huhwhat?

“What Japan needs most now is a dictator.”

Toru Hashimoto, a lawyer and TV celebrity-turned politician,
was quick to add when he made that widely publicized remark last year that a Hitler-style dictatorship was neither desirable nor possible given Japan’s democratic checks and balances.

But the call for strong leadership from the charismatic mayor, whom some believe has ambitions to be Japan’s next premier, is resonating with voters frustrated by years of political deadlock that has kept the country from tackling the deep-rooted problems of a fast-ageing society.

Rising voter support for the boyish-faced Hashimoto, 42, who was elected as mayor of the major western city of Osaka last year after serving three years as governor of the broader region, mirrors the sagging fortunes of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

Noda’s ratings have sunk below 30 percent in the short time since he became Japan’s sixth premier in five years last September.

In sharp contrast, more than double that number expressed hopes for Hashimoto’s new party in a weekend poll.

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