time, to be honest, I can’t help myself suspecting that he is running only a little ahead of the pack and this gives the impression that he lacks a clear agenda, or he is making it up as he goes along, or he is deliberately trying to obscure his true intentions. Personally, I see no great fault with making things up as you go along, but I think Abe is sailing close to being misleading. Koizumi was probably not much different, but he was a true master of public opinion. I believe Abe to be more committed, but perhaps he would have done better in the old world of factional politics than this brave new world of public opinion polls.

If you worry too much about public opinion you find yourself dancing a funny old jig trying to avoid all manner of criticisms rather than aiming for your goal and sailing towards it with resolve and taking people with you like that. I want to be convinced, I really do; the contradictions in his words and deeds leave room for hope. Clearly, ambiguity is his strong point. But if Abe isn’t leading then who is really pulling the whole LDP shebang along? Or is that the wrong question - and it is exactly his application of ambiguity and shrouded intentions that make him a good leader, in Japanese terms? I kind of feel intuitively with Abe that he lacks both syle and substance in sufficient degrees.