VOX POPULI: Bolts that hold politics together are loosening

Young people are good at coining new terms.

I heard yosanoru means having tousled hair in the morning. It derives from "Midare-gami" (Tousled hair), the title of a collection of tanka poems by Akiko Yosano (1878-1942). The term is used among female students when talking to someone with badly tousled hair, such as "Sugoku yosanotteru-yo," or (your hair is) a real mess.

The term is one of the entries in "Minna de Kokugo-Jiten!" (Let's all make a Japanese dictionary!) published by Taishukan Publishing Co.

A second meaning, "to part ways with one's comrades," may be added to yosanoru.

Kaoru Yosano, Akiko's grandson and a former finance minister, submitted a request to leave the Liberal Democratic Party over the weekend. According to news reports, he plans to form a new party in an attempt to create a force to break the political deadlock. His spirit is commendable.

Nevertheless, the expected lineup of the new party looks a little long in the tooth. They may be heavyweights, but there is a lack of freshness. It may be even more difficult for the envisioned new party to dispel the LDP's antiquated image than the LDP proper, led by Sadakazu Tanigaki.

Yosano may have been inspired by Your Party, which is making its presence felt. However, its president, Yoshimi Watanabe, bolted from the LDP while it was still a ruling party.

Yosano risks being seen by voters as simply launching a lifeboat from the LDP, which looks like a sinking ship after its fall from power.

I heard Yosano told Tanigaki: "Please don't see the situation as a breakup of the LDP. It is just the departure of a party member, Kaoru Yosano."

Could he have inherited his way with words from his grandmother? The statement has a poetic ring. I think it is rare for the leading player in the formation of a new party to imply such a pessimistic outlook.

The LDP is worried that Yosano's move could prompt other lawmakers to yosanoru (leave the party). Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's comment, "The LDP is also having a tough time," apparently shows he sees parallels between his own predicament and that of the LDP.

"The bolt of a small fan/ That remembers a wind from the past/ Shows signs of becoming loose" is a tanka by Akiko Yosano. Here and there, the bolts that hold politics together are coming loose.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 6

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.