Parsing Out Hashimoto's Goals

Over at σ1, Corey Wallace present a long exposition on the position of Hashimoto Toru in terms of links he might or might not make with national or other regional politicians. (Link)

To his views, a few comments of my own.

- A link-up between Hashimoto's proposed party and Your Party could be quite profitable in a geographical sense. The Your Party is mostly a Kanto Plain area party. If Hashimoto and Watanabe Yoshimi can work out an entente, the result would be an East Japan/ West Japan split of responsibilities, which would be much easier for both parties to handle.

- A major potential stumbling block to any sort of alliance between any of the national parties and a potential Hashimoto national party is Hashimoto's ego. Mr. Wallace sees him as a pragmatist. I see him as a revolutionary -- and revolutionaries are known to have (usually with disastrous consequences) amazing self-confidence.

Anyway, it is all aboard the regionalism train. In the wake of Hashimoto's announcing of the establishment of a training school for prospective national politicians -- to be opened, according to the latest accounts, in March (J) -- Aichi Governor Omura Hideaki has announced the establishment of his own training school for prospective politicians (J). Furthermore, the governors of the prefectures on Shikoku (Ehime, Kagawa, Kochi and Tokushima) have announced they will be forming a regional organization to better coordinate their relations with the central government and collaborate with regionalists in the Kansai. (J)

Interesting times.