A case of interpretation? - Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan - page 130

was a matter of how ' currently this appeared to be the only way to get things

done , as several supporters put it. In the overall scheme of things, as Mika

indicates above, supporting LDP candidates was not based on a naïve belief
that they had suddenly changed into the morally upright politicians who
supporters would really like to support, or that their views had moved more
in the direction of the LDP. Instead, it was a tough political choice made in
order to give more power to Komeito so that they had more in

'

uence on

policy outcomes. The dimension of e ectiveness (Bailey 1969) was certainly

prominent in their motivation for being in a coalition with the LDP. Yet the
consideration of what was most e

ective politically was also driven by want-
ing to achieve their political objective of creating a better society and not simply
for political power itself. How to achieve their objectives was not always
logical, as it sometimes meant voting for politicians they would not normally
like to support based on ideological concerns; not all supporters voted for
LDP candidates.
This was not always an easy choice as the coalition with the LDP caused
distrust towards political process, which often lacked transparency. However,
scepticism was caused less by outside criticism than by their own philosophi-
cal standards with which they approached their actions and the evaluation of
the actions of their politicians. Being able to trust one ' s political representa-

tives was at the forefront of young supporters ' deliberations on the various

'

dilemmas they felt over Komeito s handling of the Iraq War. For some, such

as Tobi, there was a strongly felt unease about the possibility that they were
lending support to a controversial invasion in

' '

exchange for staying in power.

s position of sh - ganakatta, feel-
ing that it was indeed pitiful, but also somehow inevitable given its position as
a relatively weak political force. Because of their ethical reservations about
this decision, that which in the end convinced many supporters to trust
Komeito when it said that it was doing the best it could was the belief that
Ikeda also continued to support the party. In the face of lack of transparency
of politics, they turned to their own commitment to the objectives of the good
society, which they had learned from being members of Soka Gakkai, and
which they hoped and wanted to believe were objectives at the forefront of the
minds of most Komeito politicians. If they were not being told otherwise, the
trust they felt they could place in their organisation

Others felt less controversial about Komeito '

' helped ' to project onto

politicians political will the idea that such individuals were probably trying to

achieve the better solution within circumstances where the best solution (no
war) was unachievable.
In light of everything, trusting Komeito politicians, who were supposedly
closer to their own ideals of the good society, seemed more natural. Maguro,
who was introduced in Chapter 2, among many others, saw Hamayotsu as the
ideal Komeito politician. Embodying the ethically upright behaviour they
were hoping their political representatives would display, she was a role model
for many young people, someone whom they ideally would have loved to
become the head of the party. Her presence generated trust, and her support

'