Party of Discrimination

The Japan Restoration Party is spiraling down with consecutive misconducts of its leadership. Co-leader of the party, Toru Hashimoto, is still justifying his words recognizing the necessity of “comfort women” in World War II, costing cooperation with Your Party broken up. This fanatic group of political outsiders seems to be destined to disappear after the election of the House of Councillors this summer, leaving bitter taste in the history of Japanese politics.

Hashimoto’s effort to recover his failure has been outrageous. While apologizing his recommendation to take advantage of sex business for US soldiers in Okinawa, he rejected to regret to his justification of comfort woman. But, he told that he would apologize to comfort women, whether or not forced trafficking had happened, making contradiction with his former attitude that no apology was needed without forced trafficking. He resumed his daily appearance to the media, two days after when he declared to end that in frustration with reports against him. He anyway keeps on criticizing media of not telling truth.

Following Hashimoto, Shingo Nishimura, one of the lawmakers of the party, made an extremely discriminative statement. “There still are numerous Korean prostitutes in Japan,” said Nishimura at a meeting of the party legislators. The party deprived him of party membership. Another co-leader, Shintaro Ishihara, again showed his revisionist view on World War II. “McArthur testified in the Congress that the War of Pacific Ocean was for self-defense for Japan,” told Ishihara to support his idea denying aggressive aspect of Japan. But, different from Ishihara, Hashimoto has been approving the aggression of Japanese military at the war. It should be serious problem that co-leaders are saying totally different things over basic recognition of history.

Your Party, having similar view on governmental reform, decided to dissolve the partnership in the election with the Restoration Party. Although both parties were seeking to support candidate in each constituency, Your Party found it no good for them. “We take a distance from a group that hails war regime,” told Yoshimi Watanabe, the president of Your Party.

In the poll of Asahi Shimbun, the ratio of voters who are willing to vote to Restoration Party was 7%, diminished in half from the percentage in January. Because the popularity of the party was heavily dependent on Hashimoto’s personal character, his misstatement was fatal to the party.