OPINION: Shinzo Abe Is Eroding Japanese Democracy
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (President of Russia)
Thomas Menten (COL ‘23) is a regular Compass World contributor and a guest writer for the Caravel's opinion section. The content and opinions of this piece are the writer’s and the writer’s alone. They do not reflect the opinions of the Caravel or its staff.
Emperor Naruhito of Japan ascended to the Chrysanthemum throne on April 1, 2019. His ascension signaled the end of the Heisei era and the beginning of the Reiwa era, a name taken from an ancient Japanese anthology of poems called the Manyoshu. The name reflects Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conservative political agenda, emphasizing national pride. During a news conference, Abe commented that Japan "is facing a big turning point, but there are lots of Japanese values that should not fade away."
With a new imperial era and the (delayed) Tokyo Olympics coming in 2021, he is right that Japan is at a turning point. Abe hopes to lead a reinvented, more nationalist Japan back to economic and military dominance. While some applaud Abe's aggressive economic policies, not only has he failed to fulfill his promises, he has actively made Japan a more authoritarian state.
A For Abe, Not for the Economy
Abe has seen great political success since 2012, becoming Japan’s longest-serving prime minister. A strategic conservative, Abe is the heir to two political dynasties. His paternal grandfather was a member of the Japanese Diet (parliament), his father was a former foreign minister, and his great-uncle was a prime minister. Abe’s maternal grandfather demonstrates how little Japan changed after the war — he ran a forced labor system in Japanese Manchukuo, a puppet state in occupied China, was charged with war crimes in 1948, and eventually became prime minister of Japan.
During a speech at Guildhall, the ceremonial center of the City of London, in 2013, Abe spoke of Japan’s future with optimism, in contrast to the prevailing economic defeatism after two decades of stagnant economic growth. While Abe spoke of empowering Japanese women, improving Japan’s universities, and introducing “Abenomics,” he invoked nostalgia for a time past. He said that Japan has been unable to solve its economic woes because it “had been lacking strong political will” and that he had “brought to the national leadership: strong political will.”
While Abe's political career had been successful, his much-anticipated economic program, Abenomics, has not succeeded. Experts believe he is set to lead the world’s third-largest economy into a prolonged recession, with little sign that his three-pronged approach focusing on fiscal spending, monetary easing, and structural reform will prevent it. While his government has tried to make it easier for women to both work and have children and encouraged greater immigration, Japan’s systemic problems remain: a public debt hovering at about 250 percent of GDP, anemic economic growth, and an aging population. Tomohiko Taniguchi, a special adviser to the prime minister, said, “A whole generation experienced no growth.” Growth has still not arrived.
Success For the State, Not For Anyone Else
The hype around Abenomics has often crowded out scrutiny of Abe’s other, more dangerous policies. In 2013, the Liberal Democratic Party passed the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets (SDS), which expanded the government’s ability to designate information as a state secret. While under the previous law the length of imprisonment for most Japanese who leaked state secrets was limited to one year, the SDS allows the prosecution of even those who unwittingly obtain state secrets. Those who conspire to leak secrets face up to five years, and those who illegally acquire state secrets face ten years in prison. Furthermore, the power to classify state secrets rests in the government's hands. A supervisory committee and panel have been set up to oversee the classification process, yet they are composed of government officials. There is an absence of any third-party involvement to act as oversight and rule whether the classifications are reasonable.
During Abe’s time as prime minister, freedom of the press has also deteriorated. In December 2013, Abe placed a political ally as head of Japan’s national broadcasting agency, NHK, who said, “If the government says right, we won’t say left.” In March 2016, three opposition television anchors were dismissed from their respective networks, a move widely seen as orchestrated by the Abe government. Their dismissal was weeks after Sanae Takaichi, Abe’s communications minister, declared that the government had the power to shut down networks it deemed to be politically biased.
In 2017, Abe rammed through an anti-terrorism bill pitched to protect the country during the now-postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Critics, such as the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, noted that some of the outlined 277 “serious crimes” have little or no connection to terrorism, including sit-ins to protest the construction of apartment buildings or copying music; critics fear the government will use the bill to stifle free speech.
The trend toward authoritarianism in Japan is worrisome. The LDP has campaigned for scrapping the U.S.-imposed constitution, in force since 1956, and, under Abe’s leadership, they are closer than they have ever been before. A chance to redraw government has the serious potential to erode Japanese democracy.
The Next Asian Autocracy?
The LDP’s draft constitution could spell serious trouble for the rights of Japanese citizens. The booklet explaining the draft states that “several of the current constitutional provisions are based on the Western-European theory of natural human rights; such provisions therefore [need] to be changed.” It pushes for a very collectivist state, allowing the government to restrict individual freedoms if they conflict with public order. It also grants political authority to religious groups, harkening back to the State Shintoism of pre-war Imperial Japan.
Although Japan will not turn into a dictatorship overnight, rising nationalism and growing state control are worrying. The line “the people must obey commands from the State or the subordinate offices thereof in a state of emergency” may not seem foreign in Russia or Communist China, but the fact that the largest political party in Japan advocates for its inclusion in a new constitution should make everyone wary. Abe has already failed to address the country’s economic and demographic issues: their negative birth rate, a stagnant economy, and a shrinking labor force. Abe’s encroachment on the freedoms of Japanese people only adds to the state’s problems.
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