Overview: 

In September Japan’s ruling coalition partners, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Komeito, chose new leaders -- fresh faces to lead their respective parties. A month later, both parties suffered humiliating defeats in the House of Representatives election. The Komeito leader lost his seat in the Diet and had to resign. Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, badly wounded by LDP’s loss of more than 50 seats, nevertheless hung on to the leadership of his party and the country. The prospects for an Ishiba Cabinet post-election, however, were dim: the LDP and the Komeito together had 215 seats in the House of Representatives, 13 fewer than a majority. With no parties willing to join the ruling coalition, Ishiba, the LDP and the Komeito set off on a voyage into the unknown: leading Japan as a minority government, forced to beg, flatter and bargain for votes to pass any legislation at all.

So how is the ruling coalition doing? Is the experiment in minority government working? What is the outlook for governance in Japan with the ruling coalition’s likely loss of its majority the House of Councillors in July? Michael Cucek of Temple University, Japan Campus will offer his observations, assessments and guesses as regards Japan’s ongoing impromptu experiment in somehow being governed without anyone really being the boss.

Speaker:

Michael Cucek is an expert in Japanese Politics, with an emphasis on media messaging and social policy. He is the Faculty Advisor for Asian Studies and an Assistant Professor of Asian Studies at Temple University, Japan Campus. Professor Cucek's research areas include contemporary Japanese politics, Chinese and Japanese history and the U.S. role in East Asia. Prior to becoming an academic, he was an analyst in a boutique Japanese political consultancy for 15 years.

Michael Thomas Cucek | Temple University, Japan Campus

Moderator:

Robert Dujarric is the Co-director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies (ICAS) at Temple University, Japan Campus.

Robert Dujarric | Temple University, Japan Campus

Venue:

Temple University, Japan Campus 

Room 208 (2F)

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