Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
It was a big auditorium, with 860 local female Komeito politicians attend-
ing
almost everyone in the country. The women on stage, all the national
female MPs of Komeito, were all in pastel-coloured suits. Many women were
dressed as deemed appropriate to an o
-
cial gathering in Tokyo, a suit con-
sisting of a skirt with a matching jacket, but noticeably, just as many were
not. From the more informal way some women dressed one could gather that
they were not from Tokyo. Contrary to any formal Soka Gakkai gathering I
ever attended in Tokyo, some of these women were even wearing trousers,
recon
rming the idea that Tokyo tended to be a much more formal place
when it came to bigger gatherings than other regions of the country. As the
MC, Yamamoto Kanai (the young female Upper House MP who was to send
a message of apology to young female supporters at the time of the min
-
scandal, discussed in
Chapter 2)
, began to call out the names of the di
erent
prefectures the women stopped chatting and cheered and shouted in response.
In the upper part of the auditorium, leaning out over a balcony, was the
media,
about 25 or 30 of them. It
seemed that Komeito was enjoying the attention of a party in power, but
probably mostly because the prime minister was soon to appear. Suddenly the
glittering of press lights highlighted the entrance of the Prime Minister Koi-
zumi Junichiro and the head of Komeito, Kanzaki. Koizumi, second to speak
after Hamayotsu, seemed slightly dumbfounded as he stood in front of an
audience made up purely of women. He quickly found his self-composure and
smiled charismatically, then con
filling most of the
first row of seats
-
'
dently began praising the women
s many
e
orts in working so closely with people in the community. His general mes-
sage was that he would work on reform together with Komeito. Seeing him in
person made the
rst came to
power in 2001 somewhat more understandable. He had what Weber might
have called
'
Koizumi boom
'
that had swept Japan when he
'
the extraordinary and personal gift of grace (charisma)
'
(Weber
1991: 79). Watching him, I found myself with a smile on my face.
Kanzaki was next in line. More formal and stiff
in his demeanour than
Koizumi, he delivered his usual basic message that Komeito would continue
to work with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to realise policies for the
common people. Following Kanzaki was the Welfare Minister, Sakaguchi
Tsutomu, a Komeito politician who, contrary to his normal serious appear-
ance during Diet (the Japanese legislature) deliberations, turned out to be
rather funny. Forgetting that there was an upcoming election, saying
'
Oh yes
that
'
s right
'
when corrected by Hamayotsu that the election was this year, not
next,
, as if he were talking about
an upcoming dinner party. Everyone laughed. Then the Prime Minister and
Kanzaki left, and most of the press left with them. The Komei Shinbun
reporters with whom I was sitting remained patiently throughout the ceremony
and continued to take notes.
Three new candidates for the coming Upper House election in July then
came on stage. All male and in their thirties, they made for a conspicuous
presentation given the number of women present. Just as one of them was
'
we do have an election coming up this year
'
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