[interview] The Future of the Koizumi Administration Viewed in the Context of the Modern History of Japan

Junji Banno: Professor of Department of Laws Economics, the University of Chiba.

He was born in 1937.
Graduated Department of Literature, the University of Tokyo. Doctoral Course in Graduate Course of the Humanities, the University of Tokyo, Held Posts of Assistant Professor of the Women's College of Ochanomizu, and Professor of the University of Tokyo. Recent Work,The Study of Failures of Politics in Japan(Nihon Seiji Sippai No Kenkyu).

1) There is an opinion in contemporary Japan that we should learn a lesson from the policies introduced by the Osachi Hamaguchi Cabinet before WWII; that is, if the Japanese government rapidly implemented structural reform, the Japanese economy would be put into great difficulty. What was the actual situation of Japan at that time?

2) There is a view that the current Japanese economy resembles that in the Showa recession before WWII. In those days, what arguments did Japanese parties dispute? What was Japan's political stance toward moving out of a stagnant economy?

3) According to your opinion, how did the Japanese economy recover from the recession in those days?

4) The current Koizumi Cabinet is said to take after the Fumimaro Konoe Cabinet in 1937. What are the similarities and dissimilarities between the Koizumi Cabinet and the Konoe Cabinet?

5) What lessons should Japanese politics learn from the prewar era in order to successfully achieve the Koizumi reforms?

6) The role of Japan's organs of public opinion in the prewar times has also been disputed. Even today, the mass media in Japan frequently change their opinions or demure from specific solutions in order to follow the trend of public opinion whenever Japan tries to address its difficulties. We think that Japan's organs of public opinion are to blame for this situation and that they should be firmly determined to take strong positions. Would you please tell me your opinion concerning this?