Why Japan's Election Matters

The center-right Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan has long the Japanese political scene since the reestablishment of Japanese sovereignty after the American military occupation. The party managed to establish Japan's economic empire while keeping close ties to the United States. Now though, the center-left Democratic Party (DPJ) of Japan with its socialist ally and the bizzaro-conservative People's New Party have won yesterday's election in a landslide of biblical proportions.

Americans should take note of the DPJ victory and its leader, Yukio Hatoyama. Hatoyama's own New York Times op-ed piece begins with bashing globalization and the United States while calling for a greater "integration" towards East Asia. What this translates to is Japan, for the time being, will seek to foster relations with the People's Republic of China that are less wary of the Communists and ignore American interests. A few years ago, the DPJ greatly harmed Operation Enduring Freedom by limiting the role of Japan's ships in refueling American transports heading to Pakistan. Expect more difficulties coming from Tokyo in the future.

More in-depth coverage of the domestic-side of Japan's election can be found at the always great Coming Anarchy blog. That blog will also be covering developments between the new DPJ Japan and the rest of the world.