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Japan throws out its conservative government after 50 years

Here are some links I found today:

1. From the Telegraph:
   1. Japanese election: Hatoyama’s agenda includes tax breaks and distance from the US Yukio Hatoyama wooed the Japanese electorate with an agenda for change, but the 62 year-old nicknamed the Alien is an unlikely revolutionary.
   2. Japan votes for a new start as ruling LDP loses power after 50 years Japan’s conservative ruling party was crushed by a radical rival on Sunday in a general election that brought an end to one of the democratic world’s longest spells of political dominance.
   3. Landslide election result breaks LDP hold on Japan after 5 decades Japan’s Democratic Party has won a resounding general election victory, surpassing the 241 seats required for a majority.
   4. Japanese opposition sweeps to power The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was headed for a landslide victory in the general elecion with exit polls suggesting that the win might be even larger had been projected.
   5. Family history set to repeat itself as Japan heads to vote for change at polls It is a political tale of two rivals that would not look out place in any best-selling airport thriller: one was Japan’s first post-war prime minister and the other ousted him from power following a decade-long struggle.
2. From the Independent:
   1. An era ends as LDP swept from power Ruling party projected to lose two-thirds of its seats.
   2. Leading article: a victory with the potential to transform Japan But modernising Tokyo’s entrenched political system will not be easy
   3. ‘The Cold War has ended, but we’re still in that mode’ Yukio Hatoyama has ambitious plans for Japan’s future, he tells David McNeill
3. From the Financial Times (Asia):
   1. New era for Japan as DPT triumphs Stocks fail to hang on to early gains
   2. ‘Historic rout’ for Japanese government
   3. New era for Japan as DPJ triumphs
   4. Japan elections – live blog
   5. Global insight: A very Japanese revolt Yet the shifting of political tectonic plates – “small earthquake, no tsunami”, as one astute observer put it – is not quite as tumultuous as meets the eye. The result did not come out of the blue
   6. Shift in dealings with US on cards
4. From the BBC:
   1. Japan victor hails ‘revolution’ (includes a short video)
   2. Hatoyama: vote for change
   3. Profile: Yukio Hatoyama
   4. In pictures: Japanese election
5. And from a free-market business in the US
   1. An Ill Wind Blows from Japan Before the election The Democratic Party of Japan had talked assiduously about the avoidance of US Debt Hegemony (read: Japan may stop buying or even sell US Treasuries) and in addition they made noises unthinkable just a few years ago – their stance towards China, long thought of as an arch-enemy of Japan, is quite friendly and cooperative.

For more details, visit the English blog Observing Japan.

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• Hereditary rule (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Will an Opposition Victory Rescue Japan’s Economy? (time.com)
• Japanese opposition sweeps to power (telegraph.co.uk)
• Japan votes for a new start as ruling LDP loses power after 50 years (telegraph.co.uk)

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