Japan 2012

[minionofmidas]

The old "Socialists" changed their name to DPJ.

[minionofmidas]

Is there a version in a language I can understand?

[minionofmidas]

Is there a version in a language I can understand?

Uh...you could try google translate. It would probably be a complete fail though.

Given that google translate is a complete and utter failure at translating between English and languages closely related to it... I figured it probably wasn't worth trying for Japanese.

[minionofmidas]

Anyways, if you're looking for a votematch/political compass type test to help you in Japanese politics, the Yomiuri has a good one for the 2010 House of Councillor's Election.

http://vote.yomiuri.co.jp

I got what I expected, 69% for the DPJ and Your Party.

Okay, just for the hell of this I'm doing this google-translated.

Questions that work particularly badly, making them impossible or near-impossible to answer:

"Constitution. You should maintain the current constitutional".
"Teacher's license renewal system. Should be overhauled Naishiwa abolished the current teacher license renewal" (What's "Naishiwa"?)
"Elderly health care system. Health care system should be abolished Elderly."
"Post, raising limits Kampo. Should increase the maximum amount each deposit of postal savings and insurance limits Simple."
"Abolition of set-aside policy. Policy (set-aside) should be abolished rice production adjustment." This appears to be about an agricultural subsidy, but what exactly is being said?
"Reviewing judge system. System should be overhauled judge." I suppose the issue here is with the original question rather than the ungrammatical translation, actually (same with the first one). Overhauled? Towards what?
"Visualization of interrogation. Should proceed with the visualization of interrogation" Tf?
"Governments. We should introduce a system of state road." Headline and question don't seem to match - which one is the dramatically mistranslated one?

Anyways, results with don't knows on all these...

SDP 89%
Commies 77%
Komeito 48%
Your Party 42%
New Party people 42%
DPJ 36%
LDP 18%
Our Japan 18%
New Party Reform 12%

Seems to be rating only the 17 questions I gave answers to, as it clarifies 89% as 15-2 etc.

[minionofmidas]

So a majority much inflated by the voting system, then?

[minionofmidas]

Well, Your Party is more Libertarian and JPR more of a populist right.  I personally rather like YR.  On the same topic, I would argue that NKP which is LDP's ally is not that right wing.  It is Japan's version of the Christian Democrats, or NKP would argue.  On the hawkish dovish axis, NKP is quite dovish and it is economically centrist.

The old Komeito, pre 8-party-coalition and then alliance with the LDP, was a center-left party.

[minionofmidas]

The wik table here seems to be missing a party that had one seat before the election and zero after. Anybody happen to know what party that is?

[minionofmidas]

Thanks!

[minionofmidas]

For my amusement, results if all 480 seats were distributed according to the PR block vote. Each block constituency was awarded as many seats as it actually has + fptp constituencies included within it; D'Hondt with no unnatural thresholds was used  as *I think* that's what Japan uses for the current 180 - certainly didn't spot any result contradicting that.

LDP 142 (+6), JRP 100 (+100), DPJ 79 (-137), NK 56 (+1), YP 41 (+23), JCP 28 (-3), TPJ 23 (+23), SDP 8 (-9), NPD 3 (0), PNP 0 (-4)

Of course the actual voting result would probably have been a fair bit different under such a system.


Now with 2009 comparison figures!