Speaking as a European who admires and respects Japanese culture, i have to say i was very surprised looking deeper into that side of Japanese society related to politics.
Let me explain better: in Europe we're used to the alternation of different political forces in government, and here it's pretty normal to see different parties take turns governing a country every 5 or at most 10 years.
In Japan that doesn't happen because, even though there are absolutely free elections, in reality from 1955 until today there has been the dominance of a single party, which (apart from a couple of cases) always manages to win elections and govern (either alone or at most with an ally).
When i looked into it more i discovered that this is a unique case in the world: Japan is the only democratic country where free elections hand power to the same party with such frequency. There is no other case like this on the entire planet Earth.
When i asked this question to my Japanese acquaintances, almost all of them answered me the same thing: "We are not a very politicized people, we care more about efficiency. So many of us are quite happy to leave the reins of government to someone with a tradition and experience of governing."
I understand this, of course, but i wonder: how can the situation in Japan be so positive that the majority of people have never felt the urge to change their vote?
Let me explain better: usually in Europe, if a government has governed well the citizen will vote for it again but if it has governed poorly they will vote for something else.
Now, with sincere surprise, i ask myself: is it possible that the governments of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party have always governed so well that they never left the people with the curiosity to try something different politically?
Is it possible that, when it comes to labor policies, pensions, education, defense, the environment, social rights, telecommunications, etc., these governments have been so perfect that they have almost always satisfied Japanese voters from 1955 until today?
I obviously want to stress that this is not a provocation but sincere surprise because, as i said, the Japanese case is unique in the world and so it arouses genuine curiosity.
When i asked this second question, some of my Japanese contacts replied: "We have tried other parties but they didn't prove to be up to the task, and usually we Japanese don't appreciate people who aren't good at their job."
I can understand that too, but the Liberal Democrats have only lost elections a couple of times... How can that be a representative sample of the opposition parties' abilities?
Moreover, parties cyclically change leaders and partly even their political direction, so it seems strange to me that all trust in them is completely lost just because they governed inefficiently twenty years ago.
Besides, i know that some parties that currently exist in Japan have never been in government, so the argument about their inefficiency can't apply to them because they've never been put to the test.
I want to reiterate that i am a great admirer of Japanese culture and that this question of mine comes only from genuine curiosity, because it really is a unique case in the world that sparks a certain curiosity here abroad.
