Electric Pig

The election for the upper house is approaching in Japan. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party looks like it may lose power, or at least have their majority reduced. On Sunday last week, he came to Kichijoji to big up his local representatives, including a guy (whose name I forget), that reminds me of a character from the Addams Family (whose name I also forget), and ex-newscaster and hottie, Marukawa Tamayo. The representatives and party workers all stood on the roof of a specially converted campaign bus, parked across the road from the train station to make their speeches while they waited for Abe to arrive. I had got there early to get a space near the front, among the press so I could take photos. I managed to find a spot right near the front behind only a young "politics" fan, the kind of boy who was leader of the young LDP at his high school, and who has, I found out, been following the campaign around Tokyo getting photos of his heroes, particularly the lithe Ms. Marukawa. As soon as any speeches got under way, and I got my camera out ready to take some pictures, he began desperately cheering, pumping the air with his fist, the only person in the crowd of 2000 to be doing anything. I needn't have worried about my view being obscured however, for as the time for Abe's arrival drew close, I felt a poke in my back and a young man told me (rather rudly, I thought), to "give your position to these old ladies", pointing at a coven of toothless crones grinning idiotically in front of him. Not wanting to make a scene with men with guns so close, I squeezed past scowling at the guy as I went. I noticed he had not made the same request of the Marukawa cheerleader in front of me.

A shudder went through the crowd as a fleet of black limos pulled up and Abe's bodyguards jumped out surrounding the prime minister and ushering him into the bus. As he climbed though some sort of skylight to join his colleagues on the roof a small cheer could be heard, mostly eminating from my cheerleading neighbour. Marukawa thanked Abe for coming and continued with her speech, earnestly assuring the crowd that, despite being a woman, and even more terrifyingly, a single mother, she was nonetheless mercilessly fascistic enough to represent them in parliament. The old ladies around nodded their approval. The cheerleader looked a little confused but, more from habit than appreciation of the speech, started cheering again, fist once more punching an unseen foe in the sky.

Abe took a microphone from one of his cronies as Marukawa finished her speech, and proceeded to tap it constantly to check it was working. An air of paranoid panic seemed to cloud his face. He began his speech and talked about problems in his party and with the country in general. The old ladies smiled and noted how cute he looked and noted how sorry they felt for him. The cheerleader, this time quite inappropriately, whooped and punched the air. He continued the speech. I had begun to notice how every trick and technique of the competent public speaker seemed just beyond his grasp. He was quite a terrible performer and resembled an accountant that someone had pushed to the stage of the National Accountants Conference, and who was out of his depth even there. His speech moved on to schools. I recognised my field of inexpertise and started paying more attention. He berated the lack of discipline in the classroom and express his wish to start a return to traditional Japanese respect and honour throughout society, starting in schools. I waited for him to explain the reforms he would legislate for in order to impliment this. He instead thanked the crowd for coming out to see him, asked us to vote, and left.

I managed to shake his hand as he did a meet and greet. I think standing next to the cheerleader, who by now was frothing at the mouth in anticipation, probably pushed the prime minister in my direction somewhat. He had a rather weak handshake, and looked instantly terrified when my hand gripped a little harder than he had been expecting. This, more than anything else, makes me worry for Japan.

Click the picture to see more...