Aspiration for the good society - Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan - page 96

access to their pension records further worsened the public perception of
politicians as inevitably corrupt. The

min -

(or non-payment) problem was a
serious blow to the new pension proposals. The only thing in which they
could

' '

find some solace during this time, some supporters told me, was
Komeito pension records (which

many politicians in other parties refused to follow). Yet this did not stop the
outcry among Soka Gakkai members when they learned that some Komeito
politicians had failed to pay. A staff

' s initiative to make public all its politicians '

member of Soka Gakkai told me that:

Members were outraged. Leaders at the district and chapter leaders
meeting were shouting at the Vice-President. Because members have
learned to expect perfection both from the organisation, from their lea-
ders and from politicians of Komeito, when something happens it comes
as a big blow. On the other hand, as members we have to understand that
Komeito is not our mirror, that it is a political party that operates in the
political world.

(19/05/2004)

The media were less ' pragmatic ' and forgiving, and Asahi newspaper chastised

Komeito with headlines like Not so clean after all: pension scandal snares 13

more (Asahi Shinbun, 13/05/2004), as was another Soka Gakkai YWD
executive leader, who explained that:

'

Members are so disappointed and angry. First Komeito had said that
there were no members among them who had not paid, and Soka Gakkai
members were happily telling their friends ' look Komeito is di erent ' .

Now it emerges that Komeito is no di erent. Members are really strug-

gling with how to continue this campaign on behalf of Komeito. In one
way it is very simple: the members believe that if they support Komeito,
Komeito will be contributing to society, and people at large. The rst

criterion is that such politicians are honest and have integrity. When they
have been found to be lying, and some of them not having paid into the
pension fund, some of them for 10 years

- that is inexcusable. Members

really struggle with this hypocrisy.

(conversation with Mika, 13/05/2004)

In the frantic media criticism it was di cult to see that there were di erences

in the ways in which politicians had to pay. The failure to pay by

some, including the heads of Minshut - and Komeito, was largely due to a
fault in the system. They had failed to pay during a time when they were
changing from one job to another. Their non-payment period only spanned a
few months and could be somewhat excused as being the result of a lack of an
automatic transfer system. In contrast, there were politicians who had not
paid for years (including a few politicians from Komeito). Such distinctions
were di

' failed '

cult to highlight in the ensuing media atmosphere of viewing those