Aspiration for the good society - Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan - page 97

who had not paid full stop as yet another example of how corrupt politicians
are. Hiromi, working closely with Tobi, Kishi, Meguro and others in the
UNRC activities, told me how she dealt with the non-payment problem:

Yeah, it is too bad … I was making a lot of e ort to talk to my friends

about Komeito, and said to them [they have no

min - problem]. Now I have to go back and talk to all these friends who
have obviously lost trust in the Komeito and in what I say. I have to restore
that trust. But I will continue to support Komeito because Komeito has
still realised all those policies and no one can change that fact.
(conversation with Hiromi, 14/05/2004)

' look Komeito is di erent '

Having just told friends that Komeito politicians would not be among those
who had

to pay their pension fees, the news broke, as indicated by the
Asahi newspaper article, that 13 Komeito politicians were among the politicians
who had failed to pay for some time. Although, as indicated by Hiromi, she
would continue to support Komeito, this decision had not come that easily.
During this time I attended several meetings held in town halls

' forgotten '

filled with
thousands of (presumably) Komeito supporters and apologetic politicians
who started their speeches with long bows and deep apologies. However,
supporters showed more anger on their home turf than was displayed at such
public gatherings. For example, on 15 May at 10 am I attended a YWD
meeting intended to explain the non-payment problem. There were maybe 400

-
500 young women present. The meeting started with daimoku and gongy - ,in
which everyone engaged in sonorous chanting, seeming more united and
focused than usual. After this there was an introduction by the YWD chief
and she went straight to the point, saying: We are to discuss the min -

'

problem. She gave a brief background of what had happened in the political

world over the last two weeks, and what had happened to certain Komeito
politicians who were dismissed from their posts because of their failure to pay.
When a Komeito MP entered, she quickly ended her speech and gave him the
podium.
He started with a deep apology, and looked slightly emotional and very
regretful about what had happened, although he was not one of the 13 non-
paying politicians. Then he brie

'

y talked about what had happened and

opened the floor to questions. A number of people stood up to ask questions.

Answers ranged from explaining the problems with the system and problems
with taking responsibility. He also read out a message and apology from
Yamamoto Kanae (a Komeito Upper House MP). Although Yamamoto had
not failed to pay, being a female MP in her early thirties, this message seemed
to be an appeal to the young female audience for identi cation with their

political representatives. Then there was a question about timing: why had the
report on the min - problem not been published earlier instead of one day
after the acceptance of the pension proposal (a lot of the media had focused
on this)? A vague answer of it being a coincidence followed.