Japan deserves better than an inoffensive prime minister
Kishida Fumio won by looking as if he won’t rock the boat. But it needs rocking
“WE AVOIDED THE worst-case scenario,” ran one hashtag trending on Twitter after the election on September 29th of Kishida Fumio as president of Japan’s ruling party. For the right-wingers promoting the slogan, the “worst case” was Kono Taro, a popular and independent-minded minister who won the most rank-and-file votes in the first round of the election. They see him as too liberal to lead the inaptly named Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). But Japanese liberals were relieved, too. For them, the worst case was Takaichi Sanae, a nationalist firebrand.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Uninspired”
Leaders October 2nd 2021
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