Japan Politics and Rashomon?

Online Session 2

Rashomon-an award winning and internationally acclaimed film, based on the short story entitled “In a Grove” by 芥川 龍之介 (Akutagawa Ryūnosuke), depicts the different accounts of witnesses and of those who were involved in the murder of the Samurai and the rape of the samurai’s wife. It was never made clear which account held the truth behind the crime since the witnesses offer different versions of the story.

In truth, everything is always perceived differently by an individual or an organization. People have their own way of interpreting or analyzing certain things which sometimes leads to disagreements and/or the probability of producing something good out of their differences.

Japan politics is no exception from this truth. There are ways in which they are similar and different to the politics of other countries. Peter F. Cowhey and Mathew Daniel McCubbins, the authors of Structures and Policy in Japan and the United States, compared the distinctive characteristics of the political behavior and structure of Japan and the United States. Indeed, each of the said countries has their own systems in governing their country and each has their own policies to obey. Another example would be Yusaku Horiuchi’s explanation on how the voter turnout between Japan and France in his book “Institutions, Incentives and Electoral Participation in Japan”.

As shown in the video during the anniversary of the end of World War II last 2007, there were two stories being told: on one hand, there is a Japanese veteran who fought for his country and who takes honor for having served his land and on the other hand, there are the victims who perceive the aggressors to be war criminals.

The reason why Japan politics is compared to the film Rashomon is because there are many various ways in which we can perceive things. There are different angles to a story and in each account there will always be a clashing of ideas.

Online Session 1

Why do we need to compare politics? Why study Japan politics?

It is necessary to compare politics because in doing so, we can explain how the political system of a particular country operates and what makes their politics diverse from other countries. And through the comparisons made, we can exhaust new ideas about the political world. Comparing countries will also simplify politics by categorizing them according to the similarities and differences of the countries’ characteristics. Furthermore, comparison of countries contributes to a more robust theory of politics by eliminating unnecessary explanations gathered and analyzing the remaining explanations. And finally, comparing countries will help supply logical generalizations for comparativists to come up with predictions of a country’s future politics.

Japan politics is striking. It has a deeper image of what other observers (including myself) usually see. In studying Japan politics, people will realize its depth, what makes their politics succeed and observers will discover the changes that took place over the past years until the present. Learning about Japanese politics will also help understand why and how Japan emerged from their past political crises.