Until they are as open about the truth of WW2 as Germany is, they will not have healed themselves.

NOTE: This statement does not imply that the USA and other allies did not also do horrible things.

It seems it's a good year for democrats world wide.

I'm one for multiple party politics. The twoparty system in Amerika has morphed into a de facto onepartysystem wherein the oligarchs and the predatorclass are the only constituents affectively "represented" in the conduct of the government. The people have ABSOLUTLELY ZERO INFLUENCE and REPRESENTATION!!!, and NO - I repeat - NO! - voice or influence in the conduct of the socalled government. It is long past time, when the American people have multiple party candidates in every race, representing multiple interests, and multiple constituents, - and NOT the single, and exclusive interests of the Amerikan predatorclass and thefew oligarchs that dominate Amerikan politics we have now.

Amerikan politics is perverted, diseased, and terminally corrupted. The predatorclass, and the predatorclass oligarchs, the variou predatorclass industrial complexes, are in fact the government. These fiends, shaitans, and criminals have captured, as in own and control the socalled government, and until and unless there is some real representation, and real voice given to the American people, - Amerika is a fascist state owned and controlled by thefew, the predatorclass, and our once more perfect union is dead and gone. The more parties, the better. The twopartysystem in Amerika is in fact a onepartysystem owned, and controlled by the predatorclass fiends, shaitans, and criminals and ruthlessly bent on ravaging the peoples rights, freedoms, and protections, and advancing the singular and exclusive interests of the predatorclass alone, while diminishing, and undermining the best interests of the American people. Democracy is a system of government wherein the authority of the government is derived from the consent of the governed. We are living under fascism wherein the authority of the goverment is derived from the consent of select oligarchs and elites.

The American people need to choose what kind of government we will countenance. Our current panjandrum is heavily tilted toward and protecting of the predatorclass, and select industrial complexes, - and wildly deleterious to the best interests of the American people.

What kind of America do we want to bequeath our children????

Although Hatoyama is another grandson of a past political luminary, apparently only about 10 percent of the democratic party`s newly elected parliamentarians are from hereditary political dynasties, vs nearly 50 percent of those from the liberal democrats who managed to hang on to seats. Interesting development.

I hope this makes things better for Japan.

that is exciting.. two parties you say?? lets hope they stay as far away from the template set in the usa for a system of that nature...something are worth imitating, and others not..

Well, maybe if they get it right, we can follow suit, fumigate Washington, and turn the USA into a democracy.

I saw your interview just now with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now. You did an excellent job of explaining both the background to this election and its possible consequences for the United States and the world at large.

Sure, the seat count doesn't lie. The DPJ won this election.

I find it hard to get too optimistic about the staying power of a party led by a fourth-generation politician (Hatoyama) and the protege of Tanaka Kakuei (Ozawa), in cooperation with assertive nationalists, social democrats, and a bunch of newbies. For the likelihood of political stability, this sounds like 1996 at best, 1993 at the worst. In fact, in 1993 Ozawa tried this once before.

Given the serious disagreements over policy direction, I give the Hatoyama cabinet nine months before public dissatisfaction roars back again to Aso cabinet levels.

Any other guesses on the duration of the first cabinet?

I was initially skeptical about Japan's Democracy 2.0, wondering if Japan had actually come of age--would their democracy actually translate into independence?

Turns it it may: "the DPJ ran on a platform condemning the LDP for, among other things, letting the US dictate its foreign policy."

"Japan’s incoming Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has called for a review of the bases agreement, as well as a broader review of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States and the complete closure of the Okinawa base. The party has also promised to end the Japanese military’s role in the Afghan War by the end of the year."
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/09/01/us-rules-out-negotiations-with-new-japan-govt-on-base-deal/

Good news for Japanese democracy; bad news for the authoritarians in charge of Washington foreign policy.