Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
change
as being particularly
malleable, relative and negotiable in Japan (van Wolferen 1989: 241), or did it
de
fit in with Van Wolferen
'
s evaluation of
'
truth
'
ne the problem of state power and its use of violence as a legitimate force,
coupled with the constant
flux of social and political issues? During this time,
when I took the bus from Soka University into Hachioji city, a bus mostly full
of SU students, I once fell into conversation with an academic member of
sta
. He told me he was moving to England soon to start a job at a university
there. He had been a member of the teaching staff
for one of the many cor-
respondence courses. When I told him about my research on Komeito sup-
porters, he expressed his frustration and strong dislike of what he saw as a
party changing its ideology to stay in power. To him, Komeito was changing
and he was not supporting the party anymore. As he expressed his dislike of
the party, he told me he was happy to be leaving his job and his colleagues.
Maybe it was unclear what exactly I was doing conducting research on sup-
port for Komeito, but it seemed like he saw me as a party member or sup-
porter against whom he could vent his anger. Next time I went to see the
Upper House MP, Toyama, who was always generous with his time, I asked
him about the feeling that Komeito had changed.
It seems Komeito has changed because it is changing from being a one-
issue party
to a real political party that has to deal with many
new and real economic, political and foreign policy issues [since it
became part of the coalition], which makes it seem like it
-
welfare
-
'
s changing, but
'
in fact it
s just having to deal with a whole lot more issues.
(conversation with Toyama, 05/12/2003)
Speaking to a staff
ce
some months later, he chimed in that he viewed the current political process
for Komeito as a continuous stream of new situations. They did not always
make perfect decisions, but because everything was new for Komeito, being
part of the government was based on a trial and error basis. They were bound
to get it wrong sometimes. However, for many supporters, while they wel-
comed Komeito as a party
member from the Soka Gakkai public relations o
and realised that it had to deal
with many new issues in a more real way, there was clearly tension between
the ideals and objectives supporters had been told Komeito should work for
and what they could see was happening. Thus while they saw the advantage in
Komeito being part of the political decision-making process in terms of
having an in
'
coming of age
'
uence on policy outcomes, on the other hand this was coming at
a the heavy price of making their desire for peace look little more than empty
rhetoric. Supporters were faced with the question that if Komeito were to be
more representative and functioning as a political party in government, how
much would supporters (and of course the party) be willing to compromise
their ideals? Welfare had always been a central issue for Komeito and its
supporters, as was clearly still the case even for the younger supporters.
However, what would other issues that were less welcome, such as having to
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