EDITORIAL: Upper House election

The Upper House election campaign officially kicked off Thursday.

Voters brought about a historic change of government last year. But the public quickly turned its back on the Yukio Hatoyama administration.

Politics does not follow a straight path. It often twists and turns in a manner that can never be stopped.

Instead of being overconfident and haphazard or distrustful and cynical, voters must seek a middle course between the extremes.

We should make the Upper House election an opportunity to increase our participation in politics and to advance the maturity of the nation's politics.

A video attracting attention on the Internet shows a shirtless man dancing alone, but he gradually attracts others who dance along with him. The presenter of the video explains that in starting a movement, followers play more important roles than the leader.

Former Prime Minister Hatoyama made headlines when he referred to this video on Twitter and tweeted, "I thank the people who made me dance the shirtless dance."

The young people who showed Hatoyama the video are trying to realize his proposal for "a new concept of public service" in their own way. They want to improve their communities and change the trend from "relying on the government" to becoming leading players in politics.

No matter who is prime minister, we must not stop the momentum of the new concept of public service, they argue. The move, in fact, is spreading on the Internet.

How can people develop "ties" with others? This seemingly simple question has now become a major theme of Japanese politics.

Behind the postwar social trend to attach importance to "individuals," bonds between people fell apart and "solitariness" spread. Public finance has deteriorated, the population has aged as couples are having fewer children and the gap between the rich and the poor has widened. Threats continue to encroach on our livelihoods.

Unless we recover the bonds that bring people together and promote mutual help, we will be in serious trouble. That is what both Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Liberal Democratic Party President Sadakazu Tanigaki are focusing on.

But for that to happen, citizens must change their involvement in politics.

Perhaps because the public is of the mind-set that the government is an authority that must be followed, politicians and voters have tended to be divided in Japan.

Under this thinking, politicians distribute benefits while voters receive them. Politicians are actors on the stage while voters are spectators.

But the sense of crisis that ensued after the public realized that this type of politics no longer works was likely behind the end of the LDP-led regime last year.

Grass-roots awareness alone will not change the situation concerning such issues as national security.

However, voters need to further develop their awareness on such themes to take the lead in tackling "public affairs" on their own.

Voters must address these problems on their own. Solutions involve more than simply choosing a party to run the government.

As people develop ties, private-sector groups engaged in policymaking, traditionally the exclusive domain of bureaucrats, are emerging across Japan.

To keep a critical eye on politics, citizens are giving rise to diversified movements and changing the subject of politics from "they (politicians)" to "we (voters)."

We hope the Upper House election will serve as a major step forward in this regard.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 24