Raw Japan
Slices of Japanese business, politics and life
Scrum at ruling party HQ says it all?
“Why can’t the LDP do this better?”
That’s what many reporters were saying when Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party announced its campaign platform on Friday.
They weren’t talking about the party’s campaign pledges for the Aug. 30 election, which the LDP could well lose to the rival Democratic Party, ending more than half a century of almost unbroken reign by the LDP.
Instead, they were blasting the LDP’s lack of preparation for a media briefing to present their manifesto ahead of its official unveiling. For one thing, the LDP didn’t make enough copies and had to print out more at the last minute. It also chose rooms at its headquarters that were far too small to fit in all the reporters, forcing many to stand in crowded corners. And finally, the media briefing started more than an hour later than scheduled.
Getting a copy of the manifesto was like being in a rugby scrum or cramming oneself onto the last train home in Tokyo.
