Originally uploaded by nofrills.
The 90 minutes and 1 - 0.
TV screen mosaic.
4 August 2007
Football and Election Results Assorted Screen
Football and Election Results Assorted Screen
Originally uploaded by nofrills.
TV screen.
29th July was our election day and they were reporting the election results all through the night. And the AFC Asian Cup Final (Iraq - Saudi Arabia) was taking place when they began the "election special" at 21:00 (the polling stations were closed at 20:00), and you could not watch the Final live without sattelite or cable. I only got to watch the match recorded, very late at night (from 03:00) and sometimes they put the subtitle to keep us updated with the national politics during an exciting foot match. How very kind.
pink and tiny
pink and tiny
Originally uploaded by nofrills.
In one evening, Tokyo, Japan.
I don't know what this flower is called, even in Japanese.
1 August 2007
29 July 2007
Election Posters (Tokyo)
Election Posters (Tokyo)
Originally uploaded by nofrills.
See notes for more details.
We'll have an election tomorrow (29 July 2007). It's for the House of Councillors. At elections, all the posters should be put on this official board, according to the election laws.
[UPDATE: 30 July 2007]
The results came over night. Of the twenty candidates in Tokyo (some of them don't have their posters on this board), five are elected, whom I've marked as "notes" on the picture. The largest opposition, the Liberal Party (LJP), took two out of five. One seat went to an incubent member from the Komei Party, which is no surprise. An independent candidate, Mr Kawada, took one seat. And surprisingly, the LDP failed to get their incubent member through but the newbie-cutie Ms Marukawa did win a seat.
Overall, the election's result is a sweet victory for the Liberal Party of Japan. At the same time, it is a nightmare for the the governing Liberal Democrat Party, who are not liberal or democratic in my view. They have lost the control of the Upper House for the first time in fifteen years or so. This must be hard, even if not unbearable, for the prime minister Shinzo Abe, who is a grandson of Nobusuke Kishi (a war criminal) and Kan Abe (a pre-war era pacifist), and a son of a former foreign minister.
The Financial Times has published a good article, "Japan’s voters give Abe a thrashing":
www.ft.com/cms/s/620ca81e-3dfa-11dc-8f6a-0000779fd2ac.html
According to the reports, the turnout was 58.64 per cent, which is relatively high -- you may have read how Japanese voters are lazy, and it is sadly true. Shinzo Abe's arrogant government has "reformed" educational principles, and wants to "reform" our constitution, which will change Japan for ever, but less than 60 per cent of voters had their say. Don't say it's "because the Japanese are shy" or "they can't say no". 40 per cent are not interested. 40 per cent do not think their votes would change anything. I think this is what is called "apathy".
The left-wingers, the Social Democrats and the Communist Party, are now totally marginalised. Their decline bagan years ago, but this time, it's ultimate. I think they should have joined together if they were to defend the Article Nine. Both the LDP and the LJP are willing to get rid of the Article Nine, while the majority of the Japanese people want to keep it (according to a recent poll).
Colombia's equinoXio digital magazine kindly used this pic for their article on this election in Japan:
http://www.equinoxio.org/?p=1684
The OpenDemocracy.Net kindly used this pic on their front page for their article by Andrew Stevens:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/
http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/institutions_government/
japan_election
A Street View with an Election Poster Board
A Street View with an Election Poster Board
Originally uploaded by nofrills.
We'll have an election tomorrow (29 July 2007). It's for the House of Councillors.
At elections, all the posters should be put on this official board, according to the election laws.
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