Hatoyama has resigned.
His ratings amongst the Japanese people dropped to less than 20% after he announced he was back tracking on Okinawa. Apparently it was not only the Okinawans showing displeasure but the nation.
So what now for Japan?
Will the people get what they want or not?
The recent Okinawa announcement was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. His poll numbers have been dropping for months. In addition to his amazing mishandling of the Futenma issue, he got hit by a couple financial scandals straight out of the gate and has had to cancel/tone down a lot of the goodies in last year’s manifesto. It was long expected that the DPJ would do poorly in next month’s House of Councillors election and that Hatoyama would have to resign to take responsibility.
What’s more important here is that Ozawa has resigned alongside Hatoyama. His resignation goes a long way towards making a “fresh start” by the DPJ possible. Kan is a safe choice for a new prime minister and the Japanese people still like the LDP even less than the DPJ. The real winner here will be the minor parties who gain the “other” votes.
As for Futenma, I imagine that Kan will either declare it a done deal and try to move on or else push it to the back of the agenda. It’s political poison.
Okinawa? … Googles … ghod, there’s still a brouhaha over THAT?
Which “that”?
And what do the Japanese people want? Hatoyama and the DPJ didn’t run an election campaign based on closing all the US bases throughout Japan. Okinawans want MCAS Futenma and perhaps all the other military bases off of the island, but they’re just one prefecture in a much larger nation. There are other US bases on Honshu, but none are closer to Taiwan or southeast Asia than those on Okinawa.
Edit: thought this was pit
Yes, the Japanese people (at large) will get what they want: US troops will reduce their presence in Okinawa in accord with the 2006 Japan-US agreement.
But that probably isn’t what you are referring to. But it is what the Japanese people want.