Ichiro Ozawa to resign

Ozawa Shock

For weeks, polls had noted that a majority of the Japanese population thought that opposition party leader Ichiro Ozawa should resign because of a scandal involving his political organization’s acceptance of 21 million yen in illegal donations. It seems that he has given in to the pressure and will be announcing his resignation later today.

「hat tip to Our Man in Abiko / wacky image via 2-channel]

—

Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

2 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - May 11, 2009 at 4:28 pm

Categories: Politics Tags:

Anonymous

End of an era, I suppose. What will it mean for the DPJ? Is the rest of that party as faceless to Japanese as it is to a foreign observer?

I may be biased because my introduction to contemporary Japanese politics was Shadow Shoguns, which presented Ozawa as the only modern politician who understood the dysfunctions of an LDP-dominated Japan and the need to create a functional multiparty state.
stereo

Not quite. This case is most likely a set-up by public prosecutors, who love to enjoy their power under LDP administration.

Ozawa’s treasurer reported the political donation from a group of individuals as such in his financial reporting. The prosecutors are arguing that the money comes from a corporation if you track down the origin long enough. Their argument is a long shot at best, but they achieved their goal of bringing down their political opponent.

This is not their first time to interfere with the democratically elected government by bringing up a false charge. Remember Teijin Jiken?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teijin_Incident

Public prosecutors in Japan are uncontrollable. They have to report to the Minister of Justice, but he cannot direct them. This is just another victory by the bureaucrats.

Ichiro Ozawa to resign

Recent Comments

Further Reading

South Korean Government Demands That International Hydrographic Organization Use “East Sea”

Japanese Documentary About Sea Shepherd’s Protest Activities in Taiji (English Subtitles)

Babies Born on March 11th Receive Special Present

Washington Times Freelancer Slams Former Employer, Fails to Ethically Disclose Relationship?

Christopher Johnson Attempts to Silence Criticism of His “Gaijin Gulag” Article (Legal Threats!!!)

Tabloid Reports About Yu Darvish’s Love Life: Kirara Asuka & Miho Koga?

Does K-Pop Group KARA Have Ties to North Korea?

Tokyo Gate Bridge

Sara Errani Admits She Avoided Tennis Tournament in Tokyo: Feared Radiation

Chinese Workers Who Survived March 11th Tsunami Return to Tohoku

Categories

Archives

Subscribe

Japan Blogs

Korea Blogs

Linkroll

Other Asia Blogs