The recent debate over Prime Minister Murayama's apology and whether it was on behalf of the cabinet/government/country or not, leads me to ask about the responsibilty of a Japanese Prime Minister. It is of interest to me, as this issue is connected with my present research.

When a Japanese Prime Minister makes a statement or helps initiate a new policy - how far does the responsibilty go? In the case of a statement, can it be said that since he is a representative of the government (which in turn represents the people) that he is truly representing the people and is fully responsible for the comments. This seems logical to me. In this case, unless Murayama is forced to resign due to public (or party criticism), I believe it is fair to say that his comments are meant to be on behalf of the nation as a whole, and not just a personal statement as some people (particularly British former POWs) think.

However, in the case of policies, does the Prime Minister have the same responsiblity? If a policy initiated by a certain Prime Minister fails or is not implemented - what is the response of a Japanese Prime Minister likely to be? In Britain, such a situation is almost unimaginable, any policy initiated by the Prime Minister is almost certainly going to be implemented, unless the party has a very small (or no) majority in the House of Commons. In the case of a policy initiated by the PM not working/being unpopular, then the only example I can think of when it lead to the PM's demise and a back- down on policy is the issue of the "Poll Tax" (Community Charge), which eventually led to the resignation of PM Thatcher. Normally, I would expect a PM that has a majority in the House of Commons to battle on until the next election, though. What is the case in Japan?
Would it be normal for a Japanese PM to resign or change policy if it is seen to be unpopular/unsuccessful? Or would some other member of the cabinet take the blame? Or would the whole issue just be dropped and disappear, leaving the situation with basically the status quo (with perhaps a few alterations due to areas of the policy that did have support from some area)?

I would welcome any ideas or comments on these thoughts.

Christopher Hood.
PhD Research Student, School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield, UK.
Topic: The 1980s Education Reforms

======================================================================
Christopher Hood
Home: 79 Wilkinson Street, Sheffield, S10 2GJ, UK. Tel.: (0114) 272 2259
Uni.: School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield, UK. Tel.: (0114)
282 4384 Fax.: (0114) 272 9479
====================================================================== HomePage:
http://www.shef.ac.uk/~eas/ss/chood/ (updated: 25/07/95)
======================================================================