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Kōmeitō 2017: New Complications

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Japan Decides 2017

Abstract

This chapter evaluates Kōmeitō’s navigation between the interests of its LDP coalition partner and its voter base, the religious lay organization Sōka Gakkai. The 2017 election results reflect a growing disaggregation of Kōmeitō voters. Moreover, the primary interests of Kōmeitō voters are not constitutional reform, but continue to be social welfare and support for low- to medium-income households. The authors’ analysis indicates that the level of support for Kōmeitō may weaken with the rise of a new generation of Sōka Gakkai adherents who may be increasingly unwilling to treat electioneering as a necessary component of their religious practice.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For a lucid overview of Kōmeitō’s evolving interpretation of Article 9 that has enabled the party to move from absolute pacifism to accommodation of collective self-defense, see Lindgren (2016).

  2. 2.

    See also Shimada (2013) for estimates of Seikyō Shinbun profits and related Sōka Gakkai assets. For discussions of why assessments of Sōka Gakkai and Kōmeitō finances elude investigators, see Ehrhardt et al. (2014).

  3. 3.

    This characterization builds on the term nejire kokkai, “twisted parliament,” a situation that prevails when different parties or coalitions control the House of Representatives (HR) and HC.

  4. 4.

    All Sōka Gakkai member names that appear in this chapter, except those of Kōmeitō Diet members and those who have published under their own names, are pseudonyms.

  5. 5.

    Only the CDP has a similar balanced turnout over all age cohorts. For age-related turnout statistics collected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, see: http://www.soumu.go.jp/senkyo/senkyo_s/news/sonota/nendaibetu/ (accessed: January 2018).

  6. 6.

    Sōka Gakkai members use the title “Sensei” exclusively for Ikeda. Even the current administrative Sōka Gakkai President Minoru Harada is referred to by members with the generic suffix san.

  7. 7.

    See http://kenpo-no-tsudoi.blogspot.jp/.

  8. 8.

    See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EjBvGsJov0 (accessed: December 2017).

  9. 9.

    References here to Yamaguchi’s campaign speeches in Iwamizawa (Hokkaido 10), Tokyo 12, Fukuoka (Tenjin) and Futamatagawa (Kanagawa 6). Yamaguchi’s appearances were accessible on Youtube and Kōmeitō’s website in late 2017.

  10. 10.

    Source: https://www.komei.or.jp/news/detail/20171016_26007 (accessed: December 2017).

  11. 11.

    Kyōdō News exit poll as cited in Mainichi (December 15, 2017) and in Sankei online (October 23, 2017) at: http://www.sankei.com/politics/news/171023/plt1710230115-n1.html (accessed: December 30, 2017).

  12. 12.

    While Ishin did not run a candidate against Kōmeitō in any other SSD, Seiichi Kushida was given Ishin’s nomination for Kanagawa 6 as replacement for his later rival, Yōichirō Aoyagi, who in 2014 had run himself as Ishin’s candidate and in early October 2017 moved to the CDP.

  13. 13.

    See also corroborating evidence in Liff and Maeda (2017).

  14. 14.

    For example, Asahi (October 25 2017, Fukuoka edition) justified its publication of SSD results by referring to them as “main electoral districts” (omo na senkyoku). Papers will at times publish precise percentages but just as often employ an imprecise “X-wari” measure, which can indicate anything in the range from X − 4 to X + 5 (e.g., 7-wari can be anything from 65 to 74).

  15. 15.

    In Okayama 3, two LDP-affiliated but formally independent candidates ran against each other, while in Kumamoto 1 Kōmeitō did not endorse the LDP candidate.

  16. 16.

    Asahi (October 23, 2017), exit polls in the local editions of Gifu and Hiroshima, respectively.

  17. 17.

    Asahi published the answers to this part of its exit poll in almost all prefectures (October 23, 2017).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of East Asian Studies, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany

    Axel Klein

  2. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Levi McLaughlin

Authors
  1. Axel Klein
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  2. Levi McLaughlin
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Correspondence to Axel Klein .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Robert J. Pekkanen

  2. Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan

    Steven R. Reed

  3. University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Ethan Scheiner

  4. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Daniel M. Smith

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Klein, A., McLaughlin, L. (2018). Kōmeitō 2017: New Complications. In: Pekkanen, R., Reed, S., Scheiner, E., Smith, D. (eds) Japan Decides 2017. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76475-7_4

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