Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
that the determination to respond to
Ikeda meant making a promise to be this kind of person. While winning this
speci
Everyone moved by this video
'
knew
'
c election was important so was his resolve to remain an ordinary
person who served the people, like an exemplary Soka Gakkai member.
Indeed, this appeal highlighted the inherent tension of how one remains an
ordinary person while being in an extraordinary social position. Such explicit
mention to being a disciple of Ikeda could not be found among the Tokyo
candidates. Members in Okinawa told me that such emotional appeals
attracted members in Okinawa and Kyushu, the bloc that Akino represented.
People needed to feel the candidate
s sincerity, not only believe in it rationally.
However appealing the policies necessarily had to be, he had to demonstrate
who he was as a person. His appeal did not seem to be a cynical ploy to win
hearts and minds and his audience would be observing very closely to see if
his sincerity and respect toward the ordinary people who were his supporters
were genuine.
When I asked younger leaders about this
'
'
appeal to the emotions
'
, they felt
somewhat di
erent. They felt it unnecessary and part of another generation
'
s
culture. While they were moved by Akino
'
concern for policies, their belief in themselves as being part of furthering the
common good in society through those policies was motivation enough. They
felt that they had a good candidate, a medical doctor who had already shown
himself to have worked hard for ordinary people at the grassroots level. He
'
s resolve, their more
'
rational
fitted in with their ideals about a politician and the common concern in Oki-
nawa about having proper medical care. Issues of medical care, employment
and economic stability were issues at least as high on the agenda for young
people and their friends as the political debates over the Futenma issue.
However, Akino was a new candidate, a largely unknown person until now.
His appeal for members to trust that he was going to remain honest and
hardworking was part of the process of turning an ordinary person into a
politician in Soka Gakkai. Yet, it was not only the youth who thought this
DVD contentious; one Women
s Division district leader expressed her con-
cerns too. She had seen the drawback of appealing to Soka Gakkai members
based on their religious identity rather than on the policies of Komeito. She
gave the example of a WD member who had eventually given up her faith as
she became torn between two emotional appeals. This woman had to make
the choice between her local leader in Soka Gakkai appealing to her to vote
for Komeito because she was a Soka Gakkai member, while her family
appealed to her to vote for her uncle because he was family. While appealing
to family ties is a strong part of Okinawa
'
is political culture, this woman had
to make a choice between two appeals to human relations. Eventually the
woman became estranged from Soka Gakkai and stopped coming to meet-
ings. The district leader who was telling me this story, a leader in another
district, said that if the woman had been encouraged to consider her choice in
terms of policies, either choice would not have in
'
uenced her faith. This
leader felt that voting for Komeito because it was expected as a Soka Gakkai
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