Speaking in Tokyo on Monday, October 6 at a press conference hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan, Columbia University Burgess Professor Emeritus of Political Science (and Weatherhead faculty member) Gerald L. Curtis didn't mince words.
"This is the most boring election campaign of all, that I've ever seen in Japan," he began. "The reason is quite simple. None of the candidates wanted to say anything that was controversial. Everybody played it safe. Everybody was on the defensive. All the candidates are at a loss as to what to say what the LDP should do, or what Japan should do, to deal with its problems.
"This is the main lesson to take away from this election. The LDP [Liberal Democratic Party] governance model has expired."
Professor Curtis offered similarly direct views on the LDP's selection of 64-year-old conservative Sanae Takaichi as its new leader, which is all but certain to make her Japan's first woman prime minister. "I think Takaichi's victory is going to hasten the decline and eventual collapse of the LDP. It's not if, it's just when."
To hear the rest of Professor Curtis's remarks, watch the complete press conference below. Nikkei Asia has also published a summary of Curtis's address and the ensuing question-and-answer session.
