VOX POPULI: This movie's ending could be an anticlimax

I once likened the three ruling coalition parties to animals whose size was in proportion to the number of Diet seats controlled by each party. Thus, the Democratic Party of Japan was like a bear, while its junior coalition partners, the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party, were a Japanese spitz and a chihuahua, respectively.

"Even small dogs bark in their own ways and cannot remain silent on the back of a bear," I noted. But a spitz lover later chided me: "These dogs don't bark as much as you seem to think."

During the review of the nation's policy on postal privatization, the chihuahua's yapping forced the bear to reconsider its stance.

But on the Futenma airfield relocation issue, the spitz was tossed off the bear's back for refusing to stop barking. The SDP has apparently no more reason to remain in the coalition, now that its leader has been dismissed from the Cabinet for sticking to her principles.

For a time, it looked as if the administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama was set to negotiate seriously with Washington. But after much waffling, the administration adopted a line of argument that compared Japan's security and Okinawa's safety. Tokyo and Washington ended up specifying Henoko as the relocation site.

The result is that the danger posed by the Futenma air station will not be removed, and the people of Okinawa are understandably irate. With the United States and mainland Japan trying together to appease Okinawa, it is as if Okinawa is not even a part of Japan.

The March sinking of a South Korean naval vessel, likely by North Korea, was cited as one reason the Japan-U.S. alliance is crucial. But Pyongyang may well act up whether the U.S. Marines are in Okinawa or not. Now is an excellent time to thoroughly examine the reality of the power of deterrence and deepen our security-related discussions.

Economic critic Kazuyo Katsuma recently described, in a vernacular Asahi Shimbun supplement, a certain "universal law" that says people invariably remember a movie for its climax and ending. In both personal relations and in business, Katsuma noted, one must pay special attention to how one presents the climax and the ending, just like a movie.

"The End" may roll past on the screen before the Hatoyama administration even has had its climactic scene. The storyline could not have been better--people voting for a regime change--but Hatoyama will go down in history as a hapless ham actor who ruined the whole show.

The DPJ will have no choice but to start all over from scratch after thoroughly re-examining why it stumbled, including close scrutiny of its leader's caliber.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 30

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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.