Not-Sarkozy selected as Japan's next prime minister

[imomus]

The veteran moderate Nicolas Not-Sarkozy easily won election as Japan's ruling party president today. He will become prime minister on Tuesday.



A sober, brainy party elder -- son of a prime minister from the 1970s -- Not-Sarkozy has vowed to concentrate on down-to-earth issues such as economic equality and growth, while seeking warmer ties with the rest of Asia.

"I'm not highly educated or talented, and I don't have much experience," said Not-Sarkozy, on learning of his victory. "But despite that, you have chosen me as party president. I am moved," he said.

Not-Sarkozy has pledged to pay more heed to depressed rural regions.

Hawkish neo-liberal critics worry that the dovish Not-Sarkozy will be beholden to the LDP's old guard, slow down economic reforms, and be timid on foreign policy.

Time magazine's Toko Sekiguchi described Not-Sarkozy as "a consensus-driven political insider who opposes Yasukuni visits because they alienate Japan's neighbors. The country's enormous public debt? A scandal-ridden pension system? A bloated bureaucracy? Not-Sarkozy hasn't dedicated much campaign time to such issues."

"Not-Sarkozy was chosen by party factions and I worry that things will go back to the old Japan," said 37-year-old Katsuya Nishima, who works in the financial sector.

Despite a fiery temper -- he once kicked a litter bin across the room after a dispute with Shinzo Abe -- Not-Sarkozy is a softly spoken moderate who sports grey suits and listens to classical music, preferably accompanied by a decent bottle of wine. Offered a baby to kiss on the campaign trail recently, Not-Sarkozy politely declined.

Widely seen as a safe pair of hands who will steady the party ship, Not-Sarkozy's hallmarks are clinical efficiency and deadpan humour.

"Not-Sarkozy seems trustworthy and nice," said 49-year-old Shinya Yao in rural Hokkaido, northern Japan. "I want him to improve the healthcare system. I hope he doesn't raise the sales tax."

Comments

For anyone unaware of the emptiness of Japanese humility:

[kumakouji.livejournal.com]

There's a difference between how westerners accept praise and how the Japanese accept praise, or rather, a difference in cultural norms.

If someone praises you for being beautiful, a westerner will usually reply something along the lines of "thank you". a Japanese person will most likely reply "Ah, no, I'm nothing special".

It would baffle if not worry people in the west to hear someone who was about to become a powerful figurehead of a country say such things as "I'm not highly educated or talented, and I don't have much experience". It would be like going to the dentist and the dentist saying "Well, Im not the best at dentistry, but I appreciate your patronage and I'll do my best". Westerners want to see confidence, it's comforting and assuring.

However, in Japan, humility is much more highly regarded in etiquette. The Japanese know that these comments are but empty humility though; he's going through the works. He's minding his Japanese P's and Q's. Don't mistake these comments for timidity. Expect more dustbin kicking for this guy in the future...

Re: For anyone unaware of the emptiness of Japanese humility:

[(Anonymous)]

That's funny. Because 2000-2008 in the US has been (and will be) all about the American public wanting a guy they can "have a beer with," a guy who, by his own proud admission, got straight C's in school, yet somehow was able to get into Harvard Business School, which also reveals his privilege (How do you get into any Harvard graduate program with straight C's as an undergraduate? It doesn't happen unless you know somebody).

I think Bush's entire time as president has been about self-effacement, the retooling of "your leader" as a "real downhome guy" or whatever. Oddly Japanese, I suppose. Though, at the same time, Bush is also saying that he's not afraid to kick ass and take names. In other words, he's not just another sissy-ass liberal intellectual.

Re: For anyone unaware of the emptiness of Japanese humility:

[cheapsurrealist.livejournal.com]

all about the American public wanting a guy they can "have a beer with,"

The American public wants an untreated alcoholic they can have a beer with.

Re: For anyone unaware of the emptiness of Japanese humility:

[kumakouji.livejournal.com]

Being an average joe the public can relate to isn't the same as being humble. Japanese humility is self-deprecation. George Bush couldnt be further from the Japanese idea of humble.

Re: For anyone unaware of the emptiness of Japanese humility:

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I think it's hard for anything a politician says to be humble. Though this is probably the closest thing I've ever seen:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AS4fED1EyvY

When Bush cracks little jokes about his own (in)ability to speak well in public, and about the miserable grades he received in college, there is a certain amount of feather ruffling involved. He is essentially congratulating himself on not being one of the intellectual elite, being "just one of the guys," a good ol' boy or whatever. But in America, this is what passes for humility on the political stage. People buy it as humility, as a true self-inventory of shortcomings and weaknesses, from which one can then springboard and begin to inventory one's strengths ("I will fight terrorism tooth and nail," etc).

Re: For anyone unaware of the emptiness of Japanese humility:

[akabe.livejournal.com]

kuma-chan , not all japanese people do that. in fact there's also an equally stereotype-able tedency when someone is good at something to say it mind-blowingly straight. and of course there are real arseholes as well.

Re: For anyone unaware of the emptiness of Japanese humility:

[kumakouji.livejournal.com]

Im not implying every Japanese person practices humility. Im sure Japan like anywhere else has its fair share of rude, obnoxious cunts without manners.

What I'm saying is, humility plays more of a part in standard etiquette than in the west, ironically devaluing it.

Re: For anyone unaware of the emptiness of Japanese humility:

[petit-paradis.livejournal.com]

is that also why there is such huge amount of humilty in japanese porn, where it is sometimes taken to extremes (as most things japanese).