Description
Book SynopsisWritten by the controversial owner of the Yomiuri Shimbun when he was Japanâs leading political reporter, Japanâs Backroom Politics is the translation of a classic study of the rough and tumble of Japanese politics and Liberal Democratic Party factions in the first two decades of postwar Japan.
Trade ReviewRobert Eldridge's translation of Tsuneo's 1967 book on political factions in Japan in the 1950s and 1960s is an invaluable reference for serious students of the formative years of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Eldridge prefaces Tsuneo's work with an examination of Tsuneo's years as a political reporter and his access to key faction leaders. The preface provides important insights into the professional and personal relationships among politicians and reporters in Japan. Tsuneo's work is composed of an introduction, eight chapters, and an afterword. The first chapter discusses the Machiavellian nature of backroom deals forged to secure key positions in the LDP and cabinet. The next two chapters examine the role of public support (popularity) and political fund-raising in the quest for and exercise of political power. Chapters 4 and 5 set forth the why and how of faction formation and dissolution. The final three chapters set forth Tsuneo's contention that a multiparty, not a two-party, system is emerging in Japan. Along with this multiparty system will come a decline in backroom politics and a rise in the need for politicians to appeal to the public to achieve political prominence. This work is recommended for graduate collections on Japan. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate and research collections. * CHOICE *
Table of ContentsTranslator’s Preface Introduction: The Defeated One: The Decline of Party Politicians Chapter 1: The Backroom: Testimonies of Party Leadership Elections Chapter 2: Popularity: Leadership and the People Chapter 3: Money: The Basis for Politics Chapter 4: Factions, Part 1: Steps to an Administration Chapter 5: Factions, Part 2: Background of Leaders Chapter 6: Multiparty Age: Undercurrents of the 1967 Elections Chapter 7: The Myth of a Two-Party System: Recommendations for a Multiparty System Chapter 8: The End of Backroom Politics: Administrations in a Multiparty Age Afterword
